Nice Rack's

I've had the pleasure of doing the launch ads of Rack's almost 2 years ago. Rack's was a famous grill place a few years ago but they closed down and the people behind Shakey's bought the franchise and now it's back!

I was surprised the campaign still being used. The warpaint idea was inspired by the local barbecue stalls we used to frequent. The one doing the barbecue had charcoal marks on their faces after doing endless barbecues for the whole day. We just translated it to having a big appetite and that's it!

This one's a wraparound at SM Mall of Asia.


Agency: J Romero
ECD: Shu Manalo
Copy: Chris
Art: Lucas Luchico

camel motocross

Fine Print: East West Bank

This campaign jumpstarted my career at J Romero.
I had a lot of firsts with this ad.
It was my first win after I transfered from a small agency called Expert Advertising.
It was the first time I partnered with Lucas, a partnership that would last 4 years.

East West Bank's Home Loans took off bigtime after this campaign.
And we did a lot of good stuff together.

We were lucky that the client, Ms. Yoly C. was ahead of her time and she understood the merits of creativity in bank ads.

What I don't like about this ad though is the lengthy copy that client requested. If I had to do it over again I would've shortened it further. I'm proud to say that this was the fruit of the class I took with Claire Drueco-Lopez,
the former ECD of JWT.


credits
Client: East West Bank
Agency: J Romero
Copy and concept: Chris Ong
visualizer: Chris Ong
art director: Lucas Luchico
Year: 2003

Look at Me 4: Blind Man's Bluff

This is one TVC I'm really proud of.
Pro bono stuff for the 2006 Philippine elections.
The objective of the ad is to increase Vigilance during the election ballot counting.
We came up with the idea of people playing Pitik Bulag, a local version of Blind Man's Bluff.

The brief was only for a 15s but when the material came out it was overwhelming that we stretched it to 30s.

credits

Director: Paul Basinilio

Prod. House: Fat Lion

Agency: J Romero

Executive Creative Director: Shu Manalo

Copywriter: Chris Ong

Art Directors: Idol Paterno, Lucas Luchico

Look at Me 3.1 - Hope Boat

Arranged by Raymond Marasigan of the legendary band Eraserheads and Sandwich.

For viewing purposes only.

Look at me 3: Our Last Hope

Hope's TVC campaign for 2006.
This was the last tvc to be produced because of the cigarette ad law.
This consisted of a 60-minuter and two 30's material.
Shot this in Subic. Flew in foreign talents. Used a helicopter.
Used a panzer tank. Used a stealth bomber. Brought Godzilla.
Used dozens and dozens of sports cars. Hope you like it.

By the way, I posted this for viewing purposes only.

credits

Agency: J Romero

Client: Fortune Tobacco

Production House: Wide Eye

Director: Dragon Pineda

Creative Director: Meong Lacao

Copywriter: Chris Ong

Art Director: Geonard Yleana

Look at Me 2: Shakeys Favorites

Shakeys 2006 Thematic campaign

This consisted of 3 30's materials

We introduced the "Its gotta be Shakeys" tagline.

I also wrote the jingle.

Had fun shooting this.

We were fortunate to work with Mark Meily of the blockbuster movie "Crying Ladies."

Food and jokes overflowed.

Extra helping of pizza after it was shot? Priceless.

Credits

Client: Shakeys

Agency: J Romero

Director: Mark Meily

Creative Director: Meong Lacao

Copywriter: Chris Ong

Art Director: Lucas Luchico

Fine Print 5: The Pulling Power of Durango

We gave the Durango the power to move you. Get it?

I saw a similar ad featuring Subaru a year after this came out.

Coincidence?

client: CATS MOTORS/ CHRYSLER

agency: J Romero

"PULL"

Sing with Me: Fortune International

One of my first works as a copywriter was Fortune.
I did the jingle. In fact it was the first song I ever wrote.

I must have done something right because Fortune has established itself as
a mainstream brand and kept growing since.

In fact, I was elated to discover the power of song when I was commuting one day.
People inside the jeepney were singing along and humming to the jingle when it played on the radio.

I was totally floored. I wanted to blurt out "I wrote that! I wrote that!" But they might stone me. So I just grinned.


Oops they can't upload mp3's in this spot. I'll just send the file if you request it.

Fine Print number 4: Singapore Sling

Some classic stuff from my J Romero days. I remember having to clear with Batey and Singapore clients just to get your idea across. It was like trying to pass through the eye of a needle.

Pain - I love it!

Look At Me: Talk 'N Text LIHI TVC

Talk 'N Text has always shown the lighter side of life with their commercials.

For this spot, the focus is on a pregnant woman and her out-of-this-world requests of having her husband buy her fruits that are either not in season or simply impossible to find.

This commercial got rave reviews from Ms. Nanette Diyco of Businessworld, a respected figure in the advertising community. Yay! Go team!

You can view her article here:

Link: http://www.bworldonline.com/Weekender022208/main.php?id=marketing_diyco

Translation

CLIENT: TALK ’N TEXT
AGENCY: DRAFTFCB
MATERIAL: TV 30s 2008
TITLE: ANTICIPATING/ “LIHI”
WRITER: CHRIS ONG


Woman on CAM: If you make calls frequently
Get one that's really affordable.

Woman: Hello, Honey can you buy me some…
…twin bananas?
… green mangoes?
…atis (a local fruit that’s full of seeds) the SEEDLESS ones
…rambutan?
… watermelon?
Hon… macopa!


FVO: Good thing she’s using Talk ‘N Text Piso Minuto
15 pesos for 15 minutes! You can even call each other till you use up all the call time

Woman: Honey… Can I add something…
Husband: Honey.. fruit salad?

VO: Talk ‘N Text
Life gets lighter (affordable).

Fine Print Number 3: The Mystery of the unfolding Winston

Winston was stumped. After years of using its trademark red packaging, it is now shifting to blue and red. The brief was to make a campaign exciting enough to announce the packaging change. The problem: The proliferation of fakes in the provinces have made its loyal customers quite unreceptive to change. The second problem was the self-imposed ad ban on radio and tv by Japan Tobacco which made the announcement hard. Read: They might think the new look is not the same Winston they loved. Our solution: Be a mythbuster. Blow up the old, herald the new.

This consisted of inciting curiosity by coming up with teasers prior to launch.

Not only was there buzz about the product, results were phenomenal and people totally

embraced the new look. And we lived happily ever after.

credits

Agency: J. Romero

Writer: Chris Ong

Art Team: Lucas Luchico, James Pereda

Fine Print Number 2: I Want a Mercedes!

Mercedes-Benz at zero interest? No way!

Did this at J Romero.

The ad that won the pitch and hearts of the suits at CATS Motors.

Writer: Chris Ong

Art Director: Lucas Luchico

Fine Print no. 1 - Roarin' in Style

Did this a few years ago at J Romero.

It's an omnibus ad for Jaguar, the pimped up ride of the shagadelic workaholic.

This is in line with the "Gorgeous" campaign of Jaguar's global agency Euro RSCG.

We're lucky we had freedom to glam it up a bit!

This ad features all the topscale models from the X type to the XJ!

Make mine a Jag, baby! Meowr!