McDonalds pull out their BF-GF ads on Wednesday after the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines called for them to stop airing it, Inquirer reports.
According to CBCP, this ad featuring a little girl asking a little boy if she could be his girlfriend, sends a wrong message to young kids.
Transcript of the ad goes:
girl kid: girlfriend mo na ba ako?
boy kid: ayoko nga…di pa ako ready ehh
girl kid: huh?!
boy kid: demanding ang mga girlfriend….gusto ganito, gusto ganyan,…ewan!!
girl kid: gusto ko lang naman ng McDo fries ehh
boy kid : talaga??
girl kid: (nod while smiling)
I have no objection on this ad being stopped…yet it is true that this ad might send a wrong signal on young kids regarding the shallowness of relationships, we cannot deny the fact that there are plethora of advertisements out there sending worse messages than this, which the kids are exposed to every single day. Say for example, implicit messages on sexualized advertisements, which based on studies suggest objectification of women. Even noontime shows featuring groups of scantily clad dancers, send the same messages to kids. And unfortunately, some parents are even proud to see their young boys and girls emulating the way these dancers sashayed their butts.
Children may not only be exposed in one ad and change their belief systems all at once. Even before this ad came out, children have been witnessing so many pollutants on the boob tube, most of them have been neglected by grown-ups.
If the CBCP would really guard Filipino families, especially children, against negative messages seen on TV, then McDo ad should not be the beginning and ending of their role as “morality” police. This bold move of CBCP should strengthen their advocacy on child-friendly TV…otherwise it can be concluded that they have singled out McDo among the many because — –wala lang, trip lang!
