A Philippine distiller has defended its controversial billboards from protests from feminist groups, church organizations and politicians. Destileria Limtuaco's billboards for Napoleon Quince brandy, which contains the tag line "Nakatikim ka na ba ng kinse anyos (Have you tasted a 15-year-old)?" have been censured by critics for allegedly advocating statutory sex.
Detractors have further demanded a boycott of the spirit and have filed a lawsuit against Destileria Limtuaco and Co for allegedly violating child abuse, prostitution and obscene-publication laws. The attendant radio campaign, which has also drawn notoriety, depicts an irate wife who asks her husband after he returns home, "Where have you been? I've heard you've gone crazy over a 15-year-old." The husband replies that the 15-year-old is a bottle of Napoleon brandy.
The company has defended its advertising campaign and in turn filed a false-accusation complaint against the plaintiffs, and has also threatened legal action against two senatorial candidates after they defaced their Napoleon Quince billboard. Alfredo Lim, who led a crusade against nightclub owners while serving as Manila's mayor in the 1990s, slashed a billboard while perched on a crane as Boots Anson-Roa, a film star, looked on.
"We are saddened and shocked by the obvious political publicity stunt pulled by the two senatorial candidates," Olivia Limpe-Aw, the distiller's executive vice-president, said. She added that both the billboard and radio advertisements "do not contain immodest and indecent matter". The liquor maker's legal counsel, Bonifacio Alentajan, added that the complaint was a form of harassment.
"I can't understand that it (the tagline) is malicious. Does it suggest child prostitution or child trafficking? Maybe they believed the shape of the bottle is similar to the body of a 15-year-old girl," Mr Alentajan said.
“A petition signed in March by over 550 delegates and organizers at the Second Philippine Parenting Convention decried the billboards' "destructive, irresponsible, exploitative and indecent" nature. The signatories called for the immediate suspension of the Kinse Anyos ads and an apology from its authors and sponsors.
"As parents, it is our prime responsibility to nurture our families in the shelter of true community, to shield our spouses and our children from all attempts to corrupt their hearts and minds, to rob them of their innocence, their physical and emotional safety, their right to decent society. Claiming to be creative, the campaign is totally destructive, irresponsible, exploitative and indecent, a violent and vulgar assault against our vision to build morally righteous and enlightened communities," the statement read in part.
