That Gay Globe Ad and its Concept of Kilig
In the 60-second commercial entitled “What‘s Kilig?”, Lorenzo, a Filipino tourist finds his way through the streets of Bangkok to get his Lola a pair of Hiyahiya needles as pasalubong. He enters a shop and to his surprise, finds a cute guy manning the counter. What follows is the purchase of the said needles and a cross-cultural transaction of what it means to be “kilig.” The cute salesman later sends Lorenzo a message that reads: “Hope you‘re kilig there! *blush emoji*”
It’s an ad where queerness isn’t so much proclaimed. In fact, it takes a backseat to what seems more the TVC’s thrust: making thrilling romantic connections while traveling. “The whole campaign is actually a three-part video series about the misadventures of a group of friends who travel together. Lorenzo is just one character in this story,” says director Judd Figuerres, who collaborated with agency BBDO Guerrero on the advertisement. “My whole take on the LGBT advocacy was just to keep it normal. I didn’t want to make a spectacle out of it. Straight or gay, the main aim of the video is to make people kilig. I know that our brothers and sisters knows how to have fun. And it’s a fun ad. Being political, although very important, is tiring and it’s nice to take a break and get a good laugh or get a good amount of kilig from a simple one-minute ad.”
As our community begins to accumulate a more inclusive roster of televised or online advertisements with diverse portrayals of gay men, all efforts to make queer visibility happen should be lauded. And as momentum gains for these portrayals, it wouldn’t hurt to prod brands toward other things that can make us gays “kilig.”
TEAM rounded up a few sentiments on Globe‘s “What‘s Kilig?” ad and what other queer plot lines might be worth exploring in the future.
“In the ad, romantic chills are emotions experienced by a gay man. Kilig is not just an exclusive experience in heterosexual interactions. It‘s the equal right to love, or at the very least, the equal right to kilig. Stories of gay men that don‘t necessarily involve being attracted to other men in transactional and consumer contexts, i.e., going beyond the trope of gay men being consumers who become especially vulnerable’ when the person behind the counter happens to be a good-looking guy.”
—Eric Julian Manalastas, LGBT advocate & Psychology Professor of University of the Philippines – Diliman, who also discussed that while studies indicate that media representations can provide pride, inspiration, and comfort to gay men—especially gay youth—stories of gay men and other sexual minorities being the source of affirmation, or exchanging it, rather than always being the recipient, incorporated with themes of success, resilience, triumph over adversity, and the development of pride across different contexts are also worth exploring.
“[The Globe ad] makes it effective for people to actually avail of the product kasi it associates the product with a positive experience, with the product directly creating conditions that create that positive experience”. But he feels that it would have been better if it was shot in a domestic setting to make it more relatable even to people who wouldn‘t think of travelling abroad. ‘Like getting lost somewhere still in the Philippines, like Baguio or somewhere outside Manila.”
—Lakan Umali, Fictionist & TEAM Contributing Writer, who also suggested younger protagonists in order to reach out to gay men coming of age, and plotlines that involved “A cute new guy at the office. Uberpool romance. You can even do a religious-themed one. There are a lot of good Christian boys looking for other Christian boys.”
“It depicts, gently and with heart, two gay men stripped of any false stereotypes, talking only in true meet-cute fashion. However slight a gesture the ad makes, it is undeniable that such gesture very well recognizes the basic humanity attached to being gay. The ad subscribes to a celebration of gayness, of love, dear and simple.
Nothing about gay love should be strange. Local media must learn to recognize that gay love is not so much unlike any other love already portrayed in film and television. Not all of it has to be romantic: again gay people are human, and so gay love is also the love of a child towards his mother, the love of a friend towards a friend. Love is the most ordinary thing. It guides practically any narrative. I know, at least, that I let love inform my every writing decision. I am writing now a short film about two gay furniture-movers, these ordinary people, workers, who are able to find love in the simplest of days. My first short film with Jared Joven is about a day in the life of an old man and a young boy, as they struggle with their identities. I want to see more of this order of gay men in media. Everywhere there are gay people: construction workers, fishermen, parloristas, call center agents, drivers, farmers. These gay men are underprivileged and grossly underrepresented. It can only be appropriate to turn our eyes towards these people leading their humble lives, and to start telling their stories.”
—Kaj Palanca, Filmmaker (Contestant #4)
“It is unusual to casually show gay men flirting, and that is very powerful. To do so would state that gay people are also capable of experiencing what usually is depicted onto heterosexuals, that gay people are human, that they are accepted. In Globe‘s #ThisIsWhyIRoam, a gay relationship is depicted to be so free and normal, so easy to accept. That straightforwardness helps in giving out a strong statement, in effect widening the understanding of what and how it is to be gay, to be not only restricted with stereotypes, adding up to our possible identities and personalities.
And this is the kind of visibility we need. Such honesty and simplicity will always call for bravery. The Filipino gay man is no longer just a clown, he can be an ordinary person just walking around, and living his life.”
—Jared Joven, Filmmaker (Contestant #4)
“The #ThisIsWhyIRoam ad is notable for the simple reason that it puts out a modest romance between two men to sell a product that doesn‘t necessarily just cater to the LGBT market. Romance and attraction however are not the only facets of homosexuality. It is however the most widely acknowledged, at least from popular media‘s perspective. In a recent Smart viral video, the facet of coming out to family was discussed, again in an effort to sell the company‘s message of seamless connection. It would be interesting to see how corporations will be able to push the envelope further, in maybe bringing to the fore other facets of homosexual life such as same-sex parenting, action towards intolerance, etc. And more importantly, it would be interesting to see how companies would fare in bringing these ads outside the realm of the internet where people have some freedom to choose what advertisements they see. Let‘s see if they can really go for bringing these advertisements in television, thereby, normalizing their existence, which should really be the case.”
—Oggs Cruz, Film Critic
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