Its ‘Loan Song Syndrome’ campaign is an award-winning parody.
GCash will represent the Philippines at this year’s YouTube Works Awards Southeast Asia after emerging as the country’s biggest winner, taking home the competition’s highest local honor.
The finance app received Best of Philippines—also known as Best of Market—during an exclusive event attended by radar and select media on Wednesday, Aug. 5. The winning campaign, “GLoan with Free Health Insurance: Loan Song Syndrome,” turned the Jamaican hit “Sweat (A La La La La Long)” by Inner Circle into a catchy parody promoting its GLoan feature.
The campaign also picked up Masters of Media Philippines, recognizing brands “showcasing brilliant and innovative media strategies” to “deliver exceptional media and/or business results and demonstrate marketing excellence.”
The Best of Philippines title now sends GCash to the regional stage, where it will compete for the highest honor, Grand Prix Southeast Asia, against winners from Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
The latest victory extends GCash’s strong run at the awards. Last year, its anti-scam campaign “#GSafeTayo: Entertainingly Serious” became the first Philippine entry to win Masters of Media Southeast Asia. The company was also a finalist in 2023 and 2024.
Other winners
Del Monte Philippines won The Big Bang—which recognizes the “most effective launch to build awareness for a new product or launch”—for its centennial campaign celebrating the farmers, employees, Bukidnon communities, and families that have grown alongside the brand.
Jollibee received Multiformat Storytelling—given to brands that have “masterfully adapted original storytelling across various ad durations”—for “Jollibee Christmas 2025 – Every Family’s Christmas Joy.” The campaign highlights how different Filipinos celebrate the holidays: nurses on graveyard shifts, a security guard video-calling his family, a couple with their fur baby, a single mother at the drive-thru with her daughters, and a multigenerational family sharing a salusalo.
Colgate Total took home Brands & Creators, which honors a brand and a personality that best exhibit “strategic collaboration and creative excellence.” Its self-aware ad, starring content creator Davao Conyo and cosmetic surgeon Vicki Belo, pokes fun at skipping YouTube ads—before reminding viewers that dental care is one thing they should never skip.
Maggi Philippines won Best of Festive—the “most outstanding campaign that celebrates key festive seasons”—for its “Get Pasko Ready with Maggi.” It offers recipes and cooking tips tailored to different kinds of home cooks ahead of the holidays.
The Agencies of the Year awards went to WPP Media for Media, Publicis JimenezBasic for Creative, and HIIP Philippines for Specialty.
Winners will also vie for regional honors in their respective categories.
The Southeast Asia awards will also recognize the newly introduced Best Use of AI for Creative, which celebrates innovative AI use to “hyper-personalize assets at scale, foster novel audience interactions, or realize the creative visions in ways unattainable through conventional methods.”
The YouTube Works Awards, in partnership with Deloitte, honors “the brightest minds behind groundbreaking and effective campaigns” on the platform. Hundreds of Philippine agencies submitted entries when nominations opened last April.
Regional winners will be announced on Oct. 29.
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