While doing stationary cycling at a gym the other day, my eyes were caught by a football match on AXN (I was surfing the TV while working out, as the gym provided several TV screens for members' satisfaction).
I didn't know the teams' exact names but my eyes were particularly pegged at the two words succinctly printed all across the yellow team's shirts: "Fly Emirates." Instantly, the catchphrase caught me in awe. I thought it was a sweet shrewd slogan of whatever company sponsoring that team. I learned later that the latter was actually Arsenal Football Club sponsored, unsurprisingly, by a leading airline company in United Arab Emirates.
Still, the catchphrase did not leave my mind for sometime. For me, it was more than an ad campaign, a corporate slogan. Conceptualized through some sort of social marketing approach, "Fly Emirates" seemed to have gone beyond bringing attention to the product or the firm, but it also aimed at bringing in followerse to the country itself that it represents, an aid to their tourism industry.
What a form of nationalism, it soars! How I wish I could also do the same, in one form or another, for the Philippines. When private enterprises mix corporate goals with nationalistic visions, what more could you ask for?
I didn't know the teams' exact names but my eyes were particularly pegged at the two words succinctly printed all across the yellow team's shirts: "Fly Emirates." Instantly, the catchphrase caught me in awe. I thought it was a sweet shrewd slogan of whatever company sponsoring that team. I learned later that the latter was actually Arsenal Football Club sponsored, unsurprisingly, by a leading airline company in United Arab Emirates.
Still, the catchphrase did not leave my mind for sometime. For me, it was more than an ad campaign, a corporate slogan. Conceptualized through some sort of social marketing approach, "Fly Emirates" seemed to have gone beyond bringing attention to the product or the firm, but it also aimed at bringing in followerse to the country itself that it represents, an aid to their tourism industry.
What a form of nationalism, it soars! How I wish I could also do the same, in one form or another, for the Philippines. When private enterprises mix corporate goals with nationalistic visions, what more could you ask for?
***
Also, seeing "Fly Emirates" in a sporting event, I couldn't help but think of a similar "shout out" in the local sports scene: UP Fight! This shout out has been the cry of UP athletes throughtout the ages as they compete against the best "warriors", the cream of the crop, of other schools. But sadly, and this is just my personal opinion, "UP Fight" is a far cry from "Fly Emirates" - the latter being more powerful, more ambitious, more at work. Philosophically speaking, why not change "UP Fight" to "UP WIN"? I wonder: Does this speak about the collective psyche that UP students (at least) have towards setting standards?
Let's face it. If we could set a standard for ourselves, why not set the highest standards? If you could ask God to help us pass a certification exam, why not ask that we pass with flying colors (that is, with excellence)? If we join a sports event, why settle for simple "for goodwill's sake" type of participation? Why not let go of the cliche "for camaraderie and friendship", and instead "go for the gold" (not silver) with all our might every time?
Ophrah said in a speech she delivered in a prestigious US university that we should set the highest vision (or if I may say, standards) for ourselves, for we become those visions.
If I may add to that, I dare say that we set the mark, and hit it!
Ophrah said in a speech she delivered in a prestigious US university that we should set the highest vision (or if I may say, standards) for ourselves, for we become those visions.
If I may add to that, I dare say that we set the mark, and hit it!
Like what Alex Santos says in TV Patrol Weekend: Pilipinas, umasenso ka!
No comments:
Post a Comment