WATCH: ‘Tita shamer’ baked into pandesal (and eaten) in bizarre ad for Julie’s Bakeshop
Arya Stark, is that you? One of the most memorable story arcs on Game of Thrones is Arya exacting revenge on Walder Frey as she serves his sons in a pie.
Half the internet covered their eyes at that scene—and all the internet rejoiced at the fall of House Frey.
In a new ad released last night for its 40th year, Julie’s Bakeshop takes a similar approach, albeit funnier and more brightly lit, to teach someone a lesson. This time it’s a “tita shamer,” a pipsqueak in a gym who relentlessly makes fun of two middle-age women exercising in front of a mirror wall.
“Kaya pala amoy liniment dito,” the tita shamer begins. “Tita, sa kabila yung aerobics.” (To be fair, they are clad in ‘80s aerobics outfits.)
He continues, “Tita, dahan dahan lang, yung kyutex niyo baka masira, mamamalengke ka pa,” followed by the most annoying laughter.
Tita Julie of Julie’s Bakeshop, wearing the brand’s signature red hairband, slides behind him and tsk-tsks, “Tita shamer ka, ha!” And proceeds to knead his head, which has turned into dough at the touch of her hands!
The other guy in the gym and the two titas look on nonplussed as Julie continues to knead his entire body on the table-and still he’s making fun of them. “Tita, yung rayuma mo baka umatake,” he says.
Julie then cuts the dough and a panadero suddenly rolls in an oven and she puts in the tray of pandesal…and they wait until the oven pings.
“Dati abs lang niya ang pandesal, ngayon buong katawan na,” tita Julie says. “Kaya stop tita shaming. Kasi pwedeng fresh pa rin kahit 40 na.”
And they start eating the pandesal.
The reaction online has been a mix of WTFs and “Wait, what’s happening?" and lots of laugher.
Gigil ad agency’s Dionie Tañada, who wrote the ad (as well as the two weird RC Cola ads), tells PhilSTAR L!fe that “being a tita is at the core of the brand.”
The real Julie Gandionco, the founder of Julie’s, is now 89 years old and the bakeshop is run by her children.
“She was already in her 50s when she decided to start her own bakeshop,” Dionie says. “The #StopTitaShaming campaign to celebrate Julie’s 40th anniversary is something the brand can own. It’s in the brand’s DNA. And it’s very true today.”
In fact, he continues, when they first presented the #StopTitaShaming concept, the company loved it immediately. “After that, we fleshed it out and presented the film na nagustuhan din nila.”
Unlike RC Cola whose rationale was “Basta,” Julie’s ad does have a point.
Dionie says, “Like Julie, we want Pinoy titos and titas to embrace their age and prove tita shamers wrong. Like Mrs Julie Gandionco, kaya pa rin nilang abutin ang mga pangarap nila, anumang edad.”
Watch Julie's Bakeshop's ad below: