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Enrico Berdos Documented Essay 2

Professor Sy

English 10

27 April 2016

Explaining the AlDub Magic

It all started with Maine Mendoza feeling giddy (kinikilig) on national television while

being teased on Richard Faulkerson Jr. (Alden Richards) by the cast of Eat Bulaga!. Immediately,

she and Alden became known as a new celebrity loveteam called AlDub, and they became a huge

hit to viewers, fans and users of social media like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Youtube. Due

to their popularity, several advertisers hired them as product endorsers for various products such

as instant food, skin products, clothing and so much more. Also, AlDub has already broken global

records for the most number of tweets on social networking site Twitter.

The thing with AlDub is that it gained an unexpected surge in popularity and appeal, which

critics and spectators call as ‘AlDub magic’. As an attempt to explain this, I intend to explore the

insights of different people regarding this phenomenon. Deputy Manager of McDonalds Margot

Torres attributes the AlDub magic to AlDub’s dedicated fans and supporters called the AlDub

Nation (Santiago, 2015). Advertising guru Vincent Pozon proposes that the prominence of AlDub

is due to its differentiation of setting and associated unscripted events (Uy, 2015). Marketing

expert William Arcilla describes the first instance of Maine blushing over Alden as ‘magical’ due

to its component of genuine expressions (Santiago, 2015). Nocum, on the other hand, associated

AlDub’s popularity to its wide reach and influence on old and new forms of social media (Nocum,

2015). This scramble for explanations of ‘AlDub Magic’ only began when AlDub became globally

known on the Internet due to its record-breaking trends on social networking site Twitter.
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Popularity

On September 26, 2015, the day when Eat Bulaga! aired its KalyeSerye episode presenting

AlDub having their first date, their hashtag #ALDubEBforLOVE garnered a total of 25,652,800

tweets on social networking site Twitter, surpassing previous Twitter records of famous American

events such as the Super Bowl XLIX which had 25.1 million tweets, and the Video Music Awards

with 21.4 million tweets (Montenegro, 2015). Another one of their hashtags,

#AlDubEBTamangPanahon was even recognized by the Guinness World Records as a record-

breaker for the most-used hashtag in 24 hours due to its amassment of 40,706,392 tweets (Ligunas,

2016). This would not be possible without the support of AlDub’s fans, the collective called AlDub

Nation.

Due to the nature of its activity demonstrated from earlier examples, AlDub Nation can be

considered as an active fans club capable of amassing huge and serious support from the people.

It’s composed of different groups that exist primarily on social networking sites such as Twitter,

Facebook and Instagram. Other celebrity love teams like KathNiel (Kathryn Bernardo and Daniel

Padilla) also have their supporters and fans who are also active on the same social networking sites

as AlDub. However, they do not receive the amount of reception, nor achieve global popularity

and exposure like AlDub does. For instance, De Leon narrates that while AlDub was not yet well-

known on August 2015, they were able to have 3 million tweets, something that their rival

loveteam KathNiel wasn’t able to do at that time (de Leon, 2015). This support, according to

Torres, made a popularity difference that made AlDub much more appealing than KathNiel

(Santiago, 2015).
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Differentiation

Both KathNiel and AlDub are basically celebrity love teams who perform romantic love in

television, and each does so in different mediums. Kathniel stars in teleseryes (soap operas) that

feature drama, while AlDub perfoms on a split-screen interface depicting two people in two

differrent locations. In response to these, people express their thoughts into the public domain of

Internet, since it allows long-distance communication among people with the same interests.

Gerrig describes this action as a type of “participatory response”, a reaction to a story in terms of

ideas and thoughts (Gerrig 1993; Polichak & Gerrig 2002). In an attempt to specify the concept of

“AlDub Magic”, we must differentiate the performance of KathNiel and AlDub.

Torres mentions that the romantic interaction of other celebrity love teams like KathNiel

is describes as “written, shot and produced” (Santiago, 2015). In short, she is referring to the fact

that in order for Kathniel to provide a performance that depicts a romantic couple, they need to

memorize dialogues provided by a scriptwriter, with actions being directed under the supervision

of a director. Their actions are meant to provide the illusion of romantecized reality that “transports

people through absorption to a narration as it unfolds” (Green & Brock, 2000). For instance,

Kathniel performs a kissing scene in their teleserye “Pangako Sa ‘Yo”. The experience of that

activity, according to Csikzenmihalyi , should make people feel the experience of love or ‘kilig’

as a reaction and “transportation” to the flow of events (Csikszentmihalyi 1990, 1997, 2000).

Meawhile, the AlDub’s performance is “a parody, a lampoon, an exaggeration of soap

conventions” (Uy, 2015) executed through active use of song, dance, lip synching and exaggerated

facial expressions. It utilizes mediums that allow for creative expression of emotions, such as

Dubsmash, a mobile application that offers multiple voice recordings that can be used for lip

synching. In an attempt to explain the “magic formula” of AlDub, Reyes defines AlDub’s
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performance locations are dynamic, in a sense that it moves from one barangay streer to another.

In addition, she theorizes that the appeal of AlDub is due to its interaction with people in lower

socioeconomic classes, its reiteration of Filipino sayings and cultural references, and its revamped

evolution from the old forms of entertainment such as theatrical plays, komiks, movies and old

soap operas (Reyes, 2015).

Also, AlDub relies on a loosely written script with more dialogues and actions performed

impromptu by the actors involved, which means that most of AlDub’s actions happen in real time,

and their emotions are a reaction to unexpected circumstances. To demonstrate this, there’s a

KalyeSerye television episode on September 4, 2015, which presents the characters of Maine

Mendoza (Yaya Dub) and Richard Faulkerson Jr. (Alden) having their first meeting interrupted by

a plywood wall lowered by Yaya Dub’s master, Lola Nidora (Caligan, 2015). This theme of

forbidden love got people “transported” to the action, especially when Yaya Dub and Alden burst

down into tears. By the time Alden was interviewed, he confessed that he really cried on that day

due to an outpouring of overwhelming emotions.

In reaction, viewers cried, hugged each other, and were literally screaming out of giddiness

(kilig). Again, Csikszenmihalyi interprets this action as people’s reaction to being caught up in the

“flow” of the experience of an activity (Csikszenmihalyi, 1990, 1997, 2000). Foucault explains

this phenomenon as a manifestation of society’s celebration to “confessed emotions” of individual

feelings, intimate revelations and languages of therapy (Foucault, 1978). In addition, AlDub

supporters and viewers found a way to integrate with new media such as Facebook and Twitter,

and old media such as print, television and radio (Nocum, 2015). To describe Nocum’s argument,

however, it requires a basic background and differentiation on what is considered new or old

media.
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Marriage of old and new media

The age of a medium depends on the age of the generation that it services. Traditional

media composed of the radio, print and televison served Generation X (34-54 years old) since

these were the available forms in a world where technological advancements of comminication

were not yet developed. Comminication-based social media like Facebook, Instagram, Youtube

and Twitter are used by Generation Y (20-34 years old) and Milllenials (18-20 years old) who

grew up having access to technology like computers and smartphones that made communication

accessible. However, it doesn’t mean that new media cannot appeal to old people, and older media

cannot appeal to young people.

For instance, when AlDub’s KalyeSerye on Eat Bulaga! was slowly becoming popular on

television, the management of Eat Bulaga! began posting videos of the Kalyeserye on video

sharing site Youtube. This shift from old media to new media made AlDub exposed to many people

who view both old and new forms of media. Nocum interpreted that this action made AlDub

capable of bridging across several generations of active viewers. (Nocum, 2015)

However, AlDub did not only shift from old to new media but also vice versa. In Twitter

and Facebook, AlDub and their fellow hosts in Eat Bulaga! are sharing tweets and posting videos

related to KalyeSerye as a means of thanking and responding to their online audience (mostly

members of AlDub Nation). In response, the AlDub Nation propagates talks regarding things

related to AlDub: from their TVCs (television commercials), scenes in KalyeSerye to quotes

mentioned by Lola Nidora during the show. In this scenario, both the AlDub Nation and AlDub

are speakers and listeners who communicate through the use of new media.
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Conclusion

The cycle of AlDub continuously repeats itself into a cycle. From AlDub’s KalyeSerye

episode, viewers will find certain factors such as performance differentiation, emotion authenticity

and audience transportation that draw them into watching it over and over. The reaction of AlDub’s

viewers who span across generations eventually forms a united group of AlDub supporrters called

the AlDub Nation. This group forms a communication between them and celebrities involved in

the KalyeSerye. The communication formed involves a shift from new media to old media and

vice versa. In the end, all the media involved raises the popularity of AlDub into a global scale,

and the cycle starts all over again. In total, the explanations for ‘AlDub Magic’ are as follows: the

creation of the AlDub Nation, performance differentiation, emotion authenticity, and the AlDub’s

utilization of both old and new media.

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References

Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly (1990), Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, New York:

Harper&Row.

——— (1997), Finding Flow: The Psychology of Engagement with Everyday Life, New York:

Basic Books.

——— (2000), “The Costs and Benefits of Consuming,” Journal of Consumer Research, 27 (2),

267–72.

De Leon, E. (2015, August 31). Three million tweets na panawagan ng KathNiel, naabot ng AlDub

fans!. Retrieved May 25, 2016, from http://www.philstar.com/pang-

movies/2015/08/31/1494237/three-million-tweets-na-panawagan-ng-kathniel-naabot-ng-

aldub-fans

Foucault, M. (1978). The History of Sexuality: An Introduction. New York: 182 Random House.

Gerrig, R. J. (1993), Experiencing Narrative Worlds: On the Psychological Activities of Reading,

New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

Green, M. C. and Brock, T. (2002), “In the Mind’s Eye: Transportation-Imagery Model of

Narrative Persuasion,” in Narrative Impact: Social and Cognitive Foundations, ed.

Melanie C. Green, Jeffrey J. Strange, Timothy C. Brock, Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum,

315–41.

Ligunas, M. (2016, March 22). AlDub recognized by Guinness World Records as record-breaker

in Twitter’s 10-year history. Retrieved May 25, 2016, from

http://www.gmanetwork.com/entertainment/gma/articles/2016-03-22/22189/AlDub-

recognized-by-Guinness-World-Records-as-record-breaker-in-Twitters-10-year-history
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Montenegro, B. (2015, September 28). AlDub breaks the Internet with record 25.6 million tweets.

Retrieved May 25, 2016, from

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/538713/hashtag/aldub-breaks-the-internet-with-

record-25-6-million-tweets

Nocum, A. (2015, October 7). AlDub Magic- marriage of old and new media. Retrieved May 28,

2016, from http://opinion.inquirer.net/89172/aldub-magic-marriage-of-old-and-new-

media

Polichak, J. W. and Gerrig, R. J. (2002), “‘Get Up and Win!’: Participatory Responses to

Narrative,” in Narrative Impact: Social and Cognitive Foundations, ed. Melanie C. Green,

Jeffrey J. Strange, Timothy C. Brock, Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum, 71–95.

Reyes, S. (2015, October 31). Part 1: AlDub: Stumbling upon a magic formula. Retrieved April

26, 2016, from http://www.rappler.com/thought-leaders/111175-part-1-aldub-magic-

formula

Santiago, E. (2015, December 12). Advertisers compare AlDub advertising power to Pacquiao.

Retrieved April 26, 2016, from http://www.pep.ph/news/61444/advertisers-compare-

aldub-advertising-power-to-manny-pacquiao-consider-aldub-as-people39s-love-team

Uy, V. (2015, October 28). How #AlDub is a game-changer in Philippine television, advertising,

social media. Retrieved April 26, 2016, from

http://www.interaksyon.com/entertainment/how-aldub-is-a-game-changer-in-philippine-

television-advertising-social-media/