by Roehl Nino Bautista and Ericka Alcantara
The UAAP Cheerdance Competition (CDC) has improved a lot through the years. While students and alumni would often wish for their schools to regain lost championships or to surpass previous legacies, there is something that should never set center stage again.
Still hung up on the recently concluded CDC, we watched old videos of the competition. Just when you thought that the routine was over, or just when things start getting interesting, somebody dressed as a huge chocolate bar or ice cream cup would start dancing, jumping, prancing around and whatnot.
Makes you ask, “where the hell did that come from?”
Apparently, product placement has been the thing for the past CDC’s (we’re talking about 5 years ago and beyond), where routines are required to allot exposure to the main sponsor’s product. While it is amusing to see how teams incorporate replicas of frozen treats in their act, it certainly is distracting.
It is important to note that this requirement has ceased since the co-presenter of the CDC changed, where the closest thing to product placement is an introduction dance to the tune of the mobile phone company’s theme. That was two years ago. Also, it’s not a factor to the criteria of judging.
The CDC is free from the obligatory product placement required by the event’s old co-sponsor. Students are now treated to routines undisturbed by any sudden advertisement in the middle of the performance. Photo by Justin de Jesus
Thankfully, there have been no dancing mobile phones or cameras at the CDC so far.
God forbid that the old criterion resurfaces, or a new sponsor comes along and decides to reintroduce this much-maligned blast from the past. FullCourtFresh thought of product placements that should never happen.
The list of things that we should never see at the CDC is limitless, from cheerdancers in diapers to dancing hamburgers. Or perhaps we cringe at the thought of the crowd incorporating phrases into well-known and traditional cheers on how this deodorant brand is the best among the rest.
This, of course, is no thanks to routines years ago that featured a certain black or chocolate ice cream proclaiming its awesomeness and superiority, much to the sponsor’s delight. Some teams will inevitably suck up to sponsors for the crown, but creativity is not always pleasing.
Here are three situations which we considered as the worst product placements we should never witness.
We hope you join us in wishing that the following ideas never happen. EVER.
Here goes nothing.
1) Cold medicine mascots
Think of a running nose with a runny nose spelling out the school’s initials while the performers execute floor routines. Or an entrance composed of a huge nose snorting out cheerdancers, followed by a toss of someone dressed as a pill who lands back into the nose (not the safest way to induce your meds, but you get the point).
Props-heavy performances are flashy and would probably end with a bang, so we imagined that the giant nose would sneeze out confetti, or a huge flag with the school’s colors and the product logo.
It will probably work with the colors green and yellow. Other schools will have to be more creative.
2) Feminine pad sponsors
Ending the perfect routine can only be made better with the inclusion of a major sponsor – maxi pads.
Imagine cheerleaders clad in velcro suits as they somersault and launch themselves onto a giant maxi pad with perfect precision, much to the awe of the audience. Everyone falls neatly into place. The crowd goes wild! The males bend over and pick up the maxi pad with ease, carrying it away as the girls wave to their adoring fans.
Or better yet, the performers end the show by doing a pyramid on a maxi-pad platform and lying down on it, after which they slowly “vanish” in front of everybody’s eyes, and the pad gets rolled away.
3) Contraceptive features
We’ve seen videos of routines paying homage to a huge ice cream cup. But future CDC’s should never see dancers gathering around a huge condom, or a dancer dressed as one. Not to mention that no one should be subjected to special cheers made to match the product which might just consist of moans and groans.
If that’s not enough, condoms might take the place of clappers or balloons. People will be forced to grasp flimsy blown up condoms (which comes in various sizes from S to Stallion) and wave them around, cheering for their alma mater with all their might. In order to fully get into the school spirit, each contraceptive will be decked in school colors and like in true condom fashion have a corresponding flavor.
But still, nothing will be worse than starting a run by coming out of a huge latex tube, or a final pyramid graced by a blown-up condom balloon in the background. It’s disturbing in various proportions
Current CDC better than ever
The CDC is all about the teams performing for their schools’ pride, and to catch the eye of the judges. Performing silly sets or wearing mundane costumes just to please the sponsors defeat the essence of the event. Students should use their creativity for their team’s performance for their own school’s pride and glory. They should not be used as marketing tools for some product or company which lacks advertising skills.
Hopefully, the ice cream dances five years ago were the last of its kind.
