I was reading the Philippine Daily Inquirer this afternoon, and I was reading articles of columnists I used to read when I was in the Philippines. I came across one column, and its first sentence states: "Nakatikim ka na ba ng kinse anyos?" Literally translated, it means "Have you ever tasted a 15-year-old?" What the f*&#?! That was the tagline for Napoleon Brandy's billboards and other ads. What comes to mind when you read or hear that? I can come up with several meanings to that line. But the first thing that came to my mind (and I'm sure, to many others as well) wasn't about tasting a 15-year-old liquor. What came to mind was 15-year-old children.

What was the ad agency thinking when they conceptualized this tagline? Didn't they remember one of the basic advertising rules that statements written in one language does not always have the same meaning when translated into another (but in this case, English or Tagalog, it connotes the same meaning or perception)? Or that they have to read and re-read, and say aloud the slogan numerous times to make sure it looks and sounds right without offending any individual or group? But beyond that, didn't the agency consider the country's children who are sexually abused by those perpetuating society's sorry image of machoism? It supports the idea that sexual abuse is okay to an already detached country. It just makes me sick to my stomach to think that this certain ad agency can come up with this insensitive slogan for their ad campaign. Thank goodness for the Advertising Board for pulling out the ads.

If you read or watch Philippine news, you will notice that it is filled with stories of children sexually assaulted and abused, and even murdered after they have been used. It brings to mind something I saw when I was a senior in high school in the Phillipines. My classmates invited me to go with them to a wake of a 10-year-old girl who was sexually abused, beaten, and then murdered. I really didn't want to go, but because we lived in a very small town and everyone knew each other, I thought it was right to pay my condolences to her family. I haven't thought about this in years, but now that I remember it, it feels like it was just yesterday. I remember seeing her delicate, peaceful young face bruised and lacerated. It broke my heart thinking what this little girl went through. It made me mad knowing that some monster did this to a child. It's just wrong. She was just a child.

I really meant to write only about the billboard. It's just upsetting that the ad agency came up with this campaign. I don't know what they were thinking or what their motives were. Or maybe they were just oblivious to the country's problems and sensitivities. Or maybe they just have crappy copywriters and even lousier editors. It's unsettling that Philippine media has turned into something so careless and so sensationalized.