Color of money: Are brands buying into or cashing in on the LGBT community?

MANILA, Philippines — In July 2016, Smart Communications — the wireless arm of telco giant PLDT, Inc. — came out with a heart-warming TV advertisement targeting a market that had long been ignored by many companies.

In the TV ad, a gay man was debating whether he would accept his father’s friend request on Facebook. As he scrolls through his Facebook profile filled with pictures of him and his partner, the son finally decided to hit the “confirm” button.

“Dad, inaccept na kita (Dad, I’ve accepted you),” read the gay son’s message to his father.

“Anak ako rin (Me too, son),” the father replied. The ad, which went viral on social media, ends with this message: Break barriers for new beginnings.

Five months later, PLDT’s rival Globe Telecom, Inc. released a gay-themed commercial for its international roaming service. The Globe ad features a Pinoy tourist who was smitten by a Thai boy in Bangkok.

With the recent emergence of LGBT-targeted ads in the Philippines, are businesses in Asia’s biggest nominally Catholic nation starting to realize that tapping the gay market makes financial sense?

The ‘pink’ market

Many LGBTs exercise a big role in decision-making in the family, including finances, and some companies in the Philippines are now acknowledging the community’s buying power, which "should never be ignored," said Niño Jose Gonzales, a copywriter at advertising agency BBDO Guerrero.

But Gonzales said businesses in the country “still have a long way to go” especially in creating more LGBT-oriented ads.

In 2015, homegrown fashion brand Bench stirred up controversy when it blacked out the hands of a gay couple for an ad on a billboard on EDSA-Guadalupe, triggering a social media campaign called #PaintTheirHandsBack.

According to reports, Bench later explained that its billboard — which was used to promote the company’s "Love All Kinds of Love" campaign — was not defaced as initially assumed by social media users but censored because the Ad Standards Council "rejected photos of the couple looking lovingly at one another, citing ‘traditional Filipino family values’ as a reason."

Niche market in a conservative country

Meanwhile, many firms don’t see the need to target the LGBT market, arguing that members of the community are already included in the male and female population.

Many corporations are also hesitant to spend millions on ad campaigns targeting a minority sector.

"I think pink money has always been there. As we humans have diverse interests and priorities, members of the LGBT will spend on and distribute their pink money on things that they need and hobbies that interests them. We go to the gym. We spend on groceries. We go on vacation, the list continues," Gonzales, who also teaches marketing and advertising at De La Salle University in Manila, told Philstar.com.

"But to have companies cater exclusively to a niche market, especially in a conservative country like ours, is not yet common," he added.

Results of the “Project Pink” study conducted in 2011 by the Philippine Survey Research Center (PSRC) showed one in 20 Metro Manila residents openly identifies as a member of the LGBT community.

Adding those who are “in the closet,” actual numbers would be higher.

“Interestingly, bisexuals and transgendered individuals have significantly higher purchasing power than straight people,” Andrea Dizon, PSRC associate account director, was quoted as saying in a 2013 article by BusinessWorld. “In fact, awareness for brands is higher among the LGBTs.”

'Most products are biological gender specific'

But for Jade Ilagan, strategy director at independent advertising agency IdeasXMachina, measuring the power of pink money is a difficult task.

"In terms of pink money, I am not so sure about the power it has currently. I don’t think also that there is a way to gauge it as most products, if not all, are still biological gender specific,” Ilagan explained in a separate interview with Philstar.com.

"Take for example sanitary napkins. This product will always benefit from money coming from women, regardless if they are members of the LGBT. I am unaware of products that are sexuality-specific," he added.

"In terms of advertising, I think we are currently doing it. We’ve seen commercials from Bench, Smart, that focus on LGBT-related topics like coming out and acceptance. These forms of advertising could be the ones that encourage purchase from pink money, although it still couldn’t be exclusive," he continued.

Cashing in on Pride month?

LGBT Pride is celebrated in more than 60 countries every year, mostly in June.

This month, companies like Adidas and H&M created rainbow merch to mark the celebration of the Pride movement — a stark contrast to the past when businesses were afraid to associate their brand with LGBT marches and parades.

"I do agree that Philippine companies are now slowly showing their support towards the LGBT community. We see campaigns that foster inclusivity and acceptance towards gay people," BBDO Guerrero's Gonzales said.

"I just hope that these efforts come from well-meaning intentions rather than just a ploy to attract the community for us to support the brands that label themselves as our ally. We know a good soul when we see one," he added.

With big and small businesses wanting a bite of the LGBT market, advocates fear corporations are exploiting a group that has been historically neglected.

Ging Cristobal, project coordinator for Asia at OutRight Action International, said that while LGBT-targeted ads give visibility, companies must tread lightly to avoid perpetuating stereotypes that may further harm the gay community.

Last year's Pride March included statements on the political climate in the Philippines as well as support for workers who were on strike against a condiments giant. With this year's emphasis that Pride is a protest, the community is even more on guard against being used by corporate brands.

A march on Friday to commemorate the 1969 Stonewall riots in New York also put the spotlight on labor contractualization, issues of Philippine sovereignty, and alleged attacks on farming communities, alternative news website Bulatlat.com reports.

The same report quotes "Marky" of LGBTQIA+ group Kasarianlan as saying the community cannot be free until everyone is "because every sector has a member of [the community], be it on the peasants’ sector, fisherfolks, a contractual employee or a student."

Is visibility enough?

The visibility that "pink" ads bring may also not be enough to muster support for legislation that aim to protect the LGBT community, Cristobal also said, adding that it is still up to advocates to convince and educate lawmakers.

In the Philippines, the Senate failed to tackle the anti-discrimination bill before the 17th Congress ended.

The proposed Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression Equality (SOGIE) bill was meant to address, penalize and prohibit "discrimination, marginalization, and violence on the basis of sexual orientation, or gender identity or expression" and to promote non-discrimination through government programs and initiatives.

According to House Bill 4982, sexual orientation is to whom "emotional, sexual attraction, or conduct" is directed while gender identity is "the personal sense of identity as characterized, among others, by manner of clothing, inclinations, an behavior in relation to masculine or feminine conventions."

Gender expression, meanwhile, is "the communication of gender identity through means such as behavior, clothing, and hairstyles, communication, or body characteristics."

Senators—including Sen. Manny Pacquiao, who is known to base his legislative positions on the Bible—were cool to the idea. Pacquiao argued on the Senate floor in 2017 that "even in the Bible, we can read that women should wear women's clothes and men should wear men's clothes."

He said that not doing so could lead to "fraud" and even put LGBT people in danger, implying that the death of transwoman Jennifer Laude at the hands of US Marine Joseph Scott Pemberton was because she had "fooled" him.

Even President Rodrigo Duterte, who has been quoted as saying LGBT people should not be ashamed of who they are, uses gay as a slur, claiming in February that 40% of communist rebels are gay, and in December 2018 that 90% of priests are.

Had the Senate passed the bill and had it been signed into law, it would have penalized discrimination in, for example, hiring and advancement at work and in refusing services because of a person's SOGIE.

It would also have prohibited and punished "harassment, coercion, or threats from members of institutions involved in law enforcement and the protection of rights on the basis of SOGIE" as well as "outing" someone without their consent.

The 19-year-old measure — which hurdled the House of Representatives in 2017 — will have to be re-filed in the next Congress like other pending bills.

More progress has been made on a local level, with Transgender Philippines noting in 2017 that anti-discrimination ordinances have been passed in 15 cities and one town—including Quezon City and the regional centers of Baguio City, Cebu City, and Davao City.

At the provincial level, Agusan del Norte, Batangas, Cavite, Dinagat Islands, and Iloilo have similar ordinances.

Good intentions, not-so-good execution

Meanwhile, a June 2018 Social Weather Stations survey found that 61% of Filipinos say they will oppose any law that will allow civil union of same-sex couples.

"Capitalism and the ads that businesses create can give visibility. But the question is: What kind of visibility? Do they perpetuate and maintain the stereotypes or do they go beyond the stereotypes and help LGBT activism — maybe show balanced information, balanced messaging?" Cristobal told Philstar.com in a mix of English and Filipino.

"Sometimes, businesses and capitalists don’t know better... Their intention is good but the execution is not that good because they are unwittingly perpetuating stereotypes, thereby causing further discrimination and abuse," Cristobal added.

"The right move is for businesses to engage with activists so they’ll know what will help the community... Advertising agencies should also engage with activists and attend workshops on SOGIE so we can influence how they will execute the campaign of that particular company," Cristobal also said.

source: philstar.com

My Kid's Drowning in Credit Card Debt! What Do I Do?

If you trusted your son or daughter to keep track of their finances, and they slipped up, what in the world are you supposed to do?

Let's say they've racked up a big, nasty credit card debt -- to the tune of thousands of dollars. Should you pay off their debts to help keep their credit score above water? Or is it better to let them learn from their mistakes and suffer the consequences? Though each individual situation is different, here are your options, what's at stake, and a few pointers to help you plot your course of action.  



A Personal Loan, With a Contract

If you have the means, think about whether or not you want to loan your daughter the money. Sometimes her debt is manageable enough that you can pay it off in the form of a personal loan to your daughter. You can charge her interest as well, so she learns just how much a high APR can cost her.

But you have to examine the situation from a lender's perspective, rather than simply write a check and expect she'll make payments. What is her employment situation? Will she be able to make payments to you without the security blanket of your relationship making her complacent? Has she typically been a responsible spender in the past, or does she impulsively purchase on a grand scale regularly? If you do decide to help protect her credit history, it's a smart idea to sign a contract with your daughter to make your agreement more official and binding.

If You Co-Signed, You're on the Hook

If you co-signed on your son's account, you're responsible for his credit card debt. Because of regulations passed in the CARD Act of 2009, it's more difficult for young adults to qualify for credit cards, so more and more parents are co-signing on accounts and acting as guarantors for their children. If you've already taken that step, you should hopefully have realized that your son's purchases will affect your credit, regardless of your involvement.



 In this case, it may be more prudent to pay off the debt if you can, cancel his account, and work together to come up with a payment plan to rectify the situation and make sure it never happens again. If you haven't co-signed yet, sit down for a serious conversation with your son on your values and financial responsibility.

Lessons to Be Learned?

Bad credit now will impact her financial future later, but so will bad habits. If your daughter doesn't learn from her mistakes now, there could be bigger and more damaging mistakes ahead. Will bailing your daughter out of her financial mess with creditors make her realize the gravity of her mistake? Or will you just end up fostering her sense of dependence on you? You won't always be there, wallet in hand to save her, so if she can manage to take the credit hit, perhaps it's best to let her learn her lesson this time, and give her some tough love.

Communication Is Key

Loaning money to someone you love is always, always messy. While your son should intellectually know that your love is unconditional (which is why your help comes so willingly), for him, it's emotionally very difficult to face your parents when you owe them money. Plenty of relationships have been ruined by debts of personal loans, both from neglected payments and feelings of shame. Be sure that if you choose to help your son, you commit to maintaining an open dialogue and doing your best to keep business and family separate.

Ultimately, each family and financial situation is different. But before you make a plan to tackle your son or daughter's debt, you need to examine the situation from all angles. There are many factors in play, but above all, your relationship and your child's sense of responsibility from this learning experience should be at the forefront of your mind.

source: dailyfinance.com

Review of Last Chance Millionaire

Douglas Andrew’s book targets the baby boomer generation and tries to convince them that it is not too late to become a millionaire and avoid living on soup kitchen handouts to survive retirement. That’s a pretty tall order and a lot of authors have failed at this exact same premise. While Andrew’s book is well written and contains some good advice, there is just not enough here to make it stand out from the other books in this overcrowded field.

The first part of the book is dedicated to the art of financial planning and if you can wade through it to get to the parts you really want to read – bravo. Personally, he spent far too much time covering this area and it started to feel a bit like filler halfway through. With a catchy title, most readers are going to want the goods pretty quickly and forcing them to sit through half a book of financial planning advice is not a good idea if you want them to stay connected.

He constantly stresses frugality and the importance of not consuming. Well – good luck with that. We all have to consume, and if we didn’t the economy would implode. I’m certainly not saying we should all throw caution to the wind and spend every last dime, but over-frugality doesn’t make much sense either. It’s the happy medium that counts when it comes to managing your finances, not the extremes.

Once he does finally get to the point, you’re treated to advice that you should rip your money out of its nice safe little IRA and throw it into life insurance investments. It doesn’t take long to wonder whether the author has a vested interest in this since the tone of the book shifts to a full on sales pitch. While life insurance investments can be useful, it’s certainly not a good idea to go blow your entire IRA on them. Another disturbing point is the fact that he acknowledges that tax laws for life insurance investments “may” be changing and he “thinks” that if you invest now, you’ll be grandfathered in.

I’m sorry but “think” is not enough to get me to cash in my IRA, thank you very much. While he does include some figures to illustrate his points, in my opinion, this is simply far too much to ask of any reader. In addition, while he did cover the importance of annuities, and other safe investments, there was no attention paid to the importance of having more than one source of income.

Baby boomers are being phased out rapidly from companies all across the country and many are finding that financial ruin is looming after being laid off. There is also a lack of advice on how to leverage debt (which is vital for readers that may not have plush savings accounts) to create more income for retirement.

The book failed on many fronts, and honestly, I cannot recommend it to anyone.

source: richcreditdebtloan.com

6 Changes Coming to Social Security Next Year

Every year, about this time, we start looking to the coming year, and what changes will be coming for our finances. Many aspects of our finances are affected by the changes put into place each year. The IRS announces tax brackets, we learn about new contribution limits on tax-advantaged retirement accounts, and we find out about other benefits, including Social Security.

The coming year, 2013, promises to be interesting on a number of levels. Changes are coming in health care as some of the provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act come into play, and as contribution limits — including those on IRAs for the first time in a few years — head higher. There are also quite a few changes coming to Social Security in 2013.

Here are some of the items that you can expect to be different, starting next year:

1. Payroll Tax Cut Means Higher FICA/Social Security Taxes

You probably don’t realize it, but you have been enjoying a tax break. For the last couple of years, there has been a payroll tax cut in place. Instead of paying 6.2% in FICA/Social Security taxes with your paycheck, you have been paying 4.2%. That is money that has been in your paycheck, but won’t be, starting in 2013. (Unless Congress does something about it, of course.)

2. Cost of Living Increase

An announcement of a cost of living increase, amounting to 1.7% has been made. The Social Security Administration makes these adjustments when it feels as though inflation is having an impact. On average, a Social Security check is expected to increase by $21 in 2013.

3. No More Paper Checks

Our society is moving toward a greater integration of technology when it comes to money. The government is on board as well, eliminating paper checks along with the rest of us. Starting on March 1, 2013, the U.S. Treasury will no longer mail checks. You need to arrange for direct deposit to your bank account, or you need to get a Direct Express Debit MasterCard. If you haven’t chosen an option by March, you will receive a pre-paid debit card.

4. Increased Amount of Income Subject to Tax

High earners don’t see their entire income subject to Social Security taxes. Instead, you are only taxed on a certain amount of your earnings. In 2012, earners only paid Social Security taxes on the first $110,100 of income. In 2013, that amount goes up to $113,700. That means that you will pay more in taxes, since a greater portion of your income will be taxed.

5. Higher Earnings Limit

One of the complications associated with receiving Social Security benefits goes along with working while collecting benefits. You are limited as to how much you can earn before you start seeing some of that money withheld from your Social Security payments. For 2013, you can earn up to $15,210 when you are under your full retirement age without penalty.

6. Bigger Maximum Possible Benefit

The longer you wait to collect Social Security, the better your monthly benefit. If you wait until your “full retirement age,” rather than collecting as soon as the government will let you, you can see a better benefit. For 2013, that maximum possible benefit increases to $2,533.

In many cases, these changes are relatively small. However, they add up over time. Be aware of the changes coming to Social Security and make your own adjustments to deal with them.

source: bargaineering.com

Using a Secured Card to Rebuild Your Credit

Sometimes, things happen and your credit takes a hit. Whether you have made some serious mistakes, or whether you have weathered a financial emergency like a job loss or a medical problem, you might need to repair your credit.

Indeed, your credit situation has a great deal of influence on the rest of your financial situation. Loans cost you more when you have poor credit, and even your insurance rates and other costs can be influenced by your credit situation.


One of the fastest ways to rebuild your credit is with the help of a credit card. Because credit card information is regularly reported to the credit bureaus, you can speed up the rate at which you see solid improvement to your score. Unfortunately, if your credit situation is especially poor, you may not be able to qualify for a “regular” credit card.

In those cases, you might need to turn to a secured credit card in order to help rebuild your credit.

What is a Secured Credit Card?

A secured credit card, or a guaranteed credit card, is one that requires you to provide collateral in order to gain approval. Nearly anyone can be approved for a secured credit card, but you have to guarantee your line of credit with cash. Most of the time, you are required to deposit a certain amount of money into an account connected to your guaranteed credit card. If you miss payments, the credit card issuer can take money from your account, and use it to pay what you owe.

Most of the time, a secured credit card requires that you put in an amount of money that corresponds to your credit limit. Some guaranteed cards, though, don’t require you to put in as much. You might only have to guarantee the card with a percentage of your credit line. In any case, it’s a good idea to find out what is required of you before you sign up for a secured credit card.

You should also be aware that using a secured credit card will come with relatively high costs. You will pay a higher interest rate if you carry a balance, and you might be subject to a battery of fees, including activation fees, annual fees, and other fees. You need to be on your guard when it comes to secured credit cards. They can be useful tools when you have no other option for building your credit, but you need to use them carefully.

How to Use a Secured Card to Rebuild Your Credit

Using your secured credit card to rebuild your credit requires planning and patience. First of all, make sure that you are actually getting a secured credit card. A prepaid debit card is not the same thing. At first glance, they might appear to be the same thing, but they really aren’t. A prepaid debit card won’t report your payments to the credit bureaus, so you won’t see improvement. Verify that you are actually using a guaranteed credit card, and that the issuer will report your history to the credit bureaus.

Once you have your secured card, you need to use it. Realize that the money in the savings account is only collateral. You should make your regular payments with other funds, and not rely on the money being held as a guarantee. Make one or two small purchases each month with your secured credit card. Then, pay off the purchases. Make sure you only buy what you already have money for. You don’t want to carry a balance.

After a few months (usually between nine and 12), you can ask if you can convert your secured card to a “regular” unsecured credit card. Many secured cards offer this option to consumers who make regular payments and show themselves responsible. Even if you can’t convert, as long as you make all your payments on time, and you are up to date on your other bills as well, you should be able to try to apply for — and qualify for — an unsecured card.

Responsible financial habits are vital to the process of rebuilding your credit. If you are careful, you can use a secured credit card to demonstrate your level of financial responsibility, and improve your situation.

source: financialhighway.com

How to know it’s time to consider bankruptcy

ARE you being harassed by your creditors day and night due to unpaid bills? If you are, you know that this is a pretty unpleasant experience. You may feel scared, angry or embarrassed about your situation. The prospect of debt relief through bankruptcy may sound appealing to you but you are not quite sure if this is really the way to go. Perhaps you have heard good things and bad things about bankruptcy and you need to learn more about it before making a decision.

But just how can you tell when it’s time to make that move and declare bankruptcy? Of course, situations vary and whether or not bankruptcy is your best alternative will depend on the facts and circumstances of your case. But generally, the answer has to do with your ability to pay, which means that you need to consider your income, expenses, your assets and the amount of your debt. You also need to look at the types of debt you have.  For example, if you are dealing with nothing but IRS taxes and they type of taxes you have cannot be wiped out in bankruptcy, you may have other options in solving your tax problems besides filing for bankruptcy.

Generally speaking, however, here are a few questions you should be asking yourself to help you assess whether it’s time for you to consider filing for bankruptcy:  (1) Are you struggling to pay even the minimum payments on your credit cards? (2) Have you started borrowing money just to be able to cover your basic living expenses such as rent or mortgage, food, gas, etc? (3) Have you lost track of how much you owe? (4) Are bill collectors calling you because you have accounts in collection? (5) Have creditors taken legal action against you such as filing a lawsuit, obtained a judgment and threatening to garnish your wages or levy your bank account?

If you said “yes” to any or most of the above, you could be in a financial danger zone and you need to take action as soon as possible before your financial problems get worse. It may be time to face your financial reality instead of pretending that everything is “OK”. Perhaps you’ve been ignoring your pile of bills and the collection calls. But you’re only going to be able to do this for so long. Sooner or later, you need to face your creditors and do something to change your situation.

I believe that bankruptcy should be a last resort and that you need to exhaust all debt relief options before resorting to it. But I also believe that a lot of people put off the decision to file bankruptcy for too long that they needlessly suffer in debt when they could have acted sooner to rebuild their finances and their life.

Since 1997, I have helped thousands of clients get out of debt. Let me help you determine if bankruptcy is right for your situation. Call Toll-Free 1-866-477-7772 to schedule a free office consultation. We have offices in Glendale, Cerritos, West Covina and Valencia.

source: asianjournal.com