Filipino brands parody cash-swallowing airport security guard

According to Singapore's The Straits Times, Razon’s Zamboanga, a brand that sells the Filipino dessert "Halo-Halo," posted a photo of its product beside a photo of the aviation staff and wrote in its caption on Facebook: "Snack at the airport: US$300. Snack at Razon's 130 pesos ($2.28)."

Filipino food brand Razon’s Zamboanga's promotional photo for its dessert product "halo-halo." Photo from Razon’s Zamboanga Facebook

Lola Nena’s, a popular local restaurant chain in the Philippines, joined the bandwagon with a video parodying the incident at the airport.

In the surveillance footage-styled video posted to the brand’s Twitter account, "a member of the [brand’s] team" is "caught" stuffing pieces of food into their mouth before taking a sip from a water bottle.

Toy brand Authentic Bootleg also announced its new product on its Facebook page: a "Security Screening Officer starting kit" consisting of a Halloween costume, a handkerchief, and a water bottle. A statement on the kit’s package reads: "300 US dollars [were] not included."

The brand also did not forget to include a friendly reminder for its customers: Do not swallow.

Inspirations for these brands’ above-mentioned campaigns came from the case of a female security officer at Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport being caught on video swallowing US$300 in cash she allegedly stole from a Chinese passenger's wallet, according to CNN Philippines.

A foreign passenger arrives at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, in Pasay City, Metro Manila, Philippines, February 10, 2022. Photo by Reuters

The Chinese tourist handed over his shoulder bag to her before going through a security scanner but then found that his wallet was open and his money inside was missing.

Local authorities said a total of 19 airport security screeners have been sacked since July last year after they were caught stealing from airline passengers, despite several preventive measures including the removal of jackets and pockets from security officers’ uniforms.