I FIRST heard the expression from David Tanner, country manager of Beecham Products at the time that our ad agency was helping the British corporate giant establish a foothold in the Philippines.
Beecham was the maker of Brylcreem, a leading men’s hairdressing, back in those days when shiny slicked-back hair, a-la Valentino and Diosdado Macapagal, was the fashion. To achieve that look, men used pomade or brilliantine or a hair cream, like Brylcreem, on their precious locks. Brylcreem’s highly successful ad slogan was, “A little dab’ll do ya.”
Tanner recounted how a competitive brand, Vitalis Hair Tonic, decided to disparage Brylcreem by referring to it as “that greasy kid stuff.” The obvious objective of Vitalis was to down-position Brylcreem and displace it as market leader. But this strategy fell into the trap of unintended consequences.
“The greasy hair campaign woke up sleeping dogs,” said Tanner. According to him, consumers realized that hair using “greasy stuff’ was not as desirable as clean, naturally soft, wind-blown hair. Consequently, any cream or lotion used on the hair was also perceived as ‘greasy ‘or, at least, unnecessary and undesirable –and that included Vitalis.
That triggered a decline in the sales of men’s hair dressings, recalled Tanner. I distinctly remember that, being an avid user then of Tancho Tique, a product that could have doubled-up as floor wax or glue. All of a sudden, it was no longer fashionable to have greasy, sticky or shiny hair and Tancho Tique disappeared from the market.
Tanner’s marketing advice was simple enough: Unless your brand has established a solid gold image, watch out when you disparage a flaw of competition. The consumers might look for the same flaw in your brand. That’s waking up sleeping dogs.
Tanner could have given that advice to Alan Peter Cayetano and Antonio Trillanes, as well as Mar Roxas. Like Roxas, Cayetano and Trillanes, the chief tormentors of Binay, have declared their aspirations for the presidency. But recent public opinion polls conducted by Pulse Asia and Novo Trend, a new research company, may have dashed their dreams – and confirmed the wisdom of not waking up sleeping dogs.
By raking up the issue of corruption against Binay, they may have unwittingly called attention to corruption in their own ranks.
In the first place, their timing was bad. Corruption had already become a hot topic for media in the wake of the Napoles, pork barrel and DAP revelations. The accusations against Binay further fueled the issue of corruption bedeviling the Aquino government, thus besmirching the Liberal Party and politicians in general. Roxas, Cayetano and Trillanes have not been spared.
While they have succeeded in eroding the image of Binay, shown in the sharp decline in his trust and performance rating and in the reduced percentage of preference for him as a presidential aspirant, the three have fared even worse. In the recent Pulse Asia survey on presidential preferences, Cayetano rated a measly 3%, with Trillanes not even being mentioned. In a Novo Trend survey in Metro Manila, Trillanes rated a miserable 1.6%. In the case of Roxas, the recent poll shows him tumbling 7 points from 13 to 6%.
These survey results may be a reflection of the current attitude of the masses, as pointed out in a recent email sent from Manila by FilAm community leader Gus Mercado of Dallas, Texas to Rodel Rodis and Ted Laguatan of US Pinoys for Good Governance. The group campaigned actively in the last presidential elections as US Pinoys for Noynoy-Mar. Because Gus furnished me a copy of his email, I’m taking the liberty of quoting from it:
“So much political turmoil here and more to come…If the country falls into the wrong hands in two years – which remains a big likelihood given the strong popularity of the dark side among the “masa” (just ask the taxi cab drivers who listen to political high-drama all day long and they will say – ‘lahat sila magnanakaw, di mabuti pa iyong magnanakaw na maka-masa’ (Robin Hood).”
He was obviously referring to Binay. Relentlessly attacked for alleged corruption while mayor of Makati, Binay attributes his election to the vice-presidency to his track record in more than two decades as chief executive of the city. No other local government can claim the kind of benefits to its residents provided by Makati, including free education and free health care. Binay’s beneficence has also extended to several provincial towns and cities in connection with his Sister Cities program.
In the new Pulse Asia survey, in spite of a marked decline in rating, Binay continues to lead the pack of “presidentiables” with 26%. To add insult to injury, Roxas and Cayetano (and Trillanes in the Novo Trend survey) have even fared worse than Miriam Defensor-Santiago (12%), Erap Estrada (10%) and Chiz Escudero (7%).
What is interesting is the case of Grace Poe-Llamanzares. From 10% in the September Pulse study, Poe’s numbers leaped to 18% in the latest survey.
Described by the media as a “surge,” Poe’s popularity may be attributed to her creditable performance in the Senate and the sentimental memory of her late father, Fernando Poe, Jr. But I daresay that Poe has also been perceived as a wholesome contrast to the arrogance of Trillanes and the self-serving flip-flopping of Cayetano.
For sure, the poll surveys are not immutable. The results can change dramatically over the next several months and, even more so, when the starting gun is fired on the actual 2016 election campaign.
Even Mar Roxas should not be discounted as a viable presidential contender. The power of money should never be taken for granted, as well as the machinery of the Liberal Party and the possible “Garcification” of the Comelec.
That last factor – a possible repeat of the infamous “Hello Garci” poll scam – is a harsh reality in Philippine politics. If Grace Poe were to run for president, she could experience a reprise of her father’s fate.
Another factor is lack of time to build an effective campaign machinery and establish a grassroots base to match that of Binay and Roxas. That could, of course, be mitigated if Poe were to run as official LP candidate. But for all of his humble talk (i.e., he will respect Noynoy Aquino’s choice of LP standard bearer), it is doubtful that Mar Roxas will easily give up his crack at the presidency a second time.
In the face of these, Poe has shown a lot of common sense and none of the hollow braggadocio of Trillanes (who recently declared that he was confident of winning the presidency). In a media interview, Poe said, about running for president, “Hindi iyan para sa hindi handa. (That’s not for the unprepared).
The experience of her father in his failed presidential campaign still wrankles: “Hindi naging madali. Maraming mga kaibigan sa umpisa, pero pagdating na sa pangangailangan, nawawala. Masakit ‘yon (It was not easy. He had many friends at first who were gone in times of need. That hurt).”
At any rate, all is not lost for Cayetano and Trillanes. There may still be time for them to pull off impressive performances in the Senate to, at least, match that of Poe. That could still give them a shot at the presidency.
Of course, some folks “run” for president for reasons other than winning. One such reason is generating millions in campaign contributions. Or being paid to back off.
On the other hand, Cayetano may actually be targeting the LP vice-presidential slot. That would leave Trillanes out in the cold. It is unlikely that the Nacionalista Party will pick him as either presidential or vice-presidential bet.
Meanwhile, whether or not Poe will decide to run for president, or even for vice-president, or prefer to focus on mastering her role in the Senate is anybody’s guess. But if she decides to run for vice-president – as an official candidate of an established political party – she could win handily and be in line (and be better prepared) for the presidency in 2022.
Ironically, she would have Trillanes, Cayetano and Roxas to thank for waking up sleeping dogs.
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