MANILA – “When was the last time you saw awesome?”
So goes the question posed by Bench’s latest film collaboration with TBWA\Santiago Mangada Puno. Answering the question was someone who’s made being awesome to others his own personal compassion project: New York-based hairstylist Mark Bustos
Bustos is featured in two videos unveiled at the launch of Bench Barbers, the brand’s latest personal grooming label. The launch was attended by partners, media and invited guests, who responded to the initiative with approving applause.
The films are the latest collaboration between noted creative house TBWA\Santiago Mangada Puno and Bench, following up the agency’s previous award-winning initiatives such as the “Dirty Water Color” project. For the Compassion project, they teamed up with Bustos, who first made headlines for giving homeless people free haircuts in his spare time. According to Bustos, the confidence and dignity he is able to restore to these otherwise-ignored people makes it all worth it.
For the first film, Bustos applied his skills to the residents of Boys Town, an institution that specializes in rehabilitating young men of troubled backgrounds.
“Whether it’s a billionaire or a homeless individual…we can all relate to a good haircut,” says Bustos, and the effects of his handiwork can be seen in the joy of the Boys Town residents who availed of his services. Cast aside by society, the mood shift the young men experience when they see their new looks is proof of compassion’s power to elicit positivity.
“Just to be able to make people happy,” says Bustos, “is an addictive feeling,” sharing that, “The art of compassion can really change the world.”
While the second film has yet to be posted, it is TBWA\s Christmas wish that Bustos’ and Bench’s message will be one that resonates with people, not just for the holidays, but all year ‘round.
