A local manufacturer of household items shared a witty post of its cheaper bath dipper or “tabo” after a foreign company also promoted selling the same product but at a higher cost.
Both posts soon made rounds on Facebook and Reddit.
Orocan shared a photo of its white tabo filled with coins on its Facebook page on June 24 and captioned that it is “extraordinary.”
“This is your extraordinary bath dipper!” the caption read.
“Aside from its high-end design and divine-white color, its state-of-the-art handle gives you inner peace while scooping water,” it added.
This came a day after Japanese-owned Muji Philippines shared a photo of a white tabo as its new product and described it as “not your ordinary bath dipper.”
“This is not your ordinary bath dipper. Aside from its clean and simple design, the angle of its handle is designed to make it easier to scoop water with less weight on hand,” the caption read.
Some Filipinos poked fun at its hefty price tag of P365 in the comments section.
Orocan, which sells plastic home products, joined the chorus of sarcastic omments.
“Only Php365. Comes with FREE Php330.25 na barya sa loob since Php34.75 SRP lang ang price ng extraordinary dipper,” it stated for its own item.
The Facebook handler of Orocan further threw shade at the pricier product in responding to comments.
Its post soon gathered more than 5,000 shares and 2,000 comments.
The molded plastic contraption found in many Filipino homes has long fascinated foreigners.
In 2018, American blogger Tom Kuegler described the tabo as the “coolest Filipino household item” on his first encounter of it.
He featured it in a video he posted on his Facebook page “Finding Tom” and gathered more than 3 million views for it.
A novelty abroad
Tabo had existed since pre-colonial period, according to medical anthropologist Michael Tan, and Filipinos’ ancestors even then used it for cleaning.
It was normally found at the entrance of the house next to a palayok or a terra-cotta water jar. Guests are expected to use it to wash their hands and feet before going inside.
Historian Lito Nunag also said that it was invented to make water easier to carry around.
“Malayo masyado ‘yung pinagmumulan ng tubig so mayroon (ang Filipino na tabo). Kaysa tumayo sila papunta roon para maghugas ng kamay, ang (tabo) ang ipapaikot para maka-save ng time at tubig,” Nunag said in an interview.
The simple tabo soon reached international online shopping websites such as Amazon, where Kuegler got ahold of it for the first time.
Kuegler expressed his fascination for the dipper in the video and even encouraged others to use it as the showerhead’s more environmentally friendly counterpart.