THE PHILIPPINES, SEPTEMBER 5, 2012 – PLDT’s ‘Anna Banana’ campaign has added new twists to the plot. What started with a TV spot showing a young Derek rapping ‘Anna Banana I love you a lot!.. You’re a fried banana baby cos you’re so hot’ to the girl of his dreams while his mother helps drive views of her son’s video.
Anna’s reply, released on YouTube, earned the ire of netizens as she raps ‘Derek forget it I don’t like you that much, dance like a monkey… I’m not your friend but I’m still hot, hot, hot’. The video got 297,989 views and has garnered 1,463 dislikes compared with only 1,380 likes.
Furthermore, the comments viewers posted on the video ranged from light-hearted to rude, with a number viewers thinking that the video response was not related to the PLDT commercial.
This turndown only created more opportunities for the campaign. The latest spot showed a cute young sister and a father supporting Derek. The spot ends with a voiceover from a girl who replied to Anna’s turndown and the family of four have hit the road in a talent hunt staged at a series of malls around the metro, indicating plans for upcoming spots are already underway.
Departing from the usual feel-good tone of most TV spots, it is still unclear whether the agency, Ace Saatchi & Saatchi, is testing the waters. But we’ll soon find out.
