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Professor Sy
English 10
27 April 2016
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,
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
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).
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
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
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
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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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
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
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
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
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.
Green, M. C. and Brock, T. (2002), “In the Mind’s Eye: Transportation-Imagery Model of
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
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.
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,
media
Narrative,” in Narrative Impact: Social and Cognitive Foundations, ed. Melanie C. Green,
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formula
Santiago, E. (2015, December 12). Advertisers compare AlDub advertising power to Pacquiao.
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Uy, V. (2015, October 28). How #AlDub is a game-changer in Philippine television, advertising,
http://www.interaksyon.com/entertainment/how-aldub-is-a-game-changer-in-philippine-
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