So fun to watch when giants are at it in the trade.

Take for example Colgate’s Plax Fresh Tea vs. Listerine’s Natural Green Tea who launched within weeks of each other. For the record, Listerine launched first via their Japanese-themed hotel launch, TVC, and it was available in a few supermarkets in Cebu (but was out-of-stock most of the time in April). I’m thinking they have problems with distribution which leads me to think if they launched hurriedly just to get ahead…most especially if they got wind that Colgate was also bringing their own tea mouthwash variant to the market.

What makes me wonder is why these two giants decided to release a tea variant of mouthwash in the first place. Zen furniture, Zen gardens, Zen philosophy—yes on all accounts. Are market studies showing that Filipinos are solidly embracing the Zen lifestyle all the way to mouthwash level? After all, tea is highly associated to anything Zen and I’m hoping that the Filipino taste buds are ready for this.

And so I can’t help but compare one against each other (already plus points for Colgate Plax because they have an introductory price of P12 only for the 60ml variant).

Choosing between two products that are more or less the same in theme and benefits, price becomes the deciding factor then. Besides, no medicine taste for me please. Did I just mention intro price three times? Yes, I am a true blue Cebuana.

Mother's Day weekend was abuzz and I caught myself shopping again in the supermarket hoping to find something special for my own mother and of course, to all my mommy friends out there.
I chanced upon the most eye-catching promo pack among all other Mother's Day promotions in Metro Gaisano Ayala. Dove seems to have done it again with their "I Dove You, Mom!" promo pack @ P199 which already includes Dove Roll-on Original 40ml, Dove Cream Bar Blue 100g, Dove Shampoo 90ml, Dove Conditioner 90ml and a free pouch. Not the most affordable but Dove products are more associated with the upper class and thus the higher price and cash- out. Savings of P49 is not bad at all considering that it can be the perfect traveling or overnighter kit for oneself and of course, as a present. Uniliver anyway has other brands targeted for the mass population. 

The first time I was impressed with Dove was its Valentine’s Day viral video posted on their Youtube channel by the people behind Dove Men + Care. It was so touching that I was in tears by the end of the video (being the hopeless romantic that I am). It moved me enough to even post it on Facebook and tagged all my hopeless romantic girlfriends. I don’t know what men think of after they saw the video, but definitely top-of-mind NOW for me is Dove Men + Care when it comes to men’s deodorant plainly because the ad was funny, sweet, touching,  and not the normal machismo and over confidence portrayed by Rexona and Axe TV ads. While Rexona and Axe portray confidence as getting hot chicks and being able to accomplish the unbelievable, Dove Men + Care really put an emotional spin that is more realistic, believable, and heart-warming. After all, doesn’t it take an enormous amount of confidence to pull off a live sing-and-dance to surprise a wife, fiancée, or girlfriend?

Although the "I Dove You, Mom!" promo pack is small in scheme compared to their viral video, it still reminded me of the humor and catchiness that I have associated Dove with. Excited to see what more they can come up with.