Suntukan sa Ace Hardware / Fistfight at Ace Hardware

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Overview

Suntukan sa Ace Hardware (lit. Fistfight at Ace Hardware) is a name referring to a troll event in the form of a supposed "fistfight" to take place at the SM City Lucena branch of Ace Hardware in the Philippines.

Background

Ace Hardware

Ace Hardware is a retailers cooperative based in Oak Brook, Illinois. Founded in 1924 by Richard Hesse, E. Gunnard Lindquist, Frank Burke, Oscar Fisher, and William Stauber, it was incorporated as Ace Stores Inc in 1927, and was named after the ace pilots of World War I. Ace was sold to its retailers in 1973, becoming a cooperative. Overseas stores in several countries were also established in the following years, with the SM Supermalls-affiliated Ace Hardware Philippines putting up stores and Express stalls in various SM malls throughout the Philippines.^[3]

Notable Developments

The "Suntukan"

A certain Facebook user organised an event on Facebook calling local netizens to participate at the supposed fistfight, slating it to be on 15 April 2016 at SM City Lucena. The organiser even went so far as to putting up crudely photoshopped pictures of Ace Hardware storefronts to further back up the event.

Lulz ensued soon after the announcement, with netizens making ironic pledges of support along with roleplay accounts posing as fictional characters or satirical depictions of celebrities for humorous effect. Copycat "events" also sprouted online in response to the imaginary brawl.^[1]

Reaction from Ace Hardware

The Philippine subsidiary of Ace Hardware took umbrage at the announcement, denying any claims of a Suntukan^[2] at any of their stores and discouraging netizens from posting similar forms of "digital publicity":

The original event page has since been taken down, though copycat pages and spinoffs were made such as this one^[6] along with others taking place in other hardware stores.^[7]

At least one netizen Leigh Reyes criticised Ace Hardware's move as being overly serious, and suggested using the ensuing publicity to their strategic advantage by offering discounts to actual attendees for example.^[4]

In contrast to Ace's stern reaction to the meme, one company, namely the Philippine subsidiary of convenience store chain 7-Eleven, capitalised on the hype instead and scheduled a similarly tongue-in-cheek event entitled "GULPihan sa 7-Eleven" ("Brawl at 7-Eleven"), the title being a play on the Gulp drinks being served at their stores and as a tie-in to their 7-Election promotion in line with the 2016 Philippine presidential elections.

Ace has since relented to the hype, and on April 4, 2016, they posted what appears to be an official "teaser" for the Suntukan, which turned out to be a three-day sales event on select Ace branches:

The "Suntukan" did happen at Ace Hardware Lucena as netizens (jokingly) expected, with a photo booth in the form of a mini boxing ring set up where customers can take pictures:

Additional security guards were also employed to keep watch on the event in the case of an actual fist fight or any other untoward incidents:

Search Interest

External References