Actress Ria Atayde is the newest calendar girl for liquor brand White Castle Whisky continuing the tradition of using the platform to advocate inclusivity and body positivity.
The 30-year-old actress now joins the prestigious roster of White Castle girls which includes Evangeline Pascual, Lorna Tolentino, Techie Agbayani, Carmi Martin, Maria Isabel Lopez, Cristina Gonzales, Glydel Mercado, and Roxanne Guinoo, to name a few.
“I never thought that I’d see myself as a calendar girl, but here I am. I did a birthday shoot before but that was for personal consumption type of thing. But for something like this, that’s been blasted out so publicly, kaya pala. I feel that it reinstill confidence in myself also,” the 30-year-old television star shared during an event held yesterday.
“The layouts that we released are not edited, if there’s something that they adjusted, it’s just the color. That’s the point of the campaign, to begin with – embrace your body including your flaws. I do have a lot of flaws and there are so many things that I should be working on. But this is me, and that’s the whole point,” Ria went on.
In 2021, the brand shocked netizens when it unveiled YouTube chef and content creator Ninong Ry as its first-ever White Castle Boy.
“We weren’t looking to take ourselves too seriously at the time. Coming from the pandemic and working with our tagline Dapat Light Lang, we decided that we should feature someone that had also persevered and created a following during the pandemic,” shared Aaron James Limpe Aw, Executive Vice President of Destileria Limtuaco. “Ninong Ry created some content for us during the year and we thought why not support those who supported us.”
In the same year, the brand decided to give the reigns to the people as they opened the calendar model title to the public. During this public online search, it was TikTok sensation Sassa Gurl who came out on top and her 2022 White Castle Calendar was lauded for being truly inclusive and a win for the LGBT community.
“It wasn’t our intention initially and it was definitely a gamble. We knew there were those who would have negative reactions to our move,” said Brandon Jon Limpe Aw, VP for Administration of Destileria Limtuaco.
The move created a media firestorm and the brand soon realized that it could do so much more with its annual calendar release.
As Destileria Limtuaco President and CEO Olivia Limpe-Aw put it: “We had released past calendars that launched the careers of actresses and models. With that kind of clout, we decided that we could use this platform to launch different causes and advocacies.”
“Sexy calendars have become a contentious concept. The featured beauty standards have been deemed unrealistic and not representative of the everyday female,” said Limpe-Aw.
Ria, who is a champion of body positivity, through this calendar, wanted to show the public that a person is at their sexiest when they’re comfortable with and confident in their own skin.
“Beauty comes in countless forms, shapes, and sizes. In this day and age, beauty cannot and should not be confined in a singular mold,” said Ria. “I am honored to be chosen as a White Castle Whisky Girl as the brand allows and supports me in my advocacy to empower each and every woman to embrace her femininity and celebrate her body.”
Together, White Castle Whisky and Ria aim to join hand-in-hand in sending out a positive and affirming message on the vast diversity of beauty and the multiple variations of what it truly means to be confident and sexy in the hopes of enabling millions of women to embrace the power that they wield as they all stand united in making the world a better place.