MANILA — The son of the late Senator Gil Puyat is not amused with a marketing campaign that changed the name of Gil Puyat Avenue in Makati to “Gil Tulog Avenue.”

This campaign is a play on the Filipino word “puyat” which means sleep-deprived and “tulog”, which means sleep.

Victor Puyat, son of the late lawmaker, has complained to the Ad Standards Council about the ad agency involved. 

The Puyat family is seeking for the suspension or removal of the agency from the council.

“This is a total disrespect to my father, Sen. Gil J. Puyat and to our family. The marketing campaign does not conform with Ad Standards Council’s Code of Ethics,” Puyat said in the letter he showed to ABS-CBN News.

Filipinos on social media were shocked to see photos and videos of Gil Puyat street signs changed to Gil Tulog this week. 

It was supposedly a marketing gimmick of a company offering health supplements and its partner advertising agency.

Victor Puyat said his family was not informed by the ad agency and they were shocked to see the viral photos online.

“It is foolish and insulting at the same time, but most of all I felt bad people can now do anything in total disrespect for somebody who has served the country so well,” Puyat said.

Puyat is also now asking government agencies to use Gil Puyat Avenue, instead of Buendia. The name of the road has been changed since 1982, he said, and yet people still use Buendia.

“Gil Puyat until now is still being called Buendia. Please let's get MMDA to do the right thing,” he asserted.

Wellspring, the company behind the ad, apologized to the Puyat family for what it calls a “misstep in our campaign.”

“We recognize and deeply regret the insensitivity of our execution and we offer our sincerest apologies to the Puyat family, the Makati City government, and the public. We have learned from this mistake and are committed to doing better,” it said in a statement.

Makati Mayor Abby Binay has also apologized to the Puyat family, saying the request for permit did not reach her office, saying she would have rejected it, had it did. 

Binay said the new signs brought confusion to motorists and commuters and were a disrespect to the memory of the late senator.

“Dapat inisip ang kaguluhan na maaaring idulot sa mga motorista at komyuter. At dapat ay binigyang halaga ang respeto sa pamilya at sa alaala ni dating Senate President Gil Puyat. I have already reprimanded these officials for this glaring oversight,” Binay said in a statement.

The late Senator Gil Puyat was the last Senate President before Martial Law abolished the Senate and Congress. He died in 1980.