Monday, December 31, 2018

200. A FRIENDLY NEW YEAR REMINDER FROM FIRESTONE, 1954



FIRESTONE Tire and Rubber Co., the company that built all sorts of rubber and pneumatic tires from wagons to modern automobiles and motorbikes, has been around since 1900, named after its founder, Harvey Firestone. Firestone started the company in Akron, Ohio, which, incidentally was also home to its major competitor, Goodyear.

As he was a good friend of automobile maker, Henry Ford, he began supplying the Ford Motor Co. with his rubber and tire products. It found a ready market all over the world, including in the Philippines. A subsidiary, FIRESTONE Tire and Rubber Co. P.I. was put up in post-war Philippines to meet the growing needs of the driving public.

Then, as now, motorbikes were a cheaper transportation alternative, and many Filipinos rode them to commute on our national roads. Accidents were bound to happen even then—as our few roads, streets and avenues were beginning to be crowded and clogged with traffic.

Sixty five years ago,  FIRESTONE had this corporate ad published in leading magazines and newspapers, that not only welcomed the New Year but  also served as a public service announcement to the riding public.

“Let’s be extra careful this New Year, folks!” the headline proclaimed, this, ironically, coming from a boy in boots,  astride a motorbike outfitted with FIRESTONE tires---too young even to secure a driving license!

In 1988, the company was sold to the Japanese Bridgestone Corporation. The company in the Philippines was re-organized nearly 20 years later, returning as Philippine Allied Enterprises Corporation (PAEC), has which now distributes Bridgestone tire products.

SOURCES:

Friday, December 28, 2018

199. A FRIENDLY NEW YEAR REMINDER FROM UNILAB, 1965



Amidst all the holiday feasting, wining and dining, UNILAB extended its wish of good health to Filipinos through this corporate ad from 1965.

United Laboratories Inc. was put up in 1945 by Jose Yao Campos and Mariano K. Tan as United Drug Co. Today,Unilab  is a leading pharmaceutical company, maker of the biggest prescription, consumer healthcare and personal care brands in the Philippines. It actively advertising in the late 1950s, after its state-of-the art headquarters housing its laboratories and research center was established in Mandaluyong.

Whether at Christmas time or at any other time, UNILAB is one with your doctor in fighting disease and illness, so you could have good health and well-being all year round.

Tuesday, December 25, 2018

198. THE FILIPINO PAROL, IN CHRISTMAS ADS, 1935-1971

SKYFLAKES, M.Y. SAN BISCUITS, 1963

The parol is an enduring symbol of Christmas in the Philippines, a must-have decoration in Filipino homes during the long holiday season.  The parol, usually star-shaped to evoke the Star of Bethlehem, is hanged and lit in front of houses as early as September as a symbol of hope, goodwill and a bright future. It is no wonder that the colorful parol has been used as a design motif for many years in Philippine advertising and commercial art. Here are a few examples:
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PHILIPPINE MATCH COMPANY, PRINT AD, 1955

OLYMPIAN RUBBER SHOES, PRINT AD, 1935

PEPSI-COLA, PRINT AD, 1957

TANDUAY RHUM, PRINT AD, 1962

YCO PAINTS & FLOOR WAX, PRINT AD, 1963

HELENE CURTIS BEAUTY PRODUCTS, PRINT AD, 1963

DUTCH BOY PAINTS, 1965

SAN MIGUEL BEER, PRINT AD, 1968

RADIOWEALTH TV, PRINT AD, 1971

Thursday, December 20, 2018

197. PRINT ADS FEATURING UNUSUAL CHRISTMAS GIFT IDEAS


The most surprising gift suggestions for Christmas can be found featured on print ads of yesteryears—from the strange, the surprising,  to downright weird. Take your pick!
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Give a house of music:  AVEGON DREAMHOUSE RADIO, 1962
Be generous! Why not give a radio that comes with a house this Christmas? Yes, in 1962, AVEGON introduced new radio models imaginatively designed in the shape of houses. The little bungalows even  had small windows, ‘stone’ foundations and topped by a TV antenna! With this “gift of distinction”, you can now have your dreamhouse…and radio too! Amazing!


Dreaming of a black-haired Christmas: BIGEN HAIR DYE, 1975
For Christmas 1975, BIGEN offers a packaged line of hair products “to suit your holiday mood”. If black doesn’t suit you, there are also different shades of brown to tint your hair, so you can look your youthful best! As the famous hair coloring brand proclaims: “walang hindi pinagaganda…walang hinid pinababata ang BIGEN!”


For a blockbuster of a holiday: FREE MOVIES from DARI CREME, 1964
In 1964, DARI CRÈME ‘spread’ holiday cheer by giving the movie-watching public a special “Free Movie” treat! All one has to do was collect “Santa Claus” wrappers of DARI CRÈME that can be presented at movie houses like Lyric, Capitol, Dalisay, Cinerama, Ever, Avenue and other theaters, to watch the best Filipino and Hollywood movies!


Makulay na Pasko sa inyong lahat! YCO PAINTS, 1967
There’s a plus-side to giving cans of YCO PAINTS for Christmas. You don’t have to cram yourself in sardine-packed department store---you can just pick them up at your nearest crowdless hardware store. Brush on YCO PAINTS…for colors that stay Christmas, after Christmas, after Christmas!


Seasoning’s Greetings!  AJI-NO-MOTO GIFT PACK, 1971
Monosodium glutamate for Christmas? Why not? When you can greet your friends and loved ones with a special AJI-NO-MOTO Gift Pack that includes your favorite vetsin brand in a sprinkler bottle, in a plastic wrapper, with a free Kokeshi doll to match!  Oh what fun it is to  Tak-Tak-Tak all the way!


So Tender and Mild: SILENT NIGHT PERFUME & LOTION, 1962
Yes, Virginia, there is such a perfume brand called SILENT NIGHT, ‘ a perfume masterpiece made by Countess Maritza of New York, U.S.A.”. It was locally distributed in local stores in 1962. But wait,  there’s also a SILENT NIGHT Lotion to complement it. With a name like that, how can you miss? As the ad suggests—“it’s best to give on Christmas!”. One wonders what will happen if you give SILENT NIGHT on Valentine?

Saturday, December 15, 2018

196. Miss Universe 1952: Finland's ARMI KUUSELA, Celebrity Endorser

ARMI KUUSELA, as photographed for a Camay ad, "the soap of beautiful women"

As the Miss Universe 2018 contest heads for its climax this Dec. 17, we look back at the extraordinary life and times of the first Miss Universe crowned 66 years ago in 1952—Armi Helena Kuusela of Muhos, Finland.

Born to parents Arrne Kuusela and Martha Elisabeth Kyro on 20 Aug. 1934, Armi grew up in a household of 5 girls (a sister died young) and a boy. She attended local schools and was into gymnastics; she had planned on going to the University of Helsinki Gymnastics Institute.

But fate intervened when, at 17, she won the title of Miss Finland in May 1952---and the right to represent her country to the first ever Miss Universe Pageant in Long, Beach, California. 

From a field of 30 world beauties, the 5’5”, 108 pound teen had the distinction of being crowned as the first Miss Universe on 28 June 1952, turning her into an instant international celebrity. She was feted back home in Finland with a biographical movie entitled Maailman kaunein tyttö (“The World's Most Beautiful Girl”) where she played herself.

The tour package that came along with her prizes included a trip to the Philippines in February 1953, where she would meet young businessman Virgilio Hilario in Baguio. They would fall madly in love and after saying “yes” to Gil’s proposal, Armi decided not to continue with her reign to marry him in Tokyo, on 4 May 1953.

WATCH ARMI KUUSELA OF FINLAND'S
CROWNING MOMENT HERE:

After a short honeymoon in the U.S. , Hawaii and Europe, the Hilarios settled in Manila where Armi was besieged with showbiz offers, interviews, invitations to countless socials, and lucrative endorsement deals.

WATCH ARMI KUUSELA IN "NOW & FOREVER" HERE:

The first thing that the Hilarios accepted to do was a movie offer that resulted in the film based on their love story, ”Now and Forever”, produced by Deegar Cinema, directed by Rolando del Mar. The movie quickly introduced her to and adoring nation who took to Armi's beauty and charm, claiming her their own.

ARMI KUUSELA AS CAMAY GIRL, 1953

Armi was also signed up to endorse many prestigious products that included  CAMAY Beauty Soap, “the soap of beautiful women”. She was the only foreign beauty who appeared alongside early Camay girls like Gloria Romero, Rosita Noble, Charito Solis, Norma Blancaflor and Nida Blanca.

ARMI KUUSELA HILARIO IN A COKE AD, 1953,Credit: Jeune Brave

Aside from CAMAY, she did advertisements for COCA-COLA, and the launch of her ad was timed with the release of her movie in 1953 and the 16th anniversary of Coke in the Philippines.

ARMI & CHILD, IN A DARIGOLD MILK PRINT AD, 1958

The Finnish beauty also had a long-running campaign for DARIGOLD MILK. By this time, her children had started coming along,  so she was the perfect brand endorser for this wholesome milk brand. The Hilarios would have five children: Arne, Anna-Lisa, Jose/Jussi, Eva-Maria and Miguel/Mikko. The children were featured in the DARIGOLD ads. The last advertisement where Armi and her children were featured was for a SCOTT’S EMULSION Cold Liver Oil print ad, in the early 1970s.

ARMI KUUSELA-WILLIAMS today,
by Tomi Hinkkanen
Sadly husband Virgilio died of  heart attack on 7 Sep. 1975. Armi carried on, buoyed by the love of her children. In 1978, she met American diplomat Albert Williams, who was posted in Spain at that time.

The two fell in love, and Armi moved to Barcelona to start a new life with him. From Spain, Williams was assigned to exotic Turkey, until he retired with wife Armi in an exclusive enclave in La Jolla, California.

Armi settled into a simple, quiet life of a retired socialite, and kept busy with her charity works and philanthropies. In 2012, Armi Kuusela was awarded by a grateful nation with the Order of the White Rose of Finland, with the rank of Knight.

Armi Kuusela may have left th Philippines, but for many Filipinos who grew up in the 1950s, she would always be regarded as an adopted daughter of the country, worthy of also being called as a Philippine Miss Universe.

SOURCES:
NOW & FOREVER movie:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vgWQC9Tqaw
Published 21 Jan. 2013, by Miguel Hilario.

ARMI KUUSELA'S CRWONING MOMENT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wKAyGqgV-I
Published 1 Mar. 2012, by Portal Miss

PHOTO OF ARMI KUUSELA TODAY: http://finntimes.com/?p=265, Credits to : Tomi Hinkkanen

Tuesday, December 11, 2018

195. 1973 Miss Universe MARGIE MORAN for JOHNSON'S BABY OIL, 1978

MARGIE MORAN and the secret of her Miss Universe skin. Print ad, 1978.


It’s Miss Universe season once again, and while the beauties in Bangkok are deep into their activities, we recall our country’s 2nd Miss Universe winner, Maria Margarita 'Margie' Roxas Moran, who won her title in Athens, Greece in 1973, and which paved the way for a short showbiz career.

 After her reign, Moran was wooed by producers and appeared in a movie, “Oh, Margie Oh!’ , with leading man Victor Laurel, but which unfortunately was panned by critics and bombed at the box office.

Moran also had a brief stint in advertising as a commercial model post-Miss Universe, but surprisingly, they were few and far between. She did at least one Magnolia Yoghourt print ad in 1974, and would do a campaign for Johnson’s BABY OIL,  in 1978, which rendered her more visible to a wider Filipino audience.
 
OH, MARGIE. The print ad counterpart of the Johnson's Baby Oil campaign, 1978

The TVC starts with the premise that a beauty queen uses so many products for her beauty rituals. Moran reveals she only needs Johnson’s BABY OIL to remove make-up, moisturize and keep her beauty queen skin aglow. The campaign created by Ace-Compton (now Ace-Saatchi & Saatchi) Advertising Inc., was launched in 1978.
 
MARGIE MORAN, at a recent CCP event, 2018, with blogger

Moran was married to Cong. Tony R. Floirendo, Jr. of Davao Del Norte, with whom she has 2 daughters, Monica Danielle and Gabrielle Antoinette. She served as president of Ballet Philippines, and is currently the chairperson of the Cultural Center of the Philippines.

CREDITS:
AGENCY: Ace-Compton Advertising Agency, Inc.
CLIENT: Johnson & Johnsson Phils.Inc.
CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Gryk Ortaleza
COPYWRITER” Mimit Zialcita
PRODUCER: Dante Datu
CASTER: Sally Dumaup
HEAD OF BROADCAST: Jules Baldemor

Wednesday, December 5, 2018

194. WHEN COLGATE WAS A SOAP BAR, AND HUNT’S WAS CANNED FRUIT COCKTAIL…



Just the mention of iconic brand names like COLGATE, PALMOLIVE, or PUREFOODS instantly conjure images of the products they represent: Toothpaste, Shampoo, Meat Products, respectively. But at one point in their brand history, the names were also applied by their companies to other products, now long gone. Here are some of them.
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1. COLGATE SOAP (1956)
Since its launch as a toothpaste brand in 1873, COLGATE has, at one point, become a generic name for toothpaste. It was the first to be packaged in tubes in 1896. Colgate is associated with oral hygiene with products like mouthwashes, toothbrushes, and dental floss. COLGATE Toothpaste was introduced in the Philippines in 1926 by the Palmolive Co, Philippines, which, in 1949, became Colgate-Palmolive Philippines.  Palmolive was known for its soap, so this is probably the reason that in 1956, COLGATE SOAP was introduced to the Philippine market. The idea didn’t catch on—maybe it conjured images of brushing your mouth with soap!


2. HUNT’S FRUIT COCKTAIL (1957)
HUNT’S is an iconic brand name, founded ay back in 1888 in California. It is well-known as a maker of preserved tomato products like sauce, paste, expanding into tomato-based pork and beans—which has become synonymous with the name. HUNT’S Pork and Beans is known by almost every Filipino in the 1950s as it was a staple “emergency” canned product. Not very many know that there was also a HUNT’S FRUIT COCKTAIL introduced in the Philippine in 1957. That’s because the original company, Hunt Bros. Fruit Packing Co.,(founded by Joseph and William Hunt) also canned fruits and vegetables, a business which boomed in California. The product did not really do well locally.


3. LADY’S CHOICE VIENNA SAUSAGE (1965)
California Manufacturing Company (CMC) was established in 1955, and immediately became well-known for its line of spreads that included jams and mayonnaise. LADY’S CHOICE was one of the company’s early brand successes in the Spreads Market. The first products were LADY’S CHOICE Jelly, Preserves, Mayonnaise, and by 1965, the line had expanded to include other food products like macaroni, spaghetti, and of all products—LADY’S CHOICE VIENNA SAUSAGE! Eventually, the canned sausages were phased out after CMC realized that the spreads (Mayonaisse, Salad Dressing, Sandwich Spread) were the Lady’s Choice brands that were bringing in the money. Unilever bought the company, along with Bestfoods in 2000.


4. PALMOLIVE POMADE (1955)
The world was introduced to PALMOLIVE in 1898, when the B. J. Johnson Soap Co., gave us a soap bar made of palm an olive oil, hence the brand name that endures to this day. PALMOLIVE Soap was known to Filipinos in the late 1920s when it was distributed in the Philippines by Palmolive Co. Phils. The soap brand even became more familiar after the merger with Colgate,  and  the PALMOLIVE line was soon extended to include talcum powder, shampoo, and male-oriented products. In the mid 1950s, the company launched PALMOLIVE POMADE—“the pomade for successful men”. There was also, briefly a PALMOLIVE  Skin and Hair Tonic, produced at the same time. Apparently, the brilliantine pomade and tonic did not last long, but PALMOLIVE as a soap and shampoo brand proved to be more enduring.


5. POND’S LIPS LIPSTICK (1960)
POND’S, has a rich, 150 year history as the maker of POND’S  Cold Cream, the world’s first moisturizer that does not require refrigeration, and POND’S Vanishing Cream, which made women’s skin soft, supple and dewy. In 1846, American pharmacist Theron Pond developed the Pond’s Extract, with a unique tea extract from witch hazel that helped restore skin damage below the surface. The face creams were introduced to the country when the POND’S Company merged in 1955 with the Chesebrough Manufacturing Co., which already had an extensive line-up of facial care products. By the 60s, POND’S was an established brand of cosmetic beauty products. An effort to extend the line to include make up products was attempted in 1960 with the launch of POND’S LIPS—lipsticks “for irresistible lips”. But  Filipinas resisted the idea, preferring the facial cream more instead,  so POND’S LIPS was discontinued.


6. PRESTO COFFEE (1962)
The taipan George Gokongwei founded the Consolidated Food Corporation in 1961. It is best known for producing Blend 45 that gave Nescafe and Café Puro a run for their money. Next, CFC launched its chocolate products, so the PRESTO brand. With treats like Nips, Manor House, Milky Bar, Apollo Chocolate Bars and Wafrets, PRESTO came to be associated with chocolates. There was even a PRESTO Cocoa and PRESTO Chocolate Drink. But PRESTO did not start as a name for chocolates—but as a coffee brand. In 1962, PRESTO COFFEE was launched by CFC as a complement to Blend 45. PRESTO COFFEE was retired when CFC decided to single-mindedly build the Blend 45 brand which was enjoying tremendous  market success, and make it their flagship brand. PRESTO later was used as a name for CFC’s ice cream brand, and today, it is acookie brand of Universal Robina Corp. (URC).


7. PURE FOODS JAM (1965)
Founded in 1956, PURE FOODS was put up in Mandaluyong by a group of enterpreneurs which first produced hams, bacons and hot dog sausages.  It is in the manufacture of quality meat products that PURE FOODS built its name. Over the years, however, it forayed into other food products—making catsup, chili con carne, bottled pickles—and in 1965, the company put out PURE FOODS JAMS. The bottled spreads included Mango, Pineapple, Guava, and Mango-Pineapple. Eventually, PURE FOODS stuck to making products it knew best, and today, it is the leading maker of quality meat products in the country.