GMA Network, Inc. (GMA), the country’s most trusted and most awarded broadcast company, made a global win for the only Filipino-Network produced entry in one of the year’s biggest international advertising festivals.

 

Wholly produced by GMA’s marketing arm – GMA Marketing and Productions, Inc. (GMPI) – the television mini-sine ‘Hating Kapatid’ clinched the Bronze Award in Products and Services under the Food category in the recently concluded Busan International Advertising Festival, commonly referred to as Ad Stars.

 

‘Hating Kapatid,’ which debuted on GMA’s free-to-air channels last November 16, 2011 as part of GMPI’s 6th Christmas Short Film Festival, was produced in cooperation with Columbia International Food Products, Inc. (CIFPI) for ‘So Lucky Soda Crackers.’ It tells the story of motherless, school-aged brothers who had to take turns wearing an old pair of school shoes and pushing a cartload of veggies to sell.

 

A sari-sari store owner feeds them with a pack of branded crackers, which they shared. The Samaritan-like lady also gifted the boys each with a new pair of school shoes, and invited them over for Noche Buena, including their sick father, on Christmas Eve.

 

Directed by Louie Ignacio, the television mini-sine bested over 10,000 entries from 57 participating countries. World-renowned advertising professionals from Australia, Japan, China, and other Western markets took part in judging over 1,400 finalists for this year’s Ad Stars.

 

GMPI President and COO Lizelle G. Maralag says that GMA’s marketing creative work is benchmarked on global standards. “We are extremely proud of ‘Hating Kapatid’ as it brought the first global win for GMA Marketing. This is a testimony that GMPI works hand-in-hand with partner-advertisers to produce internationally acclaimed stories that seamlessly attach common values with the brand,” Maralag says.

 

CIFPI VP for Marketing Elvira Go agrees. “Working on a concept that will tug at people’s hearts and graphically show the essence of sharing has been a long time dream. ‘Hating Kapatid’ was a risk worth taking because commercial benefits took the backseat as we tried to fulfill our company’s burning desire to communicate a critical message for man, no matter what his station in life is, to be compassionate and sensitive to others,” Go shares.

 

CIFPI VP for Marketing Go, GMPI Product Development Manager Jon Lara, and GMPI Product Development Specialist Dennis Tan attended the awarding ceremony to receive the award for ‘Hating Kapatid’ last August 24 at Bexco in Busan, South Korea.