Billboards in Manilla

Every metropolis is full of billboards. Manilla, capital of the Philippines, is no exception. Nearly every surface available has adverts for Asian or Philippine brands. Of course these are different brands and services than in the West. Beautiful women, colourful displays and seductive images of fast food, especially chicken.

What is remarkable though is when a billboard is empty. In Manilla a simple “your ad here” doesn’t suffice. Empty billboards attract attention by clever texts such as: “Where are you going”, a question from God, or an image of a potato with the text: “This potato had more views than your brand”. During a slow and long taxi drive in Manilla – with plenty of time to read all adverts carefully – these billboards where what interested me the most. Fun and different…..and more attractive than all those colourful women and chicken.