TV Commercials in the Philippines (2024)

Filipino TV Commercials

I guess the old saying is true, that you miss stuff only after you lose them.

And I know, it does sound ridiculous that some of the things I miss from when I was still in the Philippine Islands were the Filipino TV Commercials.

Yes, and I am talking about those yucky and those singing-dancing-Bollywood-style commercials complete with their predictable story lines, corny themes, loony tunes and silly jingles.

But then again, I have been based in Southern California for close to ten years now and from what I have seen, all I can say is that I probably wouldn’t miss any of their TV Commercials, that’s for sure.

Thank your lucky stars (or in God if you believe in one) for the world-wide-web and for the video-sharing feature of most social networking sites and video-sharing websites such as of course youtube.com.

Why? Because now, you can watch all the best (and the worst of course) TV commercials. And you can get to see all the past and the present TV ads of almost any country, right on your computers.

Here is one that I have just watched that says, it is the Top Filipino Commercials:

Okay, even if I only knew four or five of the ads shown, it was still a treat.

Now if you google Philippine TV Commercials, you would see this nice page from wikipilipinas.org entitled Top Ten Philippine TV Commercials That You Love. And of course they have a separate page for the Top Ten Philippine TV Commercials That You Love To Hate. Yes, I used to have a long list of that too, but now, I guess I love all of them (yes even the "baduy" or corny ones).

Going back to wikipinas, apparently wikipilipinas took a survey (they didn't give us any details about it though) and they came up with the Top Ten. Here is that list in its rank order with their corresponding video links (with one or two unavailable due to a TOS violation). Enjoy!

Top Ten Philippine TV Commercials

1. McDonalds – “Karen Po” at YouTube

2. PLDT – “Suportahan Taka” at YouTube

3. Coca-Cola – “The co*ke Beat” at YouTube or YouTube related

4. Tender Juicy Hotdog – “Goodbye Carlo” at YouTube

5. Coca-Cola – “Kasama Ka, Coca-Cola” at YouTube

6. PLDT – “ Dugo-Dugo Gang”

7. San Miguel Beer – “Sabado Nights” at YouTube

8. Sprite – “Magpakatotoo Ka” at YouTube

9. Palmolive – “I Can Feel It” at YouTube

10. San Miguel Beer – “SiBoom” at You Tube

Source: wikipilipinas.org

From that list alone, you would know that eating, eating out, beer drinking, soda (softdrink) drinking, telecommunications and personal hygeine among other things are big business in the Philippines.

And so is advertising a big business there as well, be it print, TV or whatever media. Movies and TV are also big.

And it is interesting to share that my wife and a few of her family members got to be cast as extras in a local Filipino film, who featured big name Filipino Showbiz Action, Drama and Comedy Stars. Throw in a few Sexy Stars and you got a hit.

Now if it wasn’t for the long waiting times in between takes and the heat and humidity at shooting locations, they probably will still be doing those film extra roles.

I have a friend before who is still a Print, Ramp and TV Commercial Model in the Philippines and have also appeared in numerous Filipino films. And it used to be at one time, he would invite me and some other friends of ours to his TV Commercial shoots and we would also be in the commercials themselves. So, that would probably explain some of my weird attraction to Filipino TV Commercials.

Anyway, I guess I like all those commercials in the list above.

But here is probably my favorite Philippine TV Commercial. I know a few of you will say that this is not an original Filipino commercial, but merely the Filipino version of the "I Wish" co*ke ad.

But then again, this has been redone in different countries and in different languages and I believe the Filipino version came out the most outstanding, as it put a lot of more attention to detail, timing and choreography, it captured more of the local culture and the scenery plus the main and supporting cast were outstanding. Besides, the lead did a lot more other things than just walk in a straight line and handing out co*kes and smiling while singing beautifully. Yes, not an easy thing to pull off.

So here, sit back, watch, listen and enjoy: (I swear I can almost smell the indistinctive sidewalk odors of downtown Manila in a hot and humid day)

World's Top Viewers of Videos Online

Here's a link to Youtube of the "I Wish" co*ke commercial showing an English, a Spanish and the FIlipino (Tagalog) Versions.

So do you have your own list of TV Commercials that you love?

Also I know you have a long list of those that you love to hate, but let's not be hateful now. (We still love Floyd Mayweather Jr. even if he said those nasty things about Filipinos and Asians which are all over youtube right now).

If you are in the mood for more Philippine TV Commercials, I recommend this article about commercials and the local culture and spotlighting Jollibee TV Commercials.

And in case you are in the mood for some Classic Filipino Commercials, I added a few below.

Anyway if you are in general a TV commercial lover or not, please leave a comment.

And also feel free to share your fave commercials and also the video links and give a cheer or two to any homesick person or a sentimental fool scouring the internet (cyberspace) right now in search of their favorite (childhood) commercial, Filipinos included. And in case you didn't receive the memo, Filipinos are now among the most dispersed people in the world and also lately they have been tagged as the world's top viewers of videos streamed over the internet. Hmmm, what could be a reason for that?

Mabuhay!

Ten Philippine Commercials From the 1980s

Spotlight On Philippine TV Commercials

• Philippine TV Commercials: Spotlight On Jollibee Ads
  Did you know that you can learn a lot about people from their TV Commercials (TVCs)? Yes, whether they watch it or not is not the issue, like who watches the commercials nowadays anyway right? And I am...
• Philippine TV Commercials: Spotlight On McDonalds Ads
  Things You Miss Most As I have mentioned in a previously related article, not in my wildest dreams would I have thought that one of the things that I would miss from the old country were things I used to...
• Philippine TV Commercials: Spotlight On co*ke Ads
  So far I have written about Filipino TV Ads in general. And I have previously spotlighted the Filipino TV Ads of McDonalds and the local McDonalds counterpart, Jollibee (see related links below). So this...
• Philippine TV Commercials: Spotlight On Close-Up Ads
  This is the fourth of this Series spotlighting Philippine TV Commercials and the fifth if you include the initial article introduction into Filipino TV Ads. As I have mentioned in all the previous articles,...

A Few More Commercials

Just wanted to add a few more classic Filipino Commercials. Enjoy.

Although these would most probably only appeal to those who were in the Philippines and who are 40 years old and older.

Circa 1980

1970s

1970s

J@ps (author) from Southern California on January 29, 2013:

Thanks ltlmstwntysx and thank you for sharing with us your own list.

ltlmstwntysx on November 01, 2012:

Kudos to the author of this blog! :)

I'd like to share my all-time favorite commercials of today's generation (because I was just born in 1996, so I would just include the TVCs of the 2000's.)

Coca-Cola - The co*ke Beat; Joy Dishwashing Liquid - Joy in My Heart by Michael V.; Fita - Sports Car; Rejoice - Sunod sa Galaw by Jaboom Twins; McDonald's - First Love (with Ang Huling El Bimbo as its background music); and many more! :D

J@ps (author) from Southern California on September 21, 2012:

Hello jolinabetts, you are so right. Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment and for the thumbs up.

J@ps (author) from Southern California on September 21, 2012:

Thanks nextyear... they are indeed.

Ladysee from Kalamazoo on July 18, 2012:

I work in the advertising industry in Manila and i must say that Kudos to the creative team who conceptualize these ads. Its hard to please clients and it takes a toll at someone's life, especially for someone who is a copywriter who has a family waiting for her to come home. That's how it is. Big Better Ads with Filipino blend and hopefully aiming world class.

Thanks for making this hub, the people behind those famous commercials are the unsung heroes of good marketing. Thumbs up for interesting!

nextyear on April 22, 2012:

Wow... These videos are great. :)

J@ps (author) from Southern California on November 26, 2011:

Thanks Carrie. Everything you said is spot on. Thank you!

carriethomson from United Kingdom on November 14, 2011:

wow this is such a unique topic to write about and you are right the old commertials make you feel nostalgic. they have a chramof their own and an old periodic feel to them. though i haven seen any of these commertials i can understand what you are talking about. voted up

carrie

J@ps (author) from Southern California on October 05, 2011:

Thank you and when you are able to make your commercial and when you're rich and famous, don't forget about me. Catch you later.

ershruti304 from Shimla on October 03, 2011:

I have enjoyed every bit of your hub and was overwhelmed with the co*ke commercial. I wish I could also make such commercial one day

J@ps (author) from Southern California on September 12, 2011:

Thanks for the feedback crystolite. I'm glad you liked it.

Emma from Houston TX on August 15, 2011:

This is a great and exiting hub I have read so far.I do enjoyed it.

J@ps (author) from Southern California on August 07, 2011:

Glad you liked it Scott33Thomas. Thanks!

Manuel Porras from Germany, Colombia, USA, Panama, Mexico, Spain on July 27, 2011:

those commercials are very funny I love it

J@ps (author) from Southern California on June 30, 2011:

lol I know Ghostwriter... Thanks!!!

Peter Yexley from UK on June 18, 2011:

This is a great distraction, I really enjoyed the Hub - well done!!

J@ps (author) from Southern California on April 17, 2011:

Hello Leo,

Thank you for visiting. I have no idea what a semiotic analysis is. But regarding the wikipinas list, I mentioned that they did not provide the methodology on how they came up with such a list. My guess was they somehow made a survey. But because majority of Filipinos are young and live in the major cities, hence that list is just a representation of their preferences. Culture does play a big thing, and products that majority of the responders use and like, good music, easily understandable concept, something unique to remember and if it can move the viewer emotionally and/or intellectually then I believe those are the ones that are most likely to come up on top. Good acting and famous personalities also come into play.

leo andrew biclar on April 17, 2011:

I am writing my master's thesis on the semiotic analysis of top ten philippine tv commercials. i wanted to justify how these top ten philippine tv ads loved by Filipinos. With this, i would like to ask how the wikipilipinas.com come up with their list?how did they determine the top ten tv ads loved by Filipinos?

thank you so much for the responses. they would a big help in accomplishing my thesis. God Bless.

J@ps (author) from Southern California on March 09, 2011:

I'll do that HubKing, thanks for the heads-up.

TheHubKing from Philippines on February 28, 2011:

The Boysen commercials are pretty good...you might want to check them out...:)

J@ps (author) from Southern California on November 15, 2010:

Also check out all the related articles about other Philippine TV Commercials, check out the links above.

J@ps (author) from Southern California on November 15, 2010:

I just added a few classic Philippine Commercials, see below--enjoy!

J@ps (author) from Southern California on September 11, 2010:

Hello Christopher, good to know that there is at least one person who enjoy viewing my hubs, thanks!

I shall endeavor to create more hubs that can be read, seen and heard. Yes, but let me pour one for myself too. Okay, all I have here is a diet Pepsi...that will do.

Christopher Price from Vermont, USA on September 11, 2010:

Ok. I am apparently just as weird as you.

This was one of the most enjoyable Hubs I have viewed.

Thanks.

And that final co*ke commercial was so pleasant I am going to pour one with some LTD and go out and sit on the porch and suck in the bounty of the last warm rays of the summer sun while my dogs cavort in the yard.

Ya' got more?

Write on.

CP