In a time where OFW-ism is at its height (as a choice and as an ideology*), and paired with this is the program with the objective of increasing tourism statistics in the Philippine setting; there was the creation of DOT’s catching mantra ---- “It’s more fun in the Philippines”. Products from varied industries caught on the craze through the legal and not-so-legal adaption of the famous line. Two years later, an ice cream line under Magnolia was created appearing to complement this under their phrase ‘Ang sarap makilala ng Pilipinas!’
Released under the label The Best of the Philippines, it is Magnolia’s innovative strategy of promoting tourism through food. In the case of flavors and tastes, regions are known for their specialties and their people become respectively defined by these [Lupton1998(2012): 25]. For tourists, the conversion of these tastes into ice cream was a conservative way to experience local specialties since it is without intimidation. It is local specialties presented in a familiar form. This ice cream line is one good defining example of what Bell & Valentine [1997] conveniently dubbed as ‘consuming geographies’ ---- we are indeed where we eat [ibid]. In a geographic synesthesia of sorts, Baguio is Ube Keso, tasting like purple yam with a twist of cheese. Batangas is either Tsokolate Tablea, a mix of chocolate and crunchy rice crispies, or Coffee Crumble which speaks to coffee lovers and those fond of the Batangas blend. Guimaras is a giant mango, a tantalizing fusion of their famous mangoes in rich vanilla ice cream. Laguna, her summer waterparks and breathtaking mountain views, translated into Macapuno Langka --- a yin and yang of coconut and jackfruit together in a creamy ambrosia; and Macapuno Banana with Crème Brulee bits; while Pampanga tastes of pandan and pinipig.
A Cultural Ecology of Ice Cream.
The question now is how to go about ruminating on the role ice cream can play in culture along the terms of group identity minus the cultural-economic shapings which tend to be attributed from the political economy of the sign. To adapt a cultural ecological standpoint, this ice cream can play a role in inculturation through unconscious food socialization. This is to say that children may be programmed to favor tastes within the Filipino flavor spectrum, as early as their pre-natal stage. In studies conducted by Beauchamp & Menella [2009] and Menella & Trabulsi [2012], they discovered that amniotic fluid as well as the breast milk is flavored by foods and beverages that a pregnant woman has eaten within the last few hours. These are influences to the shaping of flavor memories as well as preferences. The child will tend to look for these flavor tones and prefer them over some others upon having weaned to chewable foods, and as he or she matures into an adult. In accordance to evolutionary theory, since mothers tend to feed their children what they themselves eat, it is nature’s way of introducing them to the foods and flavors that they’re likely to encounter in their family and in their culture as they grow. It provides information to the baby about who they are as a family [Menella: 2011].
To consume Magnolia’s best line for cultural, flavor programming is an innovative approach at the literal internalization of culture as it operates on the basic instinct humans have. And to lift directly from Lupton [1998(2012): 95]: Taste may be said to unite as well as separate individuals. It distinguishes in an essential way, since taste is the basis of all that one has…
We can also say that the incorporation of local flavors into an international dessert/sweet is an alternative way of telling a narrative of the nation [Bennett & Frow 2008(2010): 30] through edible stories. Food is a vehicle, symbolic and material, for negotiating and constructing a sense of who we are. Practices around food unfold in a multiplicity of social spaces, each having implications for identity [Bryant and peck 2007(2008): 21]. The ice creams are not just frozen water buffalo milk with flavor, but infused with ideas of landscapes and scenarios. These are contained in tubs which are decorated with images, shareable with anyone who shows even the slightest interest. The Best of the Philippines, while an ice cream line, is a type of national history-telling which begins in the present, using a universal medium which only makes (symbolic) sense in the present. Foods can reveal dramatic social change… the rebirth of nationalism [Bryant & Peck 2007(2008): 20].
Sweet, Edible, Patriotism
The commercial ends with the line ‘Wag maging dayuhan sa sariling ice cream’. This proves Williams’ [1961/1993] premise that advertising is the official art of the modern capitalist society. Downing [2004(2009)] explains that …advertising is a capitalist realist art which possesses a special cultural power for it picks up some of the things that people hold dear and represents them to people as all of what they value. It appears to play on the idea of patriotism, which is defined by Bennett & Frow [2008(2010): 05] as a feeling for the nation. This works tremendously well for Filipinos locally and abroad as a psychocultural marker. It is able to stir the emotions of the latter most specifically; while it is a “storehouse of meaning” based on personal nostalgia [Stern 1992: 19] as well as geographic belongingness, it plays on the sensations of ‘longing for home’. And with ice cream being a milky comfort food, the product also attempts to be a form of re-creation; a closest emulation to a craved experience. Magnolia has been known to export to Australia, Taiwan, Macau, Japan, Brunei, Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain for the longest time [Magnolia: 2013]. In the case of the local, it hints being properly Filipino by consuming this good which is deemed appropriate.
*The usage of the term 'Ideology' in this treatise has more to do with consciousness. I have been acquainted with people who still think going abroad is best even though they already have a really high salary and a high position in a company they work in. These are people who absolutely have it made but still prefer to leave because it is the popular choice (it is "sosyal" and "big time"), and not because they need to.
[References will be posted in the third segment of LOVE AT FIRST LICK]
LOVE AT FIRST LICK PART III [For a Pop Culture of Ice Cream: Conclusion
LOVE AT FIRST LICK PART III [For a Pop Culture of Ice Cream: Conclusion
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