WATCH: This Disturbing RC Cola Ad Will Haunt Your Dreams
A surreal RC Cola ad released this week caused a flood of reactions on social media, and likely a good number of night-terrors to boot.
The ad from RC Cola Philippines, entitled “Nyahahakbkxjbcjhishdishlsab@!!!! Basta RC Cola!”, begins with the poignant drama of a boy coming home from school to quiz his mother about whether or not he’s adopted.
Things take a turn when the boy removes his shirt to reveal four glasses growing out of his back, and yet another turn when his mom pulls off her head to reveal an RC Cola bottle growing from her neck.
She then proceeds to pour several cold ones on her son’s back, and the ad concludes with the entire family sipping the soft drink from the back-glasses.
The ad was a huge viral sensation, racking up millions of views on various social media platforms, and prompting a somewhat mixed reaction:
SERIOUS QUESTION:
What do you think about the RC Cola ad? Was it creepy or cringey?
Did you find some symbolisms behind the whole ad?
Do you think the organic buzz they created achieved the purpose—to sell more of their products?
Did you find it artsy, or a little too scary?
— Francis Baraan IV (@MrFrankBaraan) November 27, 2020
That RC Cola ad is so my thing. BRILLIANT.
— MARK SABLAN (@MarkSablan) November 26, 2020
The concept is RC Cola wants us to remember the name but the brand name is now associated to CREEPY.
— Noemi L. Dado (@momblogger) November 26, 2020
WHAT THE FLYING FK RC COLA ???
— Ralf Rivas (@RalfRivas) November 26, 2020
Kudos, RC! Who would’ve thought that RC Cola, not Coke, would give us the weirdest ad that matches this bizarre year of 2020?
That’s what really irks rival creatives, which is sad because envy and bitterness are obviously poor substitutes to actual creativity.
— Tonyo Cruz (@tonyocruz) November 28, 2020
QUICK MEDIA REACTION: That RC Cola advertisement does not make sense because it is just meant (1) to create buzz amid the soda war; and (2) to reinforce the one-word tagline “Basta!” (the exclamation point is crucial).
— Danilo Arao (@dannyarao) November 27, 2020
RC Cola ?
— Quest (@officialQUEST) November 28, 2020
The spot was the brainchild of the creative team at Gigil, a three year-old ad agency. PhilStarLife asked them the question that’s on everyone’s minds:
What. The. Hell. Was. That? Seriously, what were you guys smoking?
Gigil associate creative director Dionie Tañada, the young writer (he’s 27) who wrote the ad, laughs and says, “That’s what people always ask me, ano daw ang hini-hithit namin sa Gigil? They call us crazy, baliw; they say our ideas are out of this world. We take these as compliments.”
…
But how do you even pitch this crazy idea to a client? Dionie says, “First presentation it was approved, the idea na ‘Basta.’ Second presentation with storyboards, go pa rin sila.”
No, really.
“Yes, really,” says Jake Yrastorza, Gigil co-owner and managing partner. “We took them through the whole thinking process and insights. They figured it was the right thing to do for a challenger brand; they needed to come up with something different. On one hand we seemed to make an ad that doesn’t make sense—‘whatever,’ ‘basta’—but on the other hand it made a lot of sense to the target audience.”
Watch the ad above via RC Cola Philippines.
