WATCH: RC Cola releases another ad—and yes, it’s weird too
They’re baaack! RC Cola has just released a new ad following its viral, weirdo “Family” video on Nov. 26, which shook the internet and launched a thousand analyses.
Part 2 of the soft drink’s “Basta RC Cola” campaign was also made by the award-winning creative agency Gigil. Titled “Band,” the ad depicts a four-member band with three blind guys playing instruments and a sighted girl as their vocalist.
As they are practicing, the girl suddenly stops and says, “I can’t do this anymore. I never felt that I was really part of the group. I’m different from you guys.”
“Ha?” the band leader says. “Anong ibig mong sabihin, limang taon na tayong magkakasama.”
“You’ll never understand.”
You would think she means because she’s not blind like the rest of them. But, hey, this is RC and Gigil—expect a very bizarre twist. Dramatic music plays in the background as tears stream down her cheeks and she unscrews her lower left arm, revealing that it’s a bottle of RC Cola.
The band leader approaches her and says, “We understand.” Crying, he takes off his dark shades showing eyes that are glassy. The two other guys follow suit, revealing the same eyes.
The blind guys then bend down the table, open their eyes wide with their fingers, and ice cubes fall into the drinking glasses.
Yes, the blind guys’ eyes are ice dispensers!
Now all that’s left are black eye sockets looking like a succubus’. The band leader takes the girl’s bottle arm and pours RC Cola into a glass—cue refreshing shot of RC splashing against ice cubes.
The 1:48 ad ends with the band enjoying a drink of RC Cola. All is well again in the world—the band members do belong together with their shared bizarre anatomies.
Gigil associate creative director Dionie Tañada, who wrote both RC Cola’s ads, tells PhilSTAR L!fe that this version was shot a day after they filmed the first ad “Family,” right before the lockdown in March.
“We first presented ‘Family,’” Dionie says. “The clients wanted to check if the idea would work too with their other products, that's why we came up with ‘Band.’ They were laughing laughing at the presentation and approved it with no revisions. Brave ang clients. They understand their market very well.”
RC’s “Family” ad resulted in increased in sales for the brand, according to an RC Cola executive. The first ad also inspired a young game developer to create an Instagram filter that changes one’s head into a bottle of RC Cola.
Gigil’s creative team insists “there’s method behind the madness. The spot doesn’t have to mean anything, but it actually went through a lot of thinking. Like ‘Family,’ we came up with the story of the film ‘Band’ with Gen Zs in mind. The film manifests the attitude of our target market. They look for a sense of belonging. And that’s what we showed in the film. Similar to our first RC Cola spot, Band’s main character reveals that she feels like an outcast since she is different. She even utters the line, ‘You will never understand!’ pertaining to what she currently feels due to her situation. To her surprise, her bandmates reveal that they are different too, and that they understand how being different feels like. Their differences even complement each other.”
Gigil is known for its off-kilter brand of commercials that are very engaging. Past projects like Orocan’s Koolit Kantina and Danes Cheese use humor and, at times, a seeming rejection of the brands themselves.
“Ano daw ang hini-hithit namin sa Gigil? They call us crazy, baliw; they say our ideas are out of this world. We take these as compliments,” Tañada said in our previous interview.
In the cinematic universe of RC Cola, basta! Just watch.