Politicians power up with jingles

Music does a lot for a political campaign. Just ask Manny Villar, whose mawkish-yet-memorable campaign jingle is being sung by his supporters and non-supporters alike. Never mind if the song’s lyrics are a collection of over-the-top references to poverty. “Nakaligo ka na ba sa dagat ng basura (Have you bathed in a sea of garbage)?" goes the song’s first line and it ends with the hair-raising claim, “Si Manny Villar, ang magtatapos ng ating kahirapan (It’s Manny Villar who will put an end to our poverty)." Jingle all the way If the next Philippine president were chosen based on the strength of his campaign jingle’s Last Song Syndrome infiltration, Villar would be the undisputed winner. It doesn’t matter if his claims are incredible. His tune’s catchy. Through Yahoo Messenger, advertising professional Niño Gupana told GMANews.TV that placement for a television spot costs at least P250,000 for a 30-second ad. This price tag is paltry when one thinks of the possible success a good ad can bring. As Gupana said, a catchy song in a campaign could significantly contribute to a candidate’s victory. Songs have the power of subliminal suggestion. Then and now, they’ve always been powerful psychological tools. In fact, journalist George S. Caparas of the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, in his article, “Songs in the Key of Politics," writes: “In a country as crazy about music as the Philippines, it is not surprising that even politics has a soundtrack. Long before showbiz and media personalities dominated Philippine political life, music was already part of it, from the revolutionary songs that boosted the morale of the indios revolting against the Spaniards, to the different anthems Filipinos were made to sing before they were finally able to belt out ‘Lupang Hinirang’ in public." Sticky songs Candidates in the 1950s would distribute pamphlets with the lyrics to their jingles so people could sing along. Now, with TV, radio, and the Internet, jingles easily become viral. Manila mayor Arsenio H. Lacson was the first to use a campaign jingle in the Philippines. The “Lacson Mambo" figured in his victories in 1951, 1955, and 1959. Former president Ramon Magsaysay was also victorious with his cleverly written bilingual “Mambo Magsaysay." “A jingle is basically a candidate’s musical score, but its usefulness lies in its being a mnemonic device that compresses name, program, and platform into a two-minute rhyme," explained Caparas. “The best ones play endlessly in one’s head. Its mission is simple: Disarm the voter with a good harmony before drilling the message home. Speeches are all the same and easily forgotten, but a great jingle lingers." Villar’s campaign jingle aside, other candidates’ musical efforts are also getting a lot of airplay. There’s Sen. Benigno “Noynoy" Aquino’s rap ad, Brother Eddie Villanueva’s “Eddie Ako,", and Sen. Loren Legarda’s appropriation of “Pilipinas Kong Mahal." White noise As powerful as campaign music may be, political strategist Malou Tiquia, in her article, “Ads do not win political campaigns," asserted: “Political ads increase awareness but conversion is totally a function of organization." In the end, no matter how catchy a jingle may be, a candidate would still lose if he or she does not have the substance to back the musical stylings of their ads. Otherwise, it’s all just white noise. - FVI, GMANews.TV