BREAK DOWN BARRIERS
AND WELCOME CHANGE
"It takes courage to break down barriers.
It takes strength to overcome differences."
It takes strength to overcome differences."
1. Who created the message?
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| New logo for the company Smart Communications, Inc. |
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| Photo showing the internet service provider Smart Communications, Inc. |
Smart Communications, Inc. Is a wholly owned mobile phone and internet service incorporation that has the slogan "Welcome Change."
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2. What attracted you to the message?
The first thing that I notice with the infomercial is when the guy was hesitating to accept the friend request of this certain man who turns out to be his father.
Then the next thing that I noticed was when the photo of the him with a guy, who was in fact his boyfriend showed up as he scrolled through his profile.
These photos (above) only mean that the guy was in a relationship with another person who has the same gender as him. And the fact that he was a homosexual made him hesitant to accept the friend request of his father because his father might not accept him for the way he turned out to be.
This is when the infomercial gets interesting because after he accepted the friend request of his father, the spectators are now waiting for the reaction of the father with regards to his son being a homosexual.
The message of the father to his son was the reason why this infomercial was able to catch the attention of the viewers. Homosexuality has been a debatable topic in our society for so long. In a typical Filipino family rooted deeply in Catholic doctrine, the patriarchal side usually condemn this issue but in this infomercial, the message was so clean and simple. Acceptance versus tolerance.
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3. How do you react to the message?
After seeing the photos of the guy with his boyfriend on his Facebook profile, I came to a sudden realization that the guy he's with on the first part (photo above) was the same with the guy on his Facebook -- his boyfriend. That was my first reaction.
I was relieved to know that despite of being a telecommunication company, Smart was able to make their infomercial socially relevant and raise awareness among the people especially the youth who are the main target of the social media.
Coming from a family experiencing the same situation, I was quite envious that the father was able to fully accept his son. Unlike in my family, there was a huge wall between my father and my brother because there was no acceptance on my father's side and that made my brother's relationship with him quite fragile.
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4. What lifestyles are presented in the message?
Looking at the family lifestyle, it seems that the guy came from a wealthy family and he is also a family-oriented type of person, seeing that even though that all of them have their own lives and families, they were still able to allot enough time for Sunday family gathering, having lunch together and talking to each other.
It was also implicitly stated the father was a former military officer. We can infer from this that the father's attitude, lifestyle and perspective in life are still deeply rooted in stoic and often forceful soldier discipline.
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5. What values are being promoted in the message?
Acceptance versus tolerance. Acceptance because the father disregard the machismo issue. He openly embraced his son's sexual preference despite society's beliefs that a man is for a woman. He accepted his son out of love that he will not judge their lifestyle and practices.
Tolerance because our society just simply tolerate LGBT, we don't accept them totally, we condemn gay marriage, there's discrimination in finding job, we even relate "gay" words to someone who is worthless in the society.
When we accept someone, we will love them despite of anything, who they really are and whatever they do as long as they are productive member of the society. Tolerance is just giving them way to express themselves but we condemn their way of living.
"Welcome change."
It is Smart's new slogan as well as this video is telling us. The gay son despite of having a well-off living, a loving boyfriend and an accepting family and friends, he cannot seem to attain happiness for he is not letting himself and his father know each other more. He has confined himself in the box of social media, trying to hide his true identity to his father. He is truly unfair for not letting him inside his life. But, when he realize his mistake, he welcome change and accepted his father, letting in the love and acceptance his father trying to give him all this time.
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