Back in February, we told you that Chery Auto Philippines—aka United Asia Automotive Group Inc.—had tapped the actor Coco Martin to endorse its vehicles. As we said in November last year when Chery officially sealed its latest return to our market, the brand would need to do something extraordinary in order to erase its tainted history in our territory. One solution—at least in the eyes of the new distributor—is to hire a well-loved celebrity to help sell Chery’s product lineup, which now exclusively consists of crossover SUVs.

Today, Chery premiered its new advertisement for the Tiggo 8 featuring its star ambassador.

Is Coco Martin’s face enough motivation for people to give Chery vehicles a serious look? That, of course, is assuming that Chery’s target demographic is made up of the actor’s fans. Another factor to consider is the celebrity’s recent PR debacle in which he was bashed by critics for having railed against the government in the aftermath of ABS-CBN’s closure.

In the end, however, we believe that the merchandise will have to stand (or fail) on its own merits. The proof of the pudding, as they say, is in the eating.