Celebrity Endorsement for Taxes

In a counter-intuitive move to close the gap on the budget deficit, the Philippine government is spending money for an advertising campaign featuring boxer turned national hero, Manny Pacquiao. The ad features the boxer talking about tax payer solidarity amidst the economic crisis and singing “this fight is for you” (translated) in the background. The hope is that the anticipation for the upcoming Manny Pacquiao-Ricky Hatton fight will translate into more upfront citizen payments and consumer loyalty (like most developing countries, the Philippines has a large grey market for goods and services which tends to grow as times get more depressed).

Click here to view a portion of the Internal Revenue Ad.