Bakit Ba Masarap ang Bawal?

Flashback to March in one of my core subjects in IMC, the course that I'm taking in my university -- our batch was lucky enough to learn Creatives 101 with the ingenious and hip CEO of DM9JaymeSyfu herself, Ms. Merlee Jayme. Along with her enlightening tips of "not sticking to one" or "don't fall in love" in her lecture, (just in terms of creatives, of course) she gave us a heads up on one of the agency's upcoming TV ads with one of their new clients.

The comical Lourd de Veyra leads Tanduay Ice's premier commercial in which its theme revolves around the question... "Bakit Ba Masarap ang Bawal?" On a general note, it was a commercial that definitely caught my attention because of a certain element of peculiarity but maintaining the "AHA!-I-could-relate" factor. Having him as the lead brought the laid-back, off-color humor and indie feel to the product in which I believe, not all products in that particular frame of reference could be likened to. As I mentioned earlier, the commercial made me understand that this product is different but I can relate to its difference. Futhermore, I praise the creativity of the 30-second clip. It extracted a universal truth about Filipinos wanting & craving to taste, feel or experience anything that's "bad" for us. We simply like the excitement out of it that is why we find it "masarap." Having that big idea, the commercial expressed masarap pero bawal instances creatively such as indulging ourselves in ridiculously cholesterol-packed food, forbidden love and rules that we know we should abide to -- but we don't just because we choose not to.

Just a disclaimer: I am not really the best person to be asked when it comes to alcoholic beverages. And so I asked a good friend of mine, Carlos Mendoza, who has a discriminating taste for alcohol on how this Tanduay Ice tastes like. Apparently, this drink isn't like beer at all because it's almost like a softdrink but with a certain kick to it that simple words could not even decipher. This consumer insight stays true to the testimonial that De Veyra says in the TV ad. Lastly, the point of difference portrayed in the commercial was its "Extremely Addicting" warning. If you take notice of the other alcohol ads -- they just say blatantly "Warning: Drink Moderately." But with this product, they turn the tables instead and insinuate that the end consumer may find it so darn good that he could end up so addicted to it. Thus, still retaining "masarap pero bawal" element.

It kind of played with my head -- it leaves a question, it leaves an after taste.
It's an alcoholic beverage. Hindi siya bawal, or... bawal nga ba?