Borden, Inc., was once America’s largest producer of dairy and pasta products, founded
by Gail Borden Jr. back in 1857. Its first product was condensed milk, and then
began selling evaporated milk in 1892.
In
due time, Borden also forayed into ice cream, for which it was well-known.
Other products included Meadows Gold Milk and the popular pre-war brand HEMO Chocolate-Flavored Food Drink.
Borden’s HEMO was
introduced as a new way to drink milk, with its deep, rich, malty flavor. It
was fortified with vitamins and minerals and was positioned as a family drink
that fights fatigue, renews energy and vitality.
The brand name was thought to have been derived “hemoglobin”, as HEMO contain vitamin B11 or folic acid,
folate and Iron which is good for the blood and for anemic people.
Borden’s HEMO reached
the Philippines beginning in the 50s decade, imported by Borden
Co. International which put up a Philipine distribution office.
BORDEN'S HEMO AD,1951
The chocolate
product was sold in cans. It actively advertised in magazines, and its simple, black and white advertising
were a far cry from the full color ads in the U.S. that featured the Borden
mascots, Elsie and Elmer the cow.
BORDEN'S HEMO 'STAMINA' AD,1957
The small ads also featured the bovine character, who
vouches for HEMO’s great chcolatey
test and health-giving benefits.
HEMO "Active Lady" 1951 AD, AND HEMO "NAMARCO" AD,1961
“It’s good,!” says Elsie the Borden Cow. The
product was marketed nationwide, with its own roving delivery trucks. Borden;s HEMO, however, did not last a decade in
the Philippines.
BORDEN'S HEMO DELIVERY TRUCK IN ANGELES,1950s
In later years, Borden, the company suffered significant
loses and was sold by KKR and American
global investment firm in 1995. It divested itself of its various food products
operations and the Borden dairy brands were used by Borden Dairy Co. for milk
and by Dairy Farmers of America for cheese. On January 5, 2020, Borden Dairy
Company and 16 affiliated companies
filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the U.S. District Court for the District of
Delaware.
The Philippine
Manufacturing Co. is largely the history of modern vegetable shortening in the
country.
ALWAYS PURE, ALWAYS RICH, PURICO! 1940 Ad
In 1917,it
employed a chemist whose assignment was to start production of shortening and
other edible products.Near the end of
1919, the first-ever vegetable shortening manufactured in the Philippines was
launched. It was noted for its purity and richness that it was named PURICO—a
term coined from combined words “puro” (pure) and “rico” (rich), as Spanish was
still widely spoken then.
SO PURE, SO RICH...PURICO COOKS MORE! A pair of print ads, 1955
These qualities were underscored in slogans and headlines
like “Always Pure. Always Rich,” and “So pure..so rich..Purico cooks more!”PURICO
was sold in carton blocks with the familiar yellow label, and were widely
available nationwide—from the tiniest sari-sari stores, to the biggest
groceries in the islands.
EVERYDAY FOODS WITH PURICO, 1953 PRINT AD
PURICO MAKES IT PERFECT,a pair of PURICO Print Ads, 1954
The products of PMC were promoted over the radio, then
the leading mass medium before the advent of television. PURICO sponsored
"The PURICO Amateur Hour,
TOLINDOY, CONDE UBALDO, PURICO FAN PHOTOS, 1950S
The PURICO Amateur Hour featured the brightest stars of
the radio, dishing out songs and skits and what-have you--from Tolinday and
Chichay, announcers Ira Davis and Conde Ubaldo, actresses Rebecca Gonzales, Lily
Miraflor and singing discoveries like Milagros Bernardo.
PURICO FAN PHOTOS OF CHICHAY, REBECCA GONZALES, ETC.
The radio program attracted bigtime stars (Rogelio de la
Rosa, Rosa Rosal, among others) and gained a nationwide following. PURICO and
other PMC brands are credited today for ushering in the golden age of
Philippine broadcasting.
PURICO FREE XMAS FREE PROMO, 1955
PURICO FREE EASTER GIFT PROMO, 1953
Fan photos of
the performers and stars were issued for adoring fans to collect in albums. An
example is shown above, made perhaps, by an ardent follower of the radio show.
TAWAG NG TANGHALAN TV PROGRAM, hosted by Lopito and Patsy, 1950s.
When PURICO Amaterur Hour was renamed Tawag ng Tanghalan/Call of the Stage),
it was staged for the new television medium, for which the first TV advertising contract
was signed, after PMC was bought by
Procter & Gamble. This further solidified the hold of PURICO on the
shortening market.
UPLIFTING THE PURICO IMAGE WITH A MANILA HOTEL AD,1960
The rise of liquid cooking oils eased out PURICO from the
store shelves by the 1970s, until it totally disappeared altogether in the 1980s.
SOURCES:
PROGRESS Magazine 1956,
Radio Stars from Purico Radio Show, www.flyandfleablogspot.com
LA GERMANIA VS. TECNOGAS, BERMONT (1979) VS. MORENO (1980), PRINT ADS
In history of Philippine advertising, there were the
so-called Cola Wars (Pepsi vs. Coke) Beauty Soap War (Lux vs. Camay) and Detergent
War (Tide vs. Breeze) –all brands outdoing each other in their quest for market
leadership through advertising and promotions initiatives.
Who would think that in the mid 70s thru the 80s, LA
GERMANIA and TECNOGAS would be caught up in a contentious fight to win market
dominance of the gas range market?Each
came up with campaigns, though not creatively significant, became memorable for
their catchy jingle with kitschy lyrics, memorable taglines and use of star
power.
LA GERMANIA AD, with Jimmy Fabregas as model, 1975
LA GERMANIA
GENERATES LOVE
LA GERMANIA is
a century-old brand, put up in 1909 by the Italian Francesco Bertazzoni, who
built the stoves after World War I, which evolved into gas stoves after 1953.
In 1958, an oven was added to the stove, and hundreds of thousands ofunits were sold internationally in 1959,
resulting in success worldwide.
LA GERMANIA DUAL OVEN, 1979 AD
LA GERMANIA stoves
and ranges made their appearance in the Philippines in early 1970s when General
Heat Corp. was given a license by La Germania, Italy to manufacture it complete
line of LA GERMANIA gas ranges.
LA GERMANIA WITH PANCHITO & CARIDAD SANCHEZ, 1977 AD
The first ads were nondescript, with actors Panchito and
Caridad Sanchez as celebrity endorsers, positioning the range as “completing
the dream of every housewife for a modern home”.
WATCH VILMA SANTOS LA GERMANIA TVC HERE:
Source: OPM MTV Video
Apparently, LA GERMANIA felt a it needed a bigger star so it contracted Vilma Santos to do a commercial which capitalized on the status of owning a LA GERMANIA gas range--"more than a matter a pride"--so goes the tagline.
MARICRIS BERMONT FOR LA GERMANIA, 1979 PRINT AD
In 1974, LA
GERMANIA came up with ads that heralded the outstanding features of the
range included its beautiful design, a big oven, and a windproof pilot flame.
The campaign line: “LA GERMANIA
GENERATES LOVE”, was used for the first time.
ANOTHER MARICRIS BERMONT AD, FOR LA GERMANIA,1979
The campaign took off when singer Maricris Bermont, fresh
from her victory at the Metro Pop Festival, starred in a commercial showing her
strumming a guitar while singing the jingle “LA GERMANIA GENERATES LOVE…generates cooking that generates joy..”.
The repetitive lyrics had a very simple tune, so it as no wonder that everybody
started playing it back, and became so popular, it was used in the next few
years, boosting Bermont’s career---as well as the sales of the gas range.
LA GERMANIA,'YOUNG BRIDE', 1978
At its peak, LA
GERMANIA was the no. 1 selling gas range,trusted by housewives than any other brand.
LOVE THE TECNOGAS TECHNIQUE, 1980
THE TECNOGAS
TECHNIQUE
Not to be outdone was TECNOGAS, created by the Italian Contini brothers, a brand that
came into fruition in the 1960s, with the help of the combined expertise of
chefs, engineers, designers and artists. A
TECNOGASrange was known for its strong
technical engineering and the magnificence of its art and design.
TECNOGAS TECHNIQUE TANDEM, 1979
TECNOGAS
matched the marketing efforts of LA
GERMANIA by coming up with a bandwagon campaign overlayed with an iconic jingle that praised the brand’s ”TECNOGAS Technique”.
JANET BORDON FOR TECNIGAS, 1979 AD
If LA GERMANIA claimed
to be the “no. 1 selling gas range”, TECNOGAS
was “no 1 in many ways”: it was a prestige brand, with 150 models to choose
from, with trendsetting features, at a wide price range. When LA GERMANIA introduced its “Dual Oven”, TECNOGAS came up with its “Double Oven
Electro-Gas Range” that was issued a patent by the Philippine Patent Office.
TECNOGAS VALENTINE AD, 1979
TECNOGAS also
had the combined pulling power of two top actresses of he late 70s—Alma Moreno
and Janet Bordon. And, if LA GERMANIA
was “trusted by more housewives”, “the women love the TECNOGAS Technique”.
WATCH THE TECNOFAN TVC WITH A VERSION
OF THE TECNOGAS TECHNIQUE JINGLE:
Source: Ness Masquito
The campaign was such a big hit that, and the jingle was so "stickable" that it was used in other products line, including its electric fan brand--Tecnofan--in 1982. The commercial featurd starlet Pia Moran.
ALMA MORENO, FOR TECNOGAS,1980
TECNOGAS business
dwindled in the 1990s, but the cooking appliance megabrand began making a
comebackin the Philippine market as it
has tapped a new local distributor for its products--Appstar Global
Distributors—which also now handles the sales and marketing of the Italian
brand.
SOURCES: VILMA SANTOS LA GERMANIA GAS RANGE, uploaded by OPM MTV VIDEO, 13 April 2017 TECNOFAN, uploaded by Ness Maquito, 25 february 2019, Philippine Clasic Commercial Advertisement 1980s
Before the 1960s decade, there were just a handful of
coffee brands in the market—like Hills Bros. and Chase & Sanborn, which
were American imports. Then, Commonwealth Foods, Inc. began manufacturing the post-war
brand CAFÉ PURO, and by 1951, it had become the no.1 selling coffee brand
nationwide, a position it held until the 1960s came along.
This was when more coffee brands came into the fray--Consolidated
Food Corporation (CFC), founded in 1961 by John Gokongwei Jr., introduced BLEND 45, an affordable coffee that
became known as “the people’s coffee”, with its budget-friendly price and
favorable taste.
NESCAFE, was
introduced in the mid 50s decade by Nestlé, and aggressively advertised in the
60s.
With more competitors coming into the picture, all sorts
of promotions were launched to entice customers and add more product value. Using
a reusable packaging as added product value was an old—but a proven tried and
tested idea. It came naturally for coffee brands too. In the post-war 50s,
coffee brands still came in round tins, including NESCAFE.
Then, with the advent of instant coffee brands, wide-mouth
glass jars were utilized, and discarded or sold after use. But what if the
packaging had more utilitarian value after the product has been consumed?
CRYSTAL ANNIVERSARY GLASS WITH FLIP-OFF CAP, 1966 Print Ad
This led to the idea of packaging instant coffee in drinking
glasses that could be used long after the last coffee drop has been sipped. The
glass serves also as a remnder of the pleasure of the coffee-drinking experience.
It also helped that specially-designed, set-building glasses encouraged repeat
purchases as they became collectibles.
CRYSTAL ANNIVERSARY GLASSES, 199 Print Ad
The free, giveaway glasses were given fanciful names to
appeal to consumers’ eye. As expected, market leader CAFÉ PURO came out first with its “Crystal Glasses”--to celebrate its 15th anniversary-- with flip-off plastic caps in 1966.
GLASSES, PITCHER AND SHAKERS FROM CAFE PURO, 1967 Ad
The promotion
was so enthusiastically received that the next year, CAFÉ PURO launched their “Philippine Dance” glass series—with not
just 12 glasses but also coffee shakers to collect.
CAFE PURO RAINBOW GLASSES, 1969 Print Ad
In 1969, CAFÉ PURO
offered its “Rainbow Glasses” collection, with “colors a-glow-glow”! There
were 6 colors of glasses to choose from.
IMPERIAL CRYSTAL GLASSES FROM BLEND 45, 1967 Ad
Not to be outdone, BLEND
45 came up with its “Windsor Crystal
Party Glasses” and “Crystal Imperial
Glasses” offer, which were all successful. The more premium NESCAFE introduced its decaffeinated brand in squat "diamond" glasses with
repeating diamond shapes in raised relief. Many of these glasses could still be
found being used in many Filipino homes to this day, still stored and kept in
glass cabinets after all these years.
NESCAFE ESPRESSO IN DIAMOND GLASS, 1975 Ad
Eventually, the promotions came to include storage jars,
pitchers,--and with the surge in popularity of coffee houses—coffee mugs in
glass and ceramic, like what NESCAFE and
CAFÉ PURO use. BLEND
45, meanwhile, has done away with glass bottles and uses only foil packs
today.
RIO LOCSIN, ACTRESS (in "Aliw-Iw"), MODEL (for Heavenly Silken Touch Ad)
One of the most scintillating star discoveries of the
late 1970s was the beautiful RIO LOCSIN (b.
4 Oct. 1961) aka Ma. Theresa Rosario Garcia Nayve. Like her mother who had been a
movie actress in the 1950s, Rio was destined for showbiz too.
The brown-eyed 5’3.5” Sienna College beauty, with her
trademark mole on her right cheek, started as a model. One of her earliest was
for an obscure brand of cosmetics, HEAVENLY
Silk TouchCosmetics, done when she
was in her teens. She was unbilled in the print ad.
HEAVENLY SILKEN TOUCH Cosmetics Print Ad, 1974
Eventually, the model caught the attention of Regal
Films. Locsin was launched her in the big box office hit, “Disgrasyada” (1978), opposite Ronald Corveau and Rolly Quizon,
directed by Elwood Perez.
The reception to the new star was so thunderous that she
was given similar sexy roles like “Menor de Edad”,“Aliw-iw” and “Love Affair” (1979). But she transcended that genre
and proved that she could be sensitive actress with “Ina, Kapatid, Anak” (1979), appeared alongside icons Charito Solis
and Ric Rodrigo. She, of course, also lit the screen as Darna, a role reserved for a few, in “Bira, Darna, Bira” (1979).
BOOGIE JEANS AD, 1979
Advertisers lined up to draft the new toast of Tinseltown
in print ads and commercials. She appeared in a print ads for BOOGIE JEANS in 1979, made by Rugger Garments Mfg. Inc., based in
Caloocan, which achieved a measure of success in the local jeans market. Rugger
also manufactured Gitano jeans, which led to a trademark case against Gitano
U.S. Both BOOGIE Jeans and HEAVENLY Silken Touch are no loner produced today, but the lovely RIO LOCSIN continues to be a luminous presence on both the movie and TV screens.
One of the more common ways to brand new products is to name
them after places, whether these are places of their origins or not --like Baguio
Oil, Manila Beer, Pampanga’s Best. Two of the more interesting brand names for cooking oils are TAAL and MAYON,
especially in light of what is happening with the 2 active volcanoes today.
EARLY MAYON PRINT AD, 1957
In the 1950s, shortening— hydrogenated vegetable oils in
solid form like Purico---were the most widely used products for cooking. That
is, until liquid cooking oils were introduced in the market and slowly gained
popular acceptance in the same decade.
MAYON, THE LIQUID SHORTENING, Print Ad 1959
MAYON of
Philippine Manufacturing Co. is one such cooking oil that positioned itself as “the
liquid shortening”. Named after the world’s perfect cone—MAYON Volcano--the marketers felt no need to use the image of the
famed volcano for the product packaging. They, perhaps, believed that the name MAYON was well-known enough.
MAYON LIQUID MANTECA, Print Ad, 1960
Since MAYON was
a liquid shortening,it does not
solidify (sebo) fast, so“you taste the
food, not the shortening”. MAYON Cooking Oil was also a
money-saving product for cooking, sautéing, baking and frying, a pint of the
product can cook up to 100 meals for the family. MAYON Cooking Oil was
available in the market for over a decade since its launch in 1956.
TAAL COCONUT COOKING OIL, surrent product packages.
A newer product is TAAL
Coconut Cooking Oil, made in the 1970s by Malabon Soap and Oil Industrial Co., It was a family-owned enterprise headed
by 2-time Olympian shooter, Mariano “Tom” Ong, the same company that made
Spring Cooking Oil, Puro, Vista and Freeto.
The inspiration of the name—TAAL Volcano—appears as a graphic image on the front panel of the
packaging. The price brand also is available in bottles. The product is still
in the market today, in the company’s Malabon plant, now managed by Ong’s son,
Nathaniel “Tac” Padilla, a multi SEA Games medallist.in shooting, after his
father’s demise in 2016.
MAYON COOKING OIL, Print Ad 1965
Though launched in different decades and generations,
these 2 cooking oil products share a similar brand history—that of being named
after 2 restive volcanoes that are making news to this day. For the makers of TAAL and MAYON though, it is their hope that their products deliver only
best to your family’s table—food bursting with bombastic flavor!
SOURCE:
TAAL COOKING OIL PHOTO: Malabon Soap and Oil
IndustrialCo., FB Page
