We know you’ve seen the viral RC Cola ad. You’ve probably seen the Mega Tuna lizard ad, too. Gigil, the advertising agency behind the string of bizarre commercials, is back. And this time, it’s for Julie’s Bakeshop.
On Apr. 5, the 40-year-old brand dropped the commercial on social media with the caption, “Get you a woman like Tita Julie! Strong, independent, at magaling mag-masa! #StopTitaShaming #JuliesFreshAt40”
The video starts with a shirtless guy with fake abs drawn on his belly walking into a local gym. He sees two titas wearing ’80s workout clothes. “Kaya pala amoy liniment dito, eh. Tita! Sa kabila ’yung aerobics.” he says condescendingly. “Tita, dahan-dahan lang. ’Yung Cutex n’yo baka masira. Mamamalengke ka pa.” He laughs in a way that a number of netizens pointed out sounds similar to Annoying Orange’s.
Tita Julie then appears behind the guy. “Tita shamer ka, ha,” she says before kneading the guy into a lump of dough. (You’ve seen the “everything is cake” meme. Now get ready for everything is bread.) She places Annoying Dough on a table and removes the gym shorts he won’t be needing anymore.
Annoying Dough is relentless in his teasing. He doesn’t stop even when a Julie’s Bakeshop employee brings an oven to the gym. He doesn’t stop when he gets rolled into a strip and gets breadcrumbs scattered over him. He doesn’t stop when Tita Julie cuts him into pieces. He even keeps laughing while he’s in the oven. Sexists. They never know when to stop. Am I right?
“Dati, abs lang n’ya ang pandesal. Ngayon, buong katawan na. Kaya stop tita shaming,” Tita Julie says after she takes out the tray from the oven. The ad ends with this cute one-liner: “Kasi pwedeng fresh pa rin kahit 40 na.”
The ad predictably trended but it still got mixed reactions from the internet. Some naysayers say that it might hurt the brand because they can’t get rid of the image of sweaty pandesal in their heads. Others say that they just don’t dig “oddvertising” and prefer commercials with an emotional pull.
Still, there are plenty who enjoyed the ad and its message of stopping ageist sexism. There’s nothing shameful about being a tita. And who gave randos permission to harass women when they were just minding their own business?
There were also a number of netizens who were able to spot the clever references it used—one of which was the nod to comedian Macoy Dubs’ character Auntie Julie.
What are your thoughts on the ad?
Photo screengrabbed from the Julie’s Bakeshop commercial.
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