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REBRANDING: For products, not history

Denise Atanque
Sep 12, 2020
3 min read

REBRAND. The Marcos family has been facing accusations of Historical Revisionism but has denied ties with Cambridge Analytica by the former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos. © Rappler, CNN Philippines, The STAR/Gumban & Quimpo

For many, rebranding is a term used in the field of business when a product or a company undergoes the process of creating a new image as a way to keep up with modern trends. Cambridge Dictionary defines it as “the act of changing the way that an organization, company, or product is seen by the public.” With the recent news of the son of the late Ferdinand Marcos allegedly requesting a large political data-analysis firm to ‘rebrand’ the Marcos family’s image, the term now holds a meaning that delves into rewriting stories of truth, printed in our history textbooks and embedded in the minds of each Filipino.

Former Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. approached the now-defunct consulting firm Cambridge Analytica, requesting to ‘rebrand’ the Marcos family’s image, as stated by Former Cambridge Analytica director-turned-whistleblower Brittany Kaiser in a Rappler Talk episode with Rappler CEO Maria Ressa last July 15.

Kaiser revealed in the talk that the request of Bongbong Marcos was said to have been entertained by the staff and was even debated upon. She mentioned that Alexander Nix, suspended CEO of Cambridge Analytica, saw it as a ‘financial opportunity’ and asked staff to have the proposal for the said request be written.

“So, as you call it historical revisionism, that's exactly what it is, but it's done in a data-driven and scientific way. You undertake just enough research to figure out what people believe about a certain family, individual, politician, and then you figure out what could convince them to feel otherwise,” Kaiser explained.

Cambridge Analytica is a now-defunct political data-analysis firm. In 2018, the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica issue made it to the papers, revealing that the firm gathered data of millions of Facebook users from over 30 countries, without their permission, for political campaign purposes.

Christopher Wylie, former employee of Cambridge Analytica, stated that the company’s end goal was to create software to predict and influence voters' choices at the ballot box, apparently using the Philippines as a test subject for their system. Wired.com (n.d) stated that the firm functioned on having enough data points of every American, which its clients can leverage for “psychographic targeting” of ads.

On July 16, Marcos’ Spokesperson Vic Rodriguez slammed the Rappler interview, denying that Marcos reached out to Cambridge Analytica. He further exclaimed that the report was "patently fake, false, and misleading."

“BBM is consulting with his legal team and will be exploring the legal options to fight this injustice. The filing of libel charges is on the table,” Rodriguez announced in his statement, which is also posted on the official Bongbong Marcos Facebook page.

Bongbong Marcos is the son of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, who ruled over the Philippines during his regime with threat, violence, corruption, and oppression. His administration was ousted back in 1986 because of the EDSA People Power Revolution.

Tomacruz (2020) stated in an article for Rappler that the Marcoses have yet to apologize for the abuses committed during the dark regime of Philippine history and have, instead, told the people to “move on” from the Martial Law era.

A hundred history classes are not enough to grasp the gravity of the abuses that the Marcos regime has brought upon our country and the Filipino people. The truth is printed on every page of our history textbooks; it is a truth that cannot be rewritten - most especially if it is a vital part of history.

With this story spreading like wildfire across social media platforms and news publications, it goes to show that this sort of work has existed before and may still be happening as of this moment - even possibly for the next political campaigns.

At a time like this where fake news can easily conceal itself in any social media platform, it is crucial to stay vigilant and to stand for what is right and true.

Historical revisionism is still alive, but so are the Filipinos - to this, we remember, #NeverForget.