There are 169 million mobile phone subscribers in the Philippines. Most of them have unregistered SIM cards – even though most of them could imagine nothing scarier than losing their personal phone number, their lifeline to everyone they know.
Unregistered SIM cards can also be used by criminals to scam, smish, and commit other forms of mobile fraud, because crooks can act anonymously and avoid detection. So the Philippine government passed a law requiring all SIMs to be registered before April 26, 2023. All SIMs unregistered by April 26 were deactivated.
Despite this, by March 2023 only 29% of all 169M SIMs had been registered. So Gigil came up with a wildly funny social media campaign that reminded people of the fear of losing their phone number.
The first video, Mother, begins as if it’s a teaser for the next hit thriller. A mother knocks at the gate of her home to be let in during pouring rain. But she can’t be identified. She has a new, albeit unregistered, mobile number. The mother’s lines mimic the familiar words of scammers and the subtitles are formatted to mimic how people text, strengthening the idea that the exchange happening in the video happens digitally as well.
The video was followed by a man who has to use a tattoo of his birth certificate (which is on his butt) to prove his identity:
…and another who resorts to carrier pigeons when he no longer has access to social media:
Overall results so far include 37,983,927 views and 221,789 shares, and in just 10 days the campaign drove 6,898,546 TNT telco subscribers to register their SIMS.
Credits
Agency: GIGIL Philippines
Creative Partners: Badong Abesamis & Herbert Hernandez
Creative Director: Dionie Tañada
Art Directors: Seph Asenista & Erin Altares
Copywriters: Mond Angat & Ces Alegre
Managing Partner: Jake Yrastorza
Account Directors: Abi Reyes & Inna Tupaz
Account Executive: Kitkat Galvez
Senior Strategic Planner: Nanais Hernandez
Junior Strategic Planner: Fritz Dalawampu
Media Head: Margie Husmalaga
PR Head: Grace Leyco
Production Company: Arcade Film Factory
Director: Marius Talampas
Producer: Sasa Pascual
Line Producer: Mara Bernaldo
