So this commercial has been running for almost a year now, and I wish it would just die a gory death because it’s such a ridiculous ad.

In this ad, Kim Chiu, who’s so dangerously skinny that her arms are probably as fat as my thumb, is saying that the female hair is big and frizzy in the morning. To whoever came up with this ad, I say this: The hair of the girls in the ad isn’t frizzy, not by a long shot. It’s just messy. And if girls have messy hair in the morning, all they need to do is run a damn comb through their hair, not employ Rejoice Anti-Frizz right away. Besides, you don’t know from frizzy, not like the big hair that curly-haired people like myself have to deal with on a regular basis. No amount of shampoo can calm it down; it takes time, effort, and a cleverly maneuvered hair dryer or iron, and even then, our hair is defenseless in the face of humidity. Frizzy is either a hair’s default state or a reaction to excessive humidity, not something that takes place upon waking up in the morning.

Here in Quezon City, a sign recently started coming up on roads.

Looks straightforward enough, doesn’t it? It should be a strong enough reminder for people to, uh, not put posters and banners bearing their names and mugs. But oh no, politicians are slimy, creative sorts, which is why they’ve been able to get around this ordinance. Case in point:

First of all, I don’t see why we ever really need to thank public officials for doing their job. It’s their damn job. But knowing the kind of officials we have anyway, I guess we should be grateful that something beneficial is happening at all. But the main thing is, this damn streamer which is slapped on practically every footbridge on Commonwealth Avenue clearly counts as political propaganda. Does anyone really believe that private citizens got together and thought it would be a great idea to have banners printed to thank the president for bestowing these holy footbridges upon us? I think not, especially since I just saw MMDA elements hanging up the streamers a couple of days ago.

Another person who’s found a way to imprint his name, or at least his initials, in people’s minds is a councilor by the name of Winnie Castelo. Seriously. Posters saying “Working Citizen ako, Working Congressman ang kailangan ko” with the W and C highlighted? Clever ploy. Same goes for Aiko Melendez, whose massive poster bearing birthday greetings is found several yards away from a sign informing people of the ordinance. The complete sign reads “Happy Birthday, Aiko Melendez, Public Servant ng Masa,” with the V and M standing for “vice mayor,” which she’s gunning for this coming elections. Do private citizens really take the time and money to have a huge birthday banner printed for a politician? Someone enlighten me.

Whoever was responsible for that sign should probably slap it in the faces of public officials who like having their names in the public eye, as well as people who are planning to run for office, rather than citizens who don’t have anything to do with those banners in the first place. And speaking of the person doing the reminding, that Tady Palma, could that person be running for public office as well since the name is in bold and wants us to remember the name?