One of the most well-remembered campaigns from the trove of JOLLIBEE’s winning advertisements was created in 1990s by their newest ad agency, Ace-Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising—“I Love You Sabado”. The account was formerly handled by Basic Advertising, but in 1992, an executive decision was made to pitch the business out to other agencies in an effort to gain new perspectives and fresh points of views on how to improve the company’s creative marketing communications.
Of course, the news made quite a buzz in the industry as Jollibee, with its multi-million peso promotional budget, was considered a premiere client in the same league as Procter & Gamble, PRC Unilever, and San Miguel Corp.
The invited agencies were briefed for a Kids’ campaign, to sell their Chicken Joy and Yumburger, with parents as secondary targets. Ace-Saatchi & Saatchi brought their depth of experience in strategic thinking by creating a campaign hitched on a consumer insight—hidden truths about a consumer’s deep feelings, habits, values and sensitivities that can affect his actions and decision-making. The challenge for the agency was to ferret these insights out of their consumers, and use these to create a bond with them thru creative storytelling.
The consumer insight was so surprisingly simple: Working parents are out in their offices and work places 5 days a week, eking out a living, leaving little time for their kids, except on weekends. Kids have also come to accept this reality--that they can only enjoy moments with parents when it’s their day-off.
Hence, Saatchi’s creative team sought to dramatize the specialness of weekends, by thoughtfully creating eager anticipation for Saturday: when work stops for parents, and when kids become the center of attention—and their world again. Thus the catchphrase ,”I Love You Sabado!”—an expression of kids’ love for their favorite day of the week, when they become special again in their parents’ eyes, with hopes answered and wishes granted. It was woven seamlessly into an existing Jollibee theme "Alagang Pilipino, At Home sa Jollibee".
The Saatchi Client presentation was auspiciously held on Saturday, in the agency’s Makati office. In attendance were all the Tan Caktiong brothers, as well the marketing director, who were convinced of the agency’s proposition. The pitch material was approved as is, straight for production. (The only minor revision was to include Sunday as well, whuch was solved by just tweaking the jingle: (“I Love You Sabado..pati na rin Linggo”)
WATCH THE 1992 "I LOVE YOU, SABADO" TVC HERE:
The ”anticipation” story was charmingly told in a TV
commercial starring a little boy dreaming and yearning for Saturday to arrive,
his thought voice set in a wistful jingle that starts with “Isang tulog na
lang ang hinihintay buong Linggo… dahil nandy’an na ang araw na ako’y
mabubusog…. Yayayain si mama’t papa, mag-enjoy ng chicken joy!...I love you
Sabado, pati na rin Linggo/Hintay ka lang Jollibee nandy’an na ‘ko, /Sabado and
araw ko, masusunod ang puso ko!”.
Cast as the Boy who lives for Saturdays was Boy2 Quizon, Epy Quizon's nephew and grandson of the legendary comedian Dolphy. The “I Love You Sabado” jingle itself, written by agency creative Marci Reyes and composed by Bob Serrano, was a blockbuster hit. Soon, the catchy jingle could be heard on both TV and radio airwaves, in malls and in theaters. Filipino kids began singing it in their classrooms, school events, and in sing-alongs.
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| I LOVE YOU SABADO was incorporated in ads for other Jollibee products like this 1993 Kiddie Pack TVC |
The campaign would be sustained with several follow-up TVCs under the same “Sabado” theme, used for such other products as the Kiddie Pack meal (1993). This particular commercial had a female kiddie talent. A dance routine was also choregraphed for shows, events and TV appearances by Jollibee and Friends. The campaign line also spawned a Viva movie of the same title “I Love You Sabado”, starring Mikee Cojuangco, Janno Gibbs, and Geneva Cruz.
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| I LOVE YOU SABADO, the movie. Source: Video48 |
As if that was not enough, a special derivative print ad for Mother’s Day won for the Agency a Print Ad of the Month for May 1994. The copy was cleverly lifted from the campaign line itself, but given a twist: ”Mommy, I love you Sabado, Linggo, Lunes..Martes..Miyerkoles..Huwebes, Biyernes…Happy Mother’s Day! Punta tayo sa JOLLIBEE!”.
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| Creative Guild Ad of the Month for May 1994 |
“I Love You, Sabado” ran for some many years, remade again in 1998-2002, then again in 2015. but many would continue to recall long after the campaign was over, as it evoked memories of childhood and pleasant Jollibee weekend visits. The campaign was last resurrected in 2015, featuring basically the same story—that of a homebound boy who longs for the weekend so he could go biking with his school-age siblings and get treated to Jollibee by his parents.
WATCH THE 2015 RE-MAKE OF THE "I LOVE YOU SABADO" TVC HERE:
Fueled by nostalgia, the campaign continued to live on
and work wonders for the brand. To this day, it is one of the most memorable
Jollibee campaigns ever made for the brand, a classic commercial which reset
new benchmarks in creating empathy, connecting with consumers, and in pushing Jollibee
to a while legion of Filipino kids and their parents, in a way that’s fun,
truthful and real.
Advertiser: JOLLIBEE FOODS CORP.
Products: Jollibee Chicken Joy/ Yumburger
Agency: ACE-SAATCHI & SAATCHI ADVERTISING
Executive Creative Director: JIMMY SANTIAGO / Creative Director: ROBERT LABAYEN
Concept Team: MARCI REYES / EUGENE DE MATA
Agency Producer: KAREN STO. DOMINGO /Print Producer: RODEL QUITAN
Head of Account : GIGI GARCIA
Management Supervisor: MILA MARQUEZ
Production House: PHOENIX FILMS / Director: CRIS MOJICA
Executive Producer: AIDA VICTORIA
Jingle Composer: BOB SERRANO
“I Love You, Sabado” TVC
30s, uploaded on youTube, 2014, by Mark Lester
Miranda,
"I Love You, Sabado", 2015 version, Jollibee Studios, 2017
Interview with Gigi
Garcia-Iglesias, VP Head of Accounts for Jollibee, Ace-Saatchi & Saatchi.
Piling-Piling Patalastas: 1994 Creative Guild
of the Year Program, 6 April 1995, Louie’s Cinema, Mile Long Makati, Manila.
Video 48, for the” I Love You Sabado” Viva Films movie poster