John Lloyd Cruz: The Face of Choco Lava
Universal Robina Corporation’s (URC) latest offering Choco Lava and its endorser, romantic icon John Lloyd Cruz, invite you to kiss your childhood goodbye, and celebrate the pleasures of being all grown up.
Choco Lava, a delicious chocolate drink that can be taken hot or cold, has zero grams trans fat and contains only 80 calories per 20 gram serving… truly an ideal beverage for today’s upwardly mobile young adults just like John Lloyd Cruz. As one of Philippine filmdom’s most popular and endearing young leading men, John Lloyd Cruz has earned a strong following. Beloved by women from all walks of life, and admired by men, John Lloyd Cruz has shown himself to be a genuine box-office draw. And now, John Lloyd Cruz lends his charms and matinee idol good looks to a new endeavor literally dripping with romance as he appears in the new Choco Lava television commercial.
For John Lloyd, Choco Lava has a lot to do with passion. “Yung paggawa ng chocolate, yung tamang mixture of different flavors, parang perfume,” he says. “So much passion goes into it.” And the experience of having been chosen as the endorser is something the actor feels ecstatic about. “I’m more than thrilled; sobrang excited,” he says. “First time ko to be endorsing this kind of product. Having been chosen to be the endorser, malaki ang responsibility ko. Most importantly, I have to believe in it.”
But true to his role as the endorser, John Lloyd has a lot of faith in his new charge. “Ayokong nag-e-endorse ako ng nahihirapan akong i-promote sa mga tao, specially to my friends and to my family,” he says. “Choco Lava is healthier than other chocolate drinks; it has only 80 calories and zero grams trans fat. I hardly ever took chocolate beverages because they’re too fattening… but with Choco Lava, I now have a choice. I can enjoy a chocolate drink na hindi ako magsisisi in the end.”
And the choice of John Lloyd as Choco Lava endorser was the best decision ever. According to the Choco Lava television commercial director William “Yam” Laranas, “We wanted to tease the audience about there being a new product via the handle of using John Lloyd Cruz. We wanted to, in a very tongue-and-cheek way, seduce the audience. The very essence of it is that, by introducing the product with John Lloyd Cruz, we create more impact, while showing the product in its very delicious and appetizing form. John Lloyd is known to be very well liked by both women and men. For women, they like John Lloyd Cruz because he’s sexy, he’s very friendly; for guys, they want to be like him because a lot of girls like him. But at the same time, being a very well known actor, and a very good actor and someone who can carry himself in public, John Lloyd is the perfect endorser for this,” Director Yam says.
Lilit Reyes, the Executive Creative Director of Blackpencil, the advertising agency behind the new Choco Lava commercial, shares: “We were thinking of equating chocolate and romance, which is the thing that you get out of chocolate. Of course, the first romantic screen idol you’d think of for our time is John Lloyd. You get that good feeling of chocolate and love, and when it comes to the leading man, who has now cornered that blockbuster-romance category, no one else but John Lloyd can fit that bill. Romance and John Lloyd equals magic!” he says.
And this drawing power of John Lloyd is certainly not lost on the people behind Choco Lava, the people of URC. “John Lloyd Cruz has the right mix of wholesome, boyish charm and manly sexiness that is just perfect for Choco Lava,” says Ruby de la Cruz, Group Product Manager of URC Beverage. “We are very proud and excited to have him as Choco Lava’s endorser.”
Catch the first Choco Lava television commercial featuring John Lloyd Cruz now airing on your favorite networks and experience romance the way John Lloyd does with Choco Lava.