Digital magic

Happy New Year! Here’s looking forward to a year full of surprises for all of us. I sure hope they all will be good ones!

Last Friday (New Year’s Eve) when Filipinos were waiting for the clock to strike twelve, I noticed how polluted the air has become as fireworks continue to lighten up the skies during this moment of great revelry. I know this is nothing new but I think it has become worse than in the previous years, especially now that all those beautiful boxed fireworks are readily available for everyone to purchase. Surmise to say that our government still allows the sale of fireworks despite the seemingly conscious efforts of the authorities to minimize if not totally ban the use of it. Obviously our government thinks it is okay for the country to be polluted in this once a year celebration.

Pollution is just one of the many environmental problems we face today that contributes to the worsening scenario of climate change. I think it’s about time the government takes this matter seriously and perhaps before the next New Year’s Eve celebration, they should be able to device a plan to welcome it – in a “save the earth” fashion-mode to protect the environment and to keep us all safe from harm.

New York City has a traditional New Year crystal ball that is decorated every year in different digital lights. The screen behind and beside the ball show firework display in digital impressions which are magnificently produced in sharp colors. And the best part is that everyone is happy and content. It is a perception that almost feels like a reality! Thanks to the magic of technology.

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It is already the third day of the New Year, the first official working day of the year so it is still early enough for Filipinos to consider the importance of truth as a concept of reality – a fundamental guidepost for living our lives; something we should steadfastly hold on to in every thing and in every way.

Hopefully, this year people should resolve to give truth a deeper meaning in our lives. In fact, it is really about time we do this because one reason we remain the basket case of Asia is that we have come to a point that we no longer really care about the truth. Indeed we no longer even give any credence to that Biblical reality that only the truth will set us free. Truth has become for most of us nothing more than an empty word that no longer holds any realistic consequence in our lives.

All who shun away from the need for true and real value in life, and these most especially are the major purveyors of mass information in our society, should hopefully now resolve to mend their ways and amend the manner they perform their jobs without any concept of moral liability, social concern, personal responsibility nor sense of guilt. In particular, these are media groups – public relations practitioners, publicists, advertising agencies, spokespersons, endorsers not to mention public officials who campaign, market and promote products or people for that matter.

Take the matter of ‘Truth in Advertising’, a principle that is more breached than observed in practice. In subtle ways it shows, that whatever is advertised about a product usually has nothing to do with the product in its real essence.

Digital magic and the art of taking magnificent pictures give us the perception that everything is real. This is the danger of a phenomenal discovery of which we must learn to use without misleading consumers and distorting the truth.

These days when advertisers have taken to using celebrities as endorsers of their products, it is so easy for consumers to believe and succumbed to buying the product without due consideration for health and safety. Television ads showing delicious food products, shiny hair, silky smooth white skin, etc. – have such powerful effect on the young and old alike. Without even thinking, we tend to believe what we see almost forgetting what we don’t see. But it is really the youth who often fall as victims of such magic. The campaign works to the advantage of the advertisers and their clients. Honestly, they do a pretty good job. But in retrospect we are all fooled especially by substandard products. And this is where the problem lies: Where does the “magic” end and reality begin?

I salute those companies who stick to their word of truth and honor. They have shown responsibility toward their patrons and have stayed credible to all – achieving levels of prestige and consumer confidence. We shouldn’t be swept easily by glitz and glamour. Instead we must learn to demand good products for that matter. I wonder why the DTI seems to be weak in implementing controls in the systems to protect the consumers.

I write about this because during the holiday season, we have been crowded and overstocked with way too many “cheap” (poor grade) goodies. I also realized that in the end we fell in the trap of purchasing lousy items which easily break, cause fire or worsen our health (even if the product says its good for your health). I really do not know what the role of our government is in protecting the citizens in this area. I guess it has become a state of “buy it at your own risk”. Susmariosep!

What does the Philippine Association of National Advertisers (PANA) have to say about this seeming violation of the industry’s code of ethics that promotes “truth in advertising”? Isn’t there an Ad Standards Council (ASC) that screens advertisements for consumer products? What about the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI)? Is it not the primary government agency with the dual mission of facilitating the creation of a business environment wherein participants could compete, flourish, and succeed and at the same time, ensure consumer welfare?

Does P-Noy and DTI Secretary Gregory L. Domingo think that it is enough that they have found a solution to a faster business name on-line registration using the Electronic Business Name Registration System? What about the quality of the products marketed by these business establishments? Shouldn’t they also ensure that consumers get their money’s worth?

If you think commercial advertising is direly lacking in truthfulness, don’t be surprised to learn there are even greater and perhaps more deleteriously misleading impacts in the less than truthful ‘public’ pronouncements of government officials regarding their ‘achievements’. But that is another story to tell.

As we look forward to the New Year, let us take extraordinary measures in using digital technology in the right way. Let us continue to be grounded, keeping that desire of achieving prosperity but with sincerity in our hearts.