A can of tuna inspires the creepiest fight scene ever
New weird ad from Gigil for Mega Tuna shows a woman at war—with herself
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Canned tuna fish is not a product that makes our mouths water, but in this new ad for Filipino brand Mega Tuna from Gigil, it’s enough to inspire a woman to go to war—with herself.
The spot opens with scenes typical of packaged goods—there are closeups of the can being opened with ASMR-worthy audio, along with glammed-up, glistening shots of tuna flakes tumbling onto a plate of pasta. We then see a woman at her dining table voraciously feasting on her dish until she’s interrupted by a visitor—a disembodied pair of legs.
Unperturbed, she challenges the appendages—”What do you want? I’m not sharing this with you!” Her foe steps forward, ready to lunge at the meal but the woman—who turns out to be just a torso—sprouts bat-like wings and pulls away, with tuna in tow.
What ensues might be the creepiest and most bizarre fight scene we’ve ever seen in an ad—Torso puts salt on Legs’ open “wound,” Legs wraps around Torso in a death grip—until both come together, now able to enjoy their Mega Tuna as one.
To much of the world, it’s a totally weird premise to illustrate just how delicious the product is, but to the brand’s target audience in the Philippines, the scenario also has cultural resonance. It’s actually inspired by the Filipino myth of the “Manananggal,” a monster who splits herself in half at night in order to pounce on her victims.
Mega Tuna is “so delicious, people will fight over it—even if they’re one and the same,” says Gigil Creative Director Dionie Tanada of the concept.
The “Manananggal” ad follows Gigil’s previous weird work for Mega Tuna, a nightmarish role-reversal ad starring a gecko, as well as its string of bizarre stories for RC Cola.