Politicians should not be used in highlighting vaccine infomercials as this could “turn the public off,” Senate President Vicente Sotto III cautioned in an interview.
Sotto stated that he has been gauging the pulse of the public for 40 years, and he surmised that the public won’t like it – stressing that the infomercial might not be effective if politicians were seen in it.
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“Politicians’ infomercials are a waste of money as some people will believe the message, though others will be turned off,” he said in response to a suggestion for President Rodrigo Duterte and Vice President Leni Robredo to release a “joint public service announcement” as a measure to boost public confidence in the safety of COVID-19 vaccines.
However, Sen. Joel Villanueva had suggested last May 20 using politicians in vaccine infomercials with the statement that the two highest officials in the country are the “living proof that vaccines do no harm.”
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However, Sotto had called for athletes or famous personalities to be highlighted in the infomercials because the public would view infomercials with politicians as a form of publicity.
“Infomercials can include normal people or famous, respected people, especially those who have no connections with politics, as using politicians is plugging, too obvious,” he said.
Sotto further added that politicians should not be in the list to consider for infomercials, citing that it wouldn’t ‘look good’: “You could use famous basketball players, softball players, volleyball players, people like that, but not politicians, as it won’t look good.” (AW)
