Are there parallelisms between the movie and our current situation in the

Philippines? Give samples.

Our Brand is Crisis is an adaptation of the 2005 documentary of the same name. This
movie is about how “Calamity” Jane Bodine, a brilliant strategist of political campaigns comes
out of self-imposed retirement to challenge her nemesis Pat Candy, the opposition’s political
consultant. There are geniuses out there with a good budget who have an incredible knack for
manipulating minds, a.k.a. their market or audience, through media, words, and scenarios. This
movie directed by David Gordon Green, can be paralleled also to the political elections in the
Philippines. How? Social media is the lifeline of information for millennials (or misinformation).
Furthermore, the Philippines is a prime Facebook country and it became a crucial battle ground
between the rival candidates of the 2016 Philippine Presidential Election – Jejomar ‘Jojo’ Binay,
Rodrigo ‘Rody’ Duterte, Grace Poe, Mar Roxas, and Miriam Defensor Santiago – each had
between 1.5 and 3.5 million likes on their Facebook pages. Given that the Philippines has one
of the highest rates of Facebook penetration in the world (94 percent of Filipinos with access to
the Internet use Facebook), the candidates’ emphasis on social media campaigning is
unsurprising. Social media can help politicians spread their campaign messages widely and
freely, highlight critical advocacy work, make speeches and announcements readily accessible,
and provide free advertising. It can be seen as democratizing the electoral system in that
context. However, this isn't always the case because social media can also expose a prejudice
or bias, make a big deal out of an insensitive remark, or simply just poke fun of the candidates’
looks or voices – and all for all the world to see and hear in real time without delay. It can make
the public shift their perspectives from one to another, thus manipulating their minds. According
to Philippine speakers, there exist many examples of manipulative practices by some media. My
point is that this is the same as in the movie where they focused on the campaign of presidential
aspirant Pedro Castillo, it may not be manipulated by social media rather his campaign was
driven by the sharp calls of Jane Bodine. Her campaign is based on a platform of cheap shots,
dirty tricks, and deceit. Castillo learned to turn toward the TV camera when he teared up in an
interview, Jane suggested Candy's candidate is a Nazi by using a picture of him standing near
Klaus Barbie, and she advised a train conductor to drag the man away from the start of his own
whistle-stop tour. These are just some of the manipulation tactics they used to win the public.

Have you been personally “victimized” by marketing? How?

During my high school year, I was so skinny which made me determined to gain weight.
There was this advertisement on social media that promised a quick fix to my problem. I
became more reliant to their nutrition information without consulting an expert. It cost me a
fortune and it turned out that I was victimized by their marketing strategy because the product
which I bought was filled with ingredients that no one will ever need to put in their body to
achieve a larger frame.