Puyat family files complaint vs. ad agency over Gil Tulog campaign

The family of the late former Sen. Gil Puyat on Friday filed a complaint with the Ad Standards Council against Gigil Advertising Agency for its supposed Gil Tulog Avenue marketing campaign.

Victor Puyat, son of the former Senate President, said in the letter-complaint that the agency violated the council’s Code of Ethics which provides “advertisements shall not directly or indirectly disparage, ridicule, criticize, or attack any natural or juridical person.”

“We want Gigil Advertising Agency to be suspended or banned from your council. They have made several ads, when they have been suspended in the past,” the complaint read. 

“We hope Gigil will be given due sanction for disregarding your Code of Ethics and Standards,” it added. 

GMA Integrated News reached out to the advertising agency for comment and will publish its side as soon as it is available.

Wellspring, the supplements brand in the campaign, has already apologized to the Puyat family and to Makati City Mayor Abby Binay for its “insensitivity” in promoting its product.

Erika Puyat Lontok, the granddaughter of the late Senate President, criticized the campaign.

“Besmirching my late great grandfather’s name to sell freaking melatonin is so disrespectful!'' Puyat Lontok said on Facebook.

Binay said she has reprimanded the city officials who approved the marketing tactic. 

Gil Puyat was elected senator in 1951 and was Senate President from 1967 to 1972, when then President Ferdinand Marcos declared Martial Law and shut down Congress.

He passed away on March 22, 1981. —NB, GMA Integrated News