Ligo Sardines Philippines is the most recent case of a business that got too comfy with “woke” rhetoric then went on to regret it. Just a few days ago, Interaksyon News reported how the company had risen to become “a social media voice during COVID-19 crisis”. Author of the “report” Catalina Ricci S. Madarang gushed about how “Ligo Sardines lately became popular online due to its witty social media advertisements which Filipinos perceived to throw a ‘shade’ against the government’s questionable policies during the duration of the enhance community quarantine.”
Madarang went on to feature the “wit” of the fish cannery’s social media presence citing, for one, an ad featuring an easy-opening can followed by the line “No special powers needed.” Madarang gleefully reports that the ad was “coincidentally released when the Congress was tackling the special powers then yet to be granted to the president”. The “report” also featured one particular tweet that went massively viral presumably thanks to Opposition partisans who are only too quick to “support” businesses who back their dishonest agendas.
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Indeed, even Madarang exhibited a similar dishonesty in her “journalism” seemingly cherry-picking interpretations of the tweet coming from “several Filipinos” who, she writes, “took it as another statement addressed to the government as it is similar to the public’s call for transparency amid the perceived failure of the government to provide a breakdown of the hefty P275 billion allocated for the COVID-19 efforts.”
Apparently emboldened by the the embrace of their brand by the Philippines’ Opposition wokedom, Ligo Philippines Vice President for Operations Mikko Lawrence Tung issued a statement on Facebook suggesting that the Duterte government are thieves and cannot be trusted to handle funds donated by the private sector to assist in managing the COVID-19 crisis (the following two text blocks attributed to Tung are based on screenshots exhibited on Facebook by social media activist Mark Lopez).
Ligo Sardines will be making its donations directly to the hospitals, and different NGOs leading the fight against Covid-19.
Let us learn from our mistakes.
I urge all my friends from the private sector to do the same. Do not give it to these
We will do a lot more good on our own, than trusting our donations with the government.
This is theft right before our very eyes.
Tung’s Facebook post even featured a photo of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte as if to drive his point even further. Not surprisingly, the Philippines’ top media channels stepped up to amplify the messaging of Ligo management with Scout rushing to press a full feature of the three Tung brothers, Mikko, Mark and Macky, who helm the erstwhile “dissenting” company. In “Ligo Sardines show us what decisive youth leadership looks like in big business”, author Rysa Antonio writes, “After their digital ad went viral, people online were quick to point out the progressive nature of their posts, often referencing social and political issues.”
Unfortunately for the Tung brothers, they likely had not come across what had become well-heeded business wisdom: Go woke, go broke.
Back in early 2019, razor company Gillette antagonised its biggest customer segment — men who shave — when it launched an ad campaign demonising what it termed as mandom’s “toxic masculinity”. The fallout was swift and in a market that had long seen a decline of Gillette’s bread-and-butter product to a mere commodity and its market share ceded to competitors offering cheaper alternatives of equal quality, the company found no other choice but to do a backflip.
Ligo Sardines is no different. The canned sardines market in the Philippines is cutthroat competitive owing to products offering very thin differentiation across brands and a market that is extremely price sensitive. Mikko Lawrence Tung’s subsequent backpedaling, however, was not as classy as Gillette’s, issuing a catastrophic personal capitulation as the massive backlash in the aftermath of his company’s ill-thought-out messaging bore down on him and, presumably, the brand he and his brothers were entrusted to manage. Here’s Tung again, this time evidently properly straightened out after a proper dressing down from daddy.
To all my friends on Facebook,
I would like to clarify that the opinions I post on my private accounts reflect my personal opinions and mine alone. They do not in any way reflect that of the Ligo Brand and the company.
Ligo is committed to serve and aid the Filipino people during these trying times. May we all get through this together by God’s grace…
The moral of the story? For that we might defer to the wise words of eminent modern-day philosopher Franco Mabanta who issues these timely words of wisdom.
“But if you really can’t help yourself and feel the need to say something, just make sure that (1) you’re always fully aware of the explicit technical legalities and (2) you have enough foresight and resolve to definitively accept the consequences of whatever you say. Free speech is amazing. You can criticize anyone — especially our leaders. I’m all for it. But you absolutely cannot commit libel. That’s a horribly unfair thing to do, which is why people either get fined for it, go to prison, get their businesses boycotted, or any combination of the three.”
benign0 is the Webmaster of GetRealPhilippines.com.
Another figure who can’t help himself and feel the need to say something is Mayor Isko Moreno. The mayor who never misses an action with the presence of the camera, this time, upped the ante complete with dramatics!
Is he truly expressing a genuine feeling of empathy for the people? Or like the opposition, he’s simply taking advantage in politicizing the corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic for future political gain? Quiet achievement or grandstanding galore?
To Ligo Sardines, better be ready for visits from BIR, BFAD, BoC, DoLE, BoFP, LGUs and the trolls of social media. Abangan!
@sancho alconce
Yes, because it is the proper government response to use government bureaucracy against your critics. What ever happened to pure and proper competition? Maybe the government should seize the means of production for the proletariat?
This one step toward the Philippines going the venezuela route you damn commie.
Says the ACTUAL commie who wants the Philippines to go to the Venezuela route. Why? Because you want to pin the blame on Duterte instead.
Commies are known for being lying cucks. Don’t tell me groups like Bayan Muna, KMU, LFS, Kadamay, Kabataan Party List, etc. aren’t part of the Left. News flash: they are.
Don’t forget China, the biggest commie entity in the world.
Oh, and Duterte is to blame.
At least Mr. Francis Leo Marcos (or Norman Mangulin or whatever), although in spite of his controversies that he’s facing right now, he’s helping the Filipino people to give charities thru his viral campaign of #MayamanChallenge on social media. And he even support our government at the height of the Luzon Lockdown and Enhanced Community Quarantine to stop the spread of COVID19 virus that might cause an outbreak if President Duterte didn’t do that.
But on the Tung Brothers, they’re very dissent but classless & A-hole wokers who criticize our government.
So let us boycott Ligo Sardines & support Francis Leo Marcos instead.
Is Liberty Gold in bed with the Liberal Party? Well, for obvious reasons – it’s really not such a surprise. I guess the highly competitive sardine-packed sardine market in PH compounded with all the chronic viral fear-mongering these days can cloud one’s judgment. Unfortunately for Ligo, shoppers will be thinking twice hereafter when picking up canned goods from the grocery shelves. Let’s hope the politicization of sardine brands ends here with Ligo top executive’s anti-gov multi-million peso gaffe.
https://www.pepper.ph/555-ligo-uni-pak-and-more-10-brands-of-canned-sardines-in-tomato-sauce/
When businesses involve themselves in politics; this is the result. Maybe, Tung’s Ligo brand is also a YellowTard brand….baka may corona virus yung Ligo sardines niya; galing pa sa Wuhan, China “Wet Markets” yung ingridients niya…”exotic sardines”…
Na “Ligo na” sila sa pagsisisi….I never buy any Ligo brand sardines, for my meals, anyway….they don’t taste good to me !
This is very common in social media, if you dont agree with everything duterte does or says, dutertards will drown you with hate.
If we measure which group have made more donations to the frontliners – the Tungs or dutertards, i wager on the former.
Also benigno, to claim that there is no red tape and corruption in government is just blissful ignorance.
@greengrin :
Whatever the Dutertards are writing is their business…the same as the YellowTards or the commies or the fake news mainstream media or the Aquino Cojuanco / oligarchs paid bloggers…
The Blogosphere is an uncharted territory. You must be ready to be “shot “, by some lawless elements; and be ready to shot back.
To complain, and shout to the top of you lungs : ” It is not fair ” !, will not do you any good !
Are you saying benigno’s a dutertard?
@greengrin:
I did not say, BenignO is a Dutertard…whatever you think of BenignO
or me, is your own business. I cannot control what you are thinking, or whatever
you think of other people…
Anyway, happy Blogging !
Perhaps they did. Unfortunately, this is all a PR game and, as a leader of the organisation, Tung exposed it to the bashing it is copping now because of an ill-thought-out statement. Tough shit, right? Who says the world OUGHT to be a fair place? Ah, yes. The communists. Ironic.
i think the big mistake the pilipinos did is paying taxes just to be stolen by top officials downwards. why not just tax the businesses? if they the people do so will their livelihood get better? that’s what jesus fought for when the roman empire srarted collecting taxes right?
BENIGN0 THE FOOL STRIKES AGAIN! Two attack/ smear job articles against people who are trying to do good and help.
Small minds discuss people;
Mediocre minds discuss events; and,
Great minds discuss ideas.
Isn’t that what you said benign0?!?! Gawd, you are such a hypocrite that its so easy to portray you as the clown that you are.
WHY DON’T YOU SHUT the F –UP BENIGN0. Living safe and sound in Australia… you make me sick!
What part of the article specifically do you disagree with?
@benign0
First of all this is a hit job on a person just for criticizing the government and you yourself are NOT discussing ideas. Your attacking a person. Hence the hypocrisy of the quote.
#2 Why should the private sector give the donations to the government? Can they be trusted to handle funds donated by the private sector to assist in managing the COVID-19 crisis?
* This isn’t even a knock on the administration, as remember all the donations that went to waste during Yolanda.
* Has the government proven itself in being efficient at allocating resources? Or is it a slow bureaucratic mess? Why dont you look at all the PPE stuck in customs for an idea.
* What value is the government add by commandeering donations? Does it move supplies faster or slower? WHAT VALUE DOES SLAPPING BONG GO’s NAME ADD TO VITAL SUPPLIES?!?!?!
* Commandeering donations also disencentivizes private corporations from donating. Why would I donate funds to the government?!? So that a–holes politicians like Koko Pimentel could cut the line and get early covid testing?
But as usual these IDEAS are above your pay grade benign0. You should just SHUT the F –UP BENIGN0. You paid Australian hack
What part of what I wrote constitutes a “hit job”? All of what I write above are factual.
There should be a way for private donations to go directly to those in need. Why does he have to be a si$$y about it if he really is concerned .
@Luna
The government has made a law mandating all donations have to flow to them directly. It is now illegal for private corporations to donate directly to hospitals without coursing thru the DOH. All so BongGo can slap his name on these donations while giving it back to the hospitals.
https://www.cnnphilippines.com/news/2020/4/2/Bong-Go-COVID-19-donation.html
Obviously chi-chi sissy latte soyboy blogger benign0 who is living in Australia does not know about this. He is basically paid to antagonize the philippines by china money.
>CNN Philippines
You’re shooting yourself in the foot, you soyboy. They’re becoming as biased as any corporate mainstream media. You’re grasping on straws.
Lol biased because they’re reporting about the blunders of the government. Are you sure they’re the biased ones, or you?
Should I even ask a dds that question?
@JH:
You went full red herring right there. And you should know that every news agency had their own alignments so how can you say that CNN is unbiased when they belong to the left side of the political spectrum?
There’s something inherently messed up with people who say when you speak up against the president, you should prepare to reap the whirlwind.
Now what?
Since childhood I would prefer buying and eating Ligo Sardines instead of the other brands available.
But right after those post against the Duterte Government, I switched and chose the competitors.
Only then I realized that I’ve been depriving myself of much, much, better option.
Thank you then, Ligo Brand, for opening my eyes to a wider, better and clear reality.
Ligo is fake sardines.
The family of the self-righteous Mikko Tung has divested from Ligo, losing their crown jewel. The Po family now owns Ligo. Good riddance.
Ligo is real sardines once again
Fast forward… Dec 2021 ???
Time for ligo to stop with the politics and just sell sardines..these wokes dont even eat sardines.