Metro de Madrid Filipinas Ad
While blog-hopping, I came across this commercial advertisement from Spain. It is a recent advertisement for Madrid’s underground railway system.
I was not particularly or personally offended by this advertisement. In fact, I found it quite hilarious. Perhaps it’s because I view it as a Filipino, and I thought it simply followed common Filipino humor, even if it relies on our penchant of poking fun at things provincial.
But this is a commercial advertisement in Spain. While I do not undermine the capability of ordinary Spaniards to distinguish the humor behind the commercial, I think this brand of humor is something reserved for those who know the Philippines well enough. Otherwise, it really just serves the purpose of generalizing a people based on stereotypes. It still relies on a very backward and agrarian colonial view of the country they once colonized. I feel like the advertisement portray Filipinos as the indios they once always thought we were.
I guess I can put it this way–for me it’s okay for family members to poke fun at one another, but it isn’t when other strangers do.
Tags: ethnic stereotypes, humor, post-colonial relations, TV commercial
Yeah, a friend forwarded me a link on facebook. I thought it hilarious as well. But yeah, in terms of postcolonial relations…it is quite…outdated. I think our local advertising agencies should make a commercial in the same vein….something like, “If we were colonised by any other coloniser than the Spaniards…we would be rich!”
Interesting. Isn’t colonization a mindgame as much as it is an outdated imperialist strategy? Being colonized as a people is one thing and being colonized in the mind is another, but of course they go hand in hand. See, even if the military bases had gone, the mindset often remains.
So on the tagline: If we weren’t colonized at all, perhaps we would be better off now?
Finally, just want to share something. To quote a Maori leader who was made to attend a conference on “postcolonial discourses”: “Postcolonial? Why, have they left?”
Right. I agree sparks. “If we were colonised by any other coloniser than the Spaniards…we would be rich!” - This tagline would be great!
potek ang kulit! hay..
I agree with sparks…
Bwahaha! Ang kulit! I wonder how the Ifugao Rice Terraces got shipped to Mindanao?
We were colonized by the US too. How come we’re not rich? Hehe!
Well, we were acquired the same time as Cuba. But they won a nationalist revolution. They’re not doing too badly. One of the best health care systems for a poor country.
Let’s see…most of Latin America would be American ‘neocolonies’ and most of it is still dirt poor.
Funny, yet still offensive. Bah.