The Philippine Online Chronicles

With virtually no limits on advertising -- except for election spending -- the PR people of candidates have pretty much free rein in the type of marketing that they can use to present their candidate in the best possible light. The law is clear on the limits, and the penalties for violating the law are no less clear; however, getting the COMELEC to pursue the disqualification of candidates due to their obscene spending seems to be too difficult a task. If the concerned citizenry, the mainstream media, and legal eagles advocating clean polls and electoral reform pool their resources, though, it is possible that such cases could prosper.

Taking off from the post "Know your candidate's campaign spending," let's take a look at how we can keep an eye on the cashflow, if only to ensure that we as citizens do not vote for those who violate the law flagrantly and expect to be elected via such unfair and illegal campaigning. Let's try to break down spending as related to campaign ads and put some ballpark figures on the items involved.

The PR Firm

The first and possibly the easiest receipt to track is the contract price between the candidate and the public relations firm he hires to promote his campaign. Some contracts apparently involve an "all-in" package deal, which means the candidates puts up the money and the firm does everything necessary; however, with the nature of campaigns being fluid -- as a candidate's popularity certainly is -- it is more likely that a contract involves a PR firm being paid a base price or retainer fee, with additional costs to be paid for as new strategies are created and deployed.

Perhaps means can be found to prove, even circumstantially, that unscrupulous PR firms understate their client's spending, and thus find ways to make these firms and their clients accountable.

The Campaign Ad

The amount spent for a campaign ad quite obviously depends on the content involved. A simple 30-second infomercial presenting a candidate and outlining his credentials made in-house by the PR firm is quite likely cheaper than a jazzy 30-second marketing ad complete with jingles lifted from music du jour and snappy visuals involving personalities and extras. When talking of the costs involved in the creation of the campaign ad, we have to consider these items:

1. Length. Long ads involve more work, and therefore more expense; whether the ad be for television or radio, the principle usually holds. For TV, longer ads mean more camera work, even if a shoot is wrapped up in one or two takes.

2. Complexity. Similarly, ads with many scene changes require more shootings; added to this is the need for more editing. Such work adds to the production cost, naturally. Also, the use of more complex graphics involves more work, and thus bigger expenses.

3. Royalties. Unless a candidate wants the backlash from using a popular artist's work without permission, the candidate will have to shell out some money to pay the artist. While it is not yet known by the general public whether a pop star can donate the use of his art and thus have the candidate attempt to declare the price of royalties to be zero on his spending ledger, it is reasonable for the general public to flag ads using copyrighted material as more expensive than those that do not.

4. Talent fees. While it is not unknown for candidates to be openly and sincerely supported by famous personalities, it is likewise not unknown for candidates to pay for the services of such personalities to promote their campaigns. As such, the more personalities involved in a political ad, the more reason to suspect greater expenses. Therefore, the public can ask the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) to inquire on the talent fees paid, as well as the logistical costs (actors need transportation and food, just like anyone else); nondisclosure or false disclosure could very well be considered grounds for sanctioning candidates -- perhaps even sanctioning the talents themselves.

5. Other costs incidental to production. Costumes, out-of-town locations, shoots with special lighting needs, fancy props, and other production needs all cost something; for instance, dressing up a whole crowd in the candidate's campaign color involves the rental or purchase of such clothing. Out-of-town shoots involve food, lodging, and transportation, not merely of those appearing before the camera but also that of those behind the scenes. No matter how simple an ad may appear, it is unlikely that a candidate can shave off from these costs; a sharp legal eye could tell COMELEC how likely it is for a candidate to have understated these costs.

To a similar but likely lesser degree, these same items may be applicable for radio ads. Costs are likely to be lower, as there is no need for visuals or graphics, but the same factors regarding royalties and talent fees will probably still hold. As for print ads on newspapers and magazines, talent fees are still paid to celebrity endorsers, and better-designed visuals and graphics will doubtless entail higher fees for their design, as will the difference between the use of color or black and white for the graphic.

The Ad Campaign

Putting the candidate's ad out in the media has already been the focus of many discussions, and without meaning to belabor the obvious, prime spots, frequency of repetition in a day, larger ad sizes, and prime page locations entail higher costs. Fortunately, media practitioners themselves are privy to such numbers, and if they are faithful to their responsibility to the public they will be able to provide a fair estimate of a candidate's spending for this aspect. Because the law provides restrictions on advertising campaigns in terms of size and frequency, it is also possible for concerned citizens to keep an eye out for whether or not a candidate's campaign is already exceeding the legal limits.

How Much?

So, let's look at some industry benchmarks for broadcast ads.

It is estimated that the production of a 30-second television commercial costs at least P1 million, without including the talent fees of any endorsers involved, quite possibly already inclusive of the costs of royalties for music used. Obviously, the more popular the celebrity endorser, the higher will be the expense, as will be the use of derivative campaign jingles (music lifted from popular songs). A media practitioner, choosing not to be named to protect the privacy of the practitioner's firm, estimates presidential candidate Manny Villar's early infomercial campaign -- presumably the Boy Abunda interviews -- to be in the P3 million to P5 million ballpark, for instance.

With regard to broadcast placements, the same media practitioner estimates primetime and evening news program 30-second commercial placements in the top television networks GMA and ABS-CBN to be about P100 thousand ballpark, while ABC-5 may be charging about P50 thousand. For non-primetime spots, the top networks may charge the play of 30-second advertisements to be about P50 thousand to P60 thousand, while other networks may charge P20 thousand to P30 thousand. With these numbers, it is estimated that presidential candidate Noynoy Aquino's music video advertisement cost about P500 thousand to P600 thousand to be played during the TV Patrol news program -- per airing.

Networks are said to offer discounts for contracts involving multiple spots, as a normal business practice; for instance, a network can charge P75 thousand per spot instead of P100 thousand per spot, if the candidate purchases ten or more, making it less expensive for the candidate. However, with the limited amount of airtime available, many candidates are said to be paying more, just so they will get the ad spots they want played in primetime hours, perhaps P150 thousand per airing; this is to ensure that a candidate will have his advertisement played more often than his rival's ad would be -- or perhaps to squeeze-play his rival and not have his rival's ad played at all.

A side note: cost or not, it is not very likely to see the advertisements of non-administration candidates to appear on government-run television, thus giving an edge to the infomercials of administration candidates.

With regard to broadsheets and popular magazines, print ads can cost up to P100 thousand, with candidates willing to pay more to have their advertisements placed on prime locations within the publication. Candidates are likely to be also willing to pay more to bump off their rivals by paying more to have their ads placed in newspapers and magazines whose advertising spaces are usually fully-booked.

Often, a candidate will present the cost of a producing a campaign advertisement as a single item in their campaign spending report, without breaking down the cost, in their attempts to fool the public, the media, and COMELEC into thinking that not much was spent; worse still would be that the candidate presents the advertising expense as an entire number not broken down into separate items. With the help of industry averages already made public, the efforts of concerned citizens -- especially those with knowledge of production costs and line-item accounting -- will very likely be of value in blowing such sneaky claims out of the water.

Too Much?

If indeed the Philippines will have 48 million-odd registered voters by the end of the registration period, as COMELEC has reportedly estimated, we are to expect these limits for national candidates:

Approximately P140 million for an individual candidate supported by political party;

Approximately P160 million can be spent by individual candidates not supported or nominated by political part; the same amount can be spent by political parties;

Approximately P480 million can be spent by candidates for President or Vice President.

While it is not yet clear to the public whether or not infomercials are considered campaign ads, the general public can keep an eye on the candidates' advertising spending during the campaign period. With such estimates, a voter can very well get a gut feel on how much money a candidate is throwing out to the winds in the hopes of getting elected. A personal hope is that voters will refuse to choose candidates who have in our personal estimation violated election laws; what sort of official will we have if we choose a candidate who willingly, knowingly, and illegally breaks the law just to get elected?

Of course, it remains to be seen whether the COMELEC has the sense of right and wrong and would make the decision to disqualify a candidate for illegal election spending.

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