Have you seen this fabulous advert? It’s a spoof of a dinner meeting between the Philippine president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and the USA President-elect Barack Obama.
It’s a real advertisement that’s being broadcast across Philippine televisions, promoting a cure for stomach cramps. The pill is called Motilium.
The man is actually an Indonesian photographer, named Ilham Anas. Ilham was discovered by the Philippine ad agency TBWA SMP, apparently while looking for a new talent in Indonesia. Lucky they found a president, instead!
The other man playing the Philippine president is a Filipino impersonator and funny (wo)man who goes by the name of Ate Glow. “Ate” is a Filipino prefix for an older sister, while “Glow” is a play on the Philippine president’s name, Gloria.
I made a translation for those who don’t understand Filipino.
Obama: Thank you for a lovely dinner.
GMA: Oh, we’re not done yet. Try our kare-kare. It’s ox. [Kare-kare is a Filipino soup that combines oxtail and vegetables.]
Obama: Okay, sure.
GMA: Guinataang mais! It’s corn. But we use our coconut. [Guinataang Mais is a sweetish Filipino delicacy made of corn kernels cooked in coconut milk. When GMA says “we use our coconut”, she refers to the mind.]
Obama: Oh, alright.
[Obama looks pained, and utters a grunt.]
GMA: Oh my gosh, that’s impatso na. Dispepsya yan no. Ang dami mo kasing kinakain no. Ang Motilium, bilis! [Oh my gosh, that is indigestion already. That’s dispepsia! You ate so much, that’s why! Get Motilium, hurry!]
[Obama is served the medicine, and he takes it.]
GMA: The impatso will disappear in thirty minutes, no?
[Obama buttons up his tuxedo.]
GMA: Kapeng baracks? [She’s referring to the Kape Barako she’s serving. Kape Barako is a kind of coffee grown in the Philippines.]
[The two smle and shake hands for the cameras.]
Narrator: Motilium. Bilis disappear ang impatso.
hahahahaha. mga pinoy talaga…