Joke on Pinoy children goes viral

MANILA, Philippines -  Canadian and Britain-based comedienne Katherine Ryan received flak from Filipino netizens when she used Filipino children as joke fodder during her guest spot at BBC Two’s Mock the Week.

The show’s theme during the episode asked stand-up comedians to deliver “Unlikely lines from a cosmetics commercial” impromptu.

During Ryan’s second turn, she quipped, “We don’t test any of our products on animals, we use Filipino children.”

This triggered an onslaught of negative reactions from Filipinos in social media, including a 39-second video clip of the show titled “BBC TV Mock on Filipino Children: NOT FUNNY AT ALL!!!!” that drew 31,948 views on YouTube. 

One of the first to react to the joke on Twitter was TV host Kat de Castro, which Ryan addressed immediately.

“@kathbum: @KatDeCastro I have jokes about my own child. I’m genuinely sorry to upset you but the joke wasn’t ON Filipino children or any children,” Ryan said.

According to the comedienne, the context of the joke is not about the exploitation of children but the lines that “you’d be very unlikely to hear” from cosmetics commercial.

“Pious company sells sells sells. Says they don’t do bad things. Meanwhile they’re doing something worse. Filipino children = ADORABLE,” Ryan pointed out.

She added, “I’m sorry if anyone understood anything different. I really am. I could have said Irish/Canadian but we’re not as cute.”