A PINK New Day

October 7, 2021, was a day like no other amidst this long, unending pandemic. 

From morn till night, everything I ever learned about creating a good advertising campaign was defied by all. 

And a new brand of hope was launched.   

It was the day incumbent Vice President Leni Robredo, the choice of the ISambayan coalition and a host of other groups to be the opposition's presidential bet, answered the call and officially filed her Certificate of Candidacy.  

Before her announcement, there appeared on social media some posts (profile pictures and memes) in varied shades of pink, the color that volunteers have been using on communication materials to convince Leni to run.  

In advertising, I learned that a well-crafted strategy be first put in place before the creative execution—posters, billboards, leaflets, press ads, and slogan, etc.—could begin. We had a color-and-template manual with strict specifics for a unified, total look. 

However, immediately after Leni delivered a speech about her decision, a multitude of pinks suddenly sprang up: some labeled in Filipino, some in English, on images (roses and other flowers, gowns, ribbons, furniture, buildings, you name it). No well-laid strategy, no creative parameters. Everyone was his own creative director. 

A sea of pink materialised like magic.

"Have you ever experienced a pink sunrise? I just did," tweeted Manolo Quezon, a noted Filipino writer.

That described precisely the emotion choking me. I felt as though grace rose in all shades of pink, shining brightly and signifying the dawning of a new, beautiful day. 

It was then I realized what some friends have earlier articulated, "Leni is not a brand, but a movement." Indeed, it is growing organically towards hope: to end  the decaying and decomposing culture of impunity that might have already ensconced itself in our beloved Philippines in the last five years.   

My profile photo in glowing fuchsia/cerise/magenta/amaranth, courtesy of my friend Ggie, features a "Tumindig" avatar holding my newest book. 

Before the day ended, social media was in a phenominal pink-palette frenzy—with more slogans in all dialects and formats, more photos of every size and kind, more poetry and songs. JUBILATION. All caps. 

I needed to blog about this to record a time in my life when people spontaneously celebrated the bright pink of hope.  

This hope does not rest on Leni, but her kind has been sent to us, at a time of despair, so we can have a foretaste of our joy and peace if we fix our eyes upon the Source of all. 

"I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:13 NLT)

Photo credits: the collage is made up of borrowed FB profile photos and posts of friends