Since mid-July, the AlDub segment on noontime show “Eat Bulaga” has been growing into a pop-culture storm that is revolutionizing Philippine television, advertising, and social media.
The game-changing “kalyeserye” (a portmanteau combining the Tagalog words for “street” and “series”) repeats the so-called Pacquiao effect: it keeps people glued to their TV sets, it is on newspaper front pages, and it stops traffic and work.
Last Saturday, after 55,000 lined up to get inside the country’s largest indoor stadium, the five-hour “Sa Tamang Panahon” show was aired without commercials, “a very powerful move from ‘Eat Bulaga’, one that speaks of its commanding and enduring presence on Philippine television,” said Elmer Gatchalian, a writer who worked for GMA Network for 10 years before moving in 2010 to TV5, where he is head writer for “LolaBasyang.com” and “#ParangNormalActivity”.
But how was “Eat Bulaga” able to do that?
The 36-year-old noontime show has always been a big force, “a prized real estate” on Philippine television, according to advertising executive Vincent Pozon.
“Eat Bulaga” producers always have their ears to the ground. When he’s had to approach the show for commercial segments that advertising clients want to do in the show, Pozon said its producers would refuse to accept a proposal in toto, insisting on “making it work, tweaking” the concept, turning it into “paid or branded content.”
The boy-next-door charm of Alden Richards and the wholesome quirkiness of Maine “YayaDub” Mendoza — relatable, positive traits which advertisers want to be associated with — also helped push “Eat Bulaga” to have, what Gatchalian called, the ability to “dictate the ‘no commercial break’ rule during the entire airing of ‘Sa Tamang Panahon’.”
“Bukod sa may natural kilig yung tandem nila, higit sa lahat, maganda ang image nila. Alden and Maine are ‘mukhang mabait’ at ‘likas na mabuting anak, kapatid, at katrabaho.’ Wala pa tayong nababalitaan na naging rude sila sa fans. Halos lahat ng nababasa kong tweets, nagkukuwento kung gaano kabait si Maine sa fans niya and how she reached out to one of them in particular,” he said.
(“Aside from the natural high that their tandem creates, most of all, their image is good. Alden and Maine ‘look good’ and look like ‘naturally good children, siblings, and co-workers.’ We’ve had no news of them being rude to their fans. Most of the tweets I’ve read tell of how good Maine is to her fans and in particular, how she reached out to one of them.”)
“That story about a 60-year-old lolo who lined up for six hours just to buy ‘Sa Tamang Panahon’ tickets is one of the most touching fan-idol interactions. Even si Alden, all praises sa kanya ang mga katrabaho nya. Bonus na lang na pareho silang good-looking (his co-workers are all praises for him. That they’re both good-looking is a bonus),” he added.
In contrast, other young stars have been caught in social media acting like brats. Enrique Gil, for one, allegedly had a video of getting drunk inside a plane and James Reid, a picture of giving the dirty finger.
“Ang layo di ba (So different, right)?” Gatchalian said. “Alden and Maine are redefining what it means to be ‘artista’,” he added.
If they used to be “elusive, unreachable, and snobbish,” the AlDub protagonists are seeing fans go crazy for “kinder, more approachable, more sincere, and morally upright citizens.”
“So for some stars perceived to be negative or not ‘mabait’ (good), we might be seeing the end of their careers as artistas or product endorsers,” Gatchalian said.
PERFECT MATCH, PERFECT TIMING
Usually, television programs that rate high “need to crawl in the gutter, use the vulgar and the vile, skin and slapstick,” said advertising guru Pozon.
In contrast, AlDub was “born and (is) staged in the street, with two live audiences, street and studio, (with) very loose storyline led by unscripted events. No bad values,” he added.
Gatchalian said it another way: “Kaya rin pumatok ang AlDub kasi (AlDub is a hit because) I think they are the complete antithesis of manufactured stars and love teams. Their unexpected and innately potent chemistry is a breath of fresh air in local showbiz that is so used to manufacturing kilig.”
Riding on traditional media, both the segment and the show have tapped into the social media principles of freshness and boldness, and the enduring qualities of authenticity and expectation.
“The whole thing was born when the whole world watched a girl blush on television,” said Pozon.
“Eat Bulaga” saw the audience reaction and ran away with it building on this first blush with standard teleserye plots, which Gatchalian listed as: ampon (foundling), long-lost daughter, diary, hostage-taking, lola as kontrabida (villain), against-all-odds love story of Yaya and Alden, etc.
AlDub is so phenomenal it is making the rest of television passe.
“It is so new, the world will study this phenomenon,” said Pozon.
“Aldub’s persistent and pervasive relevance has the tendency to make all other celebs, love teams, and TV shows irrelevant…Niluluma niya ang lahat ng mga love team, artista at TV show sa ngayon. So producers of TV content have to really up the ante in terms of innovative storytelling and content production,” said Gatchalian.
The kalyeserye is also a parody, a lampoon, an exaggeration of soap conventions, Gatchalian said. And this would have an impact on the future of teleseryes.
On top of this self-mockery, the yeast that’s making AlDub grow like no other may be respect — for the protagonists (perhaps because Maine is from a well-off family) and most especially for the audience.
“The magic comes from the conditions from which it sprang: respect for what is organic, an ear to the ground on what is working, a respect for the audience,” said Pozon.
AlDub occupies the still-undefined space in television and pop culture, balancing reality and make-believe, giving respectful distance to whatever relationship is developing between Maine and Alden (if any), between reality and make-believe, between romantic-comedy and suspense-drama.
“Somebody in there (‘Eat Bulaga’) is thinking, ‘We’re not going with what worked in the past, we’re not going with experience or what is world-class. We’re going to keep a respectful distance and watch this blossom and we will water and take care of it,’” said Pozon.
“I am sure there is a tug-o-war between scriptwriting it and giving it space,” he added.
The timing was also perfect. “They are the love team of this millennial and social media-obsessed generation. And I think ‘Eat Bulaga’ has found an enduring brand with AlDub — and they were found by a new audience too,” said Gatchalian.
So what is next for Alden and Maine? “I can’t imagine how their legions of fans would react if they are denied of a real-life happy ending for AlDub,” said Gatchalian.
source: interaksyon.com
