When I watched the replay of ANC’s Media in Focus regarding the reactions to the Malu Fernandez controversy (you can watch it here, courtesy of Ria Jose), they showed a statement from Manila Standard Today which stated that the editors of the said paper have not accepted Malu Fernandez’s resignation. A few days before that, a stub on the opinion page of the paper showed that her column will be back on Monday, September 3.
Well, she’s really back. To underscore the irony, part of what she writes is about why women should not be afraid to try out cheap make-up brands:
But don’t be a label whore when it comes to makeup because as I said all the chemicals are basically the same. Don’t be afraid to try out cheap drugstore brands. You may find some things that you actually like. And for those of you on a budget don’t feel bad if you’re buying a cheaper brand than the one you really want. They just differ in packaging anyway, it’s all the same. [MST]
I guess it’s not the same with perfume? Beats me. 
Anyway, I hope people will not vehemently react to her continued writing on MST. I believe that the only way that we can see if she was indeed sincere with her resignation apology, and if she has indeed learned something from the incident, is to read what she writes about in the future.
Everyone deserves a second chance, and everybody has a right to their own opinion. If the online community remains civil to this decision by the MST, I believe that we could prove that there is no truth to the accusation that the Philippine blogosphere is a lynch mob. We could also prove that we could be a more mature blogging community to begin with.
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12 responses so far ↓
1 sparks // Sep 3, 2007 at 3:35 pm
wushuuuuuu. biglang nag-iba ang ihip ng hangin. hehehee :-p
2 Jon Limjap // Sep 3, 2007 at 5:26 pm
sparks,
Nakakaaliw nga eh. I wonder if she will praise Charlie cologne next time. LOLz.
3 Sidney // Sep 3, 2007 at 10:49 pm
I never asked for her resignation but I find MST’s decision odd.
4 The Ca t // Sep 4, 2007 at 5:26 am
I guess it’s not the same with perfume? Beats me.
On the contrary, it is the perfume which comes from limited big suppliers from France. Similar scents as like generic and then manufactured and labeled with different brands.
I should know as i have said i was engaed in perfume and cologne production. It was just a small scale and i import the scent thru a big importer whose chemical engineer was my consultant.
With make-up, they can never be the same. The more expensive ones have ingredients that can not be found in the cheap cosmetic.
Like, not all can have the ingredient that makes it last longer or water resistant.
lipstick color is phased out after a few months because of unavailability of the color ingredients. There were lipsticks which we recalled because of lead content that make the beautiful gloss.
The impression that she was an authority in cosmetics was due to her inconsistency in promoting low priced cosmetics while insulting the cheap cologne wearing OFWs.
The mold of the container of any cosmetic and perfume is used for several millions of the product so that the cost per unit is spread out.
What is expensive is the advertisement and promotion.
5 The Ca t // Sep 4, 2007 at 5:32 am
I was not for her firing either.
But I was expecting a statement from Manila Standard.
I was after the welfare of the small people who will be affected by the boycott if there is any.
The management however ignored the possibility of the repercussion of the people’s boycott.
They are testing the water if the issue is still hot.
What would the bloggers do next.
6 Jon Limjap // Sep 4, 2007 at 5:53 am
Sidney,
Maybe they didn’t want to be the paper that bowed to the pressure brought about by bloggers?
I believe though that they are not adversarial to bloggers per se. Bong Austero and Connie Veneracion are both bloggers-turned-columnists writing for their paper.
As I said, we will see.
The Ca t,
“What is expensive is the advertisement and promotion”
How ironic. Advertisements and promotions are supposed to sell the product, and they actually pass that cost to the consumer too? So binayaran mo yung advertisement na nakita mo sa TV which made you buy that cosmetic in the first place? Tang… stupid logic.
Anyway, siguro MST is thinking that old media line… bad publicity is still publicity. Let’s see what will happen.
I wonder, as well, how Tingog and everyone else who called for Malu’s termination would react. Hmmm.
7 The Ca t // Sep 4, 2007 at 6:50 am
So you know why Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan are making a lot of money, thru product endorsements.
Sabi nga ni Kris, may 1M plus na sa bangko si Baby James from endorsement of baby diaper.
Kung mumurahing diapers ba yan, kukuha ng sikat na celebrity?
Per TV 30 second spot in the TV is worth hundreds of thousands.
Per column -inch in the newspaper is how much?
So MS is doing good financially because of the advertisement despite the limite circulation.
Question is, who’s her backer that the MS can not afford to offend? A big advertiser perhaps?
8 Sophie // Sep 5, 2007 at 5:16 pm
Not all cosmetics are created equal. Quality differentiation, as what I’ve learned in my Economics class, is so so true. They add special ingredients ( out of this world, or hard to find ones ), invest heavily on research development, that explains the prices. Of course you need to know which brand is really good, there are actually some luxury brands that come out with cosmetic collections that don’t have anything unique in them.
And to those who have read the article, hinay lang sa alcohol on your makeup brushes, dilute them in water, or better yet, use shampoo and conditioner instead!
9 john marzan // Sep 6, 2007 at 3:06 pm
I think Malu’s a joke. And the people who are running MST a bigger joke.
10 Clair // Sep 8, 2007 at 11:22 pm
I never really wrote about the Malu Fernandez issue primarily because everyone was writing about it already, and as one of my co-workers said it already, sometimes people need to chill. In any case, though I didn’t like the way she wrote her article because it seemed to look down on OFWs, etc., I think that asking for resignation was too much. A public apology would have sufficed and an effort to learn more about the lifestyle of OFWs and whoever uses cheap cologne and such would have been better so that wouldn’t seem too biased.
Anyhow, maybe this article is an attempt at an apology? A weird way of trying to apologize, if I may say so but it could be something like it.
11 Jon Limjap // Sep 10, 2007 at 5:54 am
The C at,
Ah, but we can only speculate, can’t we?
Sophie,
Sablay ano? After much public scrutiny she’ll come up with a “hilaw” article. Or is that the fault of the editors? Again?! Hehehe.
John Marzan,
Perhaps, you are right. Only time will tell.
Clair,
Unfortunately she damaged her own credibility. The C at has done a review of her article, after which prompted her to actually support the boycott.
12 Clair // Sep 10, 2007 at 7:52 pm
Aiya~ Sad sad sad…
The article was bland. That was basically what I thought when I read it. I guess we can’t really speculate much about her motives and what she’s thinking. Well, I just hope that she’d get get up from this situation.
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