538. Those Adorable DARIGOLD KIDS of the ‘60s: Then and Now

When readers opened their magazines in 1963, they were treated to a spread of colored ads of DARIGOLD MILK featuring wide-eyed, happy-looking kids—perfect models of the milk’s promise of healthy goodness and tender love.

By that time, DARIGOLD was the No. 1 milk brand in the country, backed by its savvy marketing and well-crafted advertising, professionally made by its ad agency, Philprom, founded by Pete Teodoro in 1945. Not bad for the evaporated milk brand that had to be imported all the way from Seattle to be introduced in the Philippines in 1953.

The 1963-1964 campaign was launched first with a lead-off print ad featured 2 vignette shots of a young mom with her school-age daughter holding a glass of milk in one hand. In the foreground are two younger siblings with their toys, showing the boy giving her little sister a peck on her cheek.

A separate ad was spun off using the version with the two siblings being wowed as they are handed with a glass of DARIGOLD Milk.

The next in the print ad series showed a fair-haired girl holding a glass of DARIGOLD Milk with the headline:  “More, more, more…DARIGOLD gives you more!”. A jingle based on that line was created by the agency and became a national hit.

The last ad was a Black & White ad with 2 spot colors, touting the leadership position of DARIGOLD, which by then was the most preferred and best-selling brand. A curly-locked boy in a DARIGOLD shirt leading a trike race was the main visual, to drive home the point of the no. 1 milk in the market.

A quick search of the identities of the kiddie models yielded so many fascinating facts that are now inextricably linked with the milk brand’s history. In the 60s, the country head of DARIGOLD was Mr. Louie Benitez, a member of the prominent Benitez Family that included statesman and educator Dean Conrado Benitez and senator Helena Tirona Benitez.

 

Louie’s sister, Leila Benitez was known as the First Lady of Philippine TV, famous for hosting the first Student Canteen, and, what else—DARIGOLD Jamboree in 1965. Even DARIGOLD’s ad agency had a Benitez connection; Fred Benitez was a co-founder of Philprom.

It was no wonder then that the models in the aforementioned print ads were also Benitezes—Mr. Louie Benitez’s own wife and children.The kick-off ad that showed a Mom and her daughter, was no less than his wife Nena Mapa-Benitez and daughter Annie, on her lap. Annie now lives in Copenhagen, Denmark.

The two kissin’ kids with their toys on the floor are siblings Ricky and Pia Benitez. Ricky Benitez grew up and worked in his father’s trading company. He is now a Pastor who lives in Bacolod.

 Pia, now Mrs. Yupangco, is an artist and a freelance writer. In her college years, she became an intern at J. Walter Thompson where she bagged a 7-Up talent gig. Her father, however, thumbed down the idea of her out-of-town shooting, and thus ended her short modeling career.

 “We were nepo babies before it became uso 😆”, recalls Pia when asked how she became a DARIGOLD model. “My dad Louie Benitez was general manager of Darigold in the Philippines, that’s how!.  Even my grade school batch got to go to the Darigold manufacturing and repacking facility!” Pia also vaguely remembers shoting a DARIGOLD TV commercial at the Magallanes Park by the Philprom ad agency.

Soon, the original “nepo babies” were joined by more Benitezes—their cousins! In the 2^nd print ad, the winsome child with her glass of DARIGOLD was portrayed by Mitos Benitez (now Yñiguez). She was the daughter of Mario Benitez—brother of Louie, more well-known as the founder of the classic MARIO’s, the hugely popular Italian Restaurant, located in Baguio. Today, Mitos  continues the family’s restaurant business tradition, by running the highly-rated Hill Station , a comfort food restaurant at Casa Vallejo in Baguio City.

Mitos’ brother—Anton Benitez, on the other hand, was the curly-haired trike rider  speeding ahead of other cartoon racers in the 3^rd print ad. A La Salle graduate, Anton along with brothers Fil and Marlo now runs MARIO’s, which recently opened a branch in Clark Field, Pampanga.

 DARIGOLD’s  life cycle was cut short in 1976 when it ceased production due to contractual obligation problems. But for the Benitez kids, there was no crying over spilled milk. They have all moved on from being accidental commercial talents for an icon brand built by their father, to even more important matters like earning their education, acquiring skills and venturing into different careers, based on their passions—all pursued well, and successfully. DARIGOLD, in a special way, has proven to be “so good for the whole family”—as its longtime slogan says,

SOURCES:

FB Messenger interview with, Pia Benitez-Yupangco

Contributed photos from the Benitez children

Photo od the Benitezes as adults, from their FB groups. 

Photo of Mitos Benitez , by Wig Tysmans

Many thanks to Lisa Nepomuceno-Mapua for facilitating contact with the Benitez siblings.

537. The Ad Model’s Model: BOOTS ANSON-ROA, various endorsements 1968-1978

BOOTS ANSON ROA (now Maria Elisa Cristobal Anson-Rodrigo, b. 30 Jan. 1945), may very well be one of the most versatile celebrities of the 60s thru the 70s—she was a sought-after TV and movie personality, actress, host and emcee, columnist, and diplomat. She also had an impeccable background as spotless and wholesome as the image she projected, that companies used her as a spokesperson and endorser of products.

The daughter of post-war actor Oscar Moreno and Belen Cristobal-Anson, a pharmacist-chemist, Boots was educated at the Assumption,  and the University of the Philippines (1960-64, Speech & Drama), where, as an ROTC campus beauty, appeared on a magazine cover.  Her studies were interrupted when she married Pete Roa in 1964, a popular TV host of Channel 5’s “Dance-o-Rama”.  Baby O’Brien originally co-hosted the show, and Boots stepped in when she left for her U.S. studies.

She went on to foray in movies beginning in 1968, ding over a hundred films, highlighted by a FAMAS Best Actress award in 1973 for the movie, “Tatay na si Erap” and a Lifetime Achievement Awardee,  also from the said body.

The well-respected Anson-Roa lent her credibility in various advertisements shown on this page. She promoted appliances, beauty products, food and beverages, all through the 60s and 80s. She was most visible with her then husband Pete Roa in the Blend 45 campaign series that ran in the late 70s.

Considered as a role model, Anson-Roa also had a successful professional career in the gvernment. She was the director of the U.P.-PGH Medical Foundation (1979- 81 and the Red Cross (1980-82) In 1982, she was appointed as Press/Cultural Attache at the Philippine Embassy in Washington. She was also a TOWNS (Ten Outstanding Women in the Nation's Service) Awardee.

After being widowed in 2007, she wed Atty. Francisco Rodrigo Jr., son of Sen. Francisco "Soc" Rodrigo in 2014. The multi-awarded Boots Anson-Rodrigo  is set to launch her biography book this Jan. 2026, entitled "Grateful ," chronicling her checkered life and times.

SOURCES:

Boots Anson Roa, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boots_Anson-Roa

536. And you thought Presto only made chocolates: PRESTO COFFEE, 1962

PRESTO COFFEE INTRO AD, "Magnifico!", 1962

“When you want-a good-o coffee, get PRESTO! It’s the very best-o!”

The local PRESTO brand of the Gokongwei-founded Consolidated Food Corp. (CFC)  is so well-associated with chocolate products-chocolate powder drink, cocoa, chocolate bars. Many have forgotten that its pioneer product was a coffee brand.

In 1961, after John Gokongwei Sr,  surveyed the local coffee landscape, decided that there was room more for new coffee brands. The market leader then was the post-war brand Café Puro of Commonwealth Foods Inc., which, by 1951, had become the no.1 selling coffee brand, a position it kept till the 1960s.

And so, New PRESTO COFFEE was launched in 1962—a 100% soluble coffee made from a unique blending process of choice coffee beans. Thus, PRESTO COFFEE claims to have a livelier aroma, and real perk-up flavor. An illustration of a distinctive bemoustached Italian coffee connoisseur accompanied the print ad.

The PRESTO Coffee brand, however was no match to Commonwealth Foods’ popular line of coffee brands that are so well-entrenched in the market. Nestle’s Nescafe, on the other hand, was gaining ground due its more premium image backed by a massive advertising budget.

So, Gokongwei looked at another more viable product venture—and saw SERG’s, which practically monopolized the chocolate market. In the second half of the 60s, CFC introduce a chocolate drink under the PRESTO Brand to test the market. Shortly after, it expanded to include chocolate products. The PRESTO chocolate line began to gain traction in the market, and the PRESTO coffee brand was discontinued. The rest is history for its successful chocolate line that came to include PRESTO ice cream, PRESTO Tivoli  and PRESTO fun fruit drinks.

CFC however, never forgot its coffee beginnings and launched Great Taste Coffee in the 70s. With its superior taste, product quality, and better, more sophisticated marketing support, Great Taste also became a huge better-late-than-never success for CFC.

535. Where Are They Now? MILDRED LOEWINSOHN, Angel Face Model, 1966

In 1966, ANGEL FACE launched its campaign for its Foundation Powder product with a print series featuring 3 young career women: Elizabeth Pineda, a model and a UST Fine Arts student; Geraldine Keesey, a school teacher; and MILDRED “Millie” LOEWINSOHN, a Philippine Airlines stewardess.

Manila-born Loewinsohn (b. 28 Apr. 1947) was just a fresh 21 year-old Assumption College graduate when she joined the national flag carrier as a stewardess. Her being bi-lingual (she speaks Spanish) served her well in her job as nan international purser.

Through the 70s-80s, Millie continued to model for photographers and artists like Santiago Bose and Wig Tysmans, both from  Baguio. She also dabbled in photography, an interest she pursued when she moved to Guam in the early 1980s, where she worked as a lab technician/photographer . She stayed in Guam for over 9 years. In December 1993, she went to the United States, where she got married, but was later divorced. Loewinsohn now lives  in Las Vegas, Nevada, where she works as a wedding photographer.

 PHOTOS:

The Sunday Times Magazine, M. Loewinsohn FB Page

534. Sure to Please! DUCHESS CHEDDAR CHEESE, 1960-62 Ads

All-New! All-Fresh! All-Flavorful! DUCHESS Cheese Intro Ad, 1960

DUCHESS CHEDDAR CHEESE, a product of PACOSTA Dairy Products (Pacific Costa Packing Corp.), was launched in the Philippines in 1960. DUCHESS was a processed Australian cheese that came with Mellow and Sharp full-flavored cheddar to suit one’s taste. Along with Pacosta Ice Cream, it was one of the short-lived products of the Quezon City-based dairy business.

DUCHESS CHEDDAR Christmas Ad, 1962

In Pacosta’s heyday, it relied on TV shows sponsorship for their product advertising and promotions, starting in the 1950s with  “Our Pacosta Show”.  Later, it sponsored “The Dee Marquez Show” that aired every Wednesday, at 6:30 P.M., on  DZAQ TV- Channel  3, Wed. 6:30 PM.

Products of Pacosta were distributed by Smith, Bell & Co.Young and Baldwin Inc., Ong Sit & Co., Muller & Phipps (Manila) Ltd. 

533. Where Are They Now? ROEL VERGEL DE DIOS, The Glamor Boy of Ads and Movies

One of the pretty boys who lit up both the advertising world and the silver screen from the late 70s to the early 80s was ROEL VERGEL DE DIOS.  Starting out as a ramp model in his student days, he first appeared in fashion advertising, and then made a successful leap to films.

The tall, teen model with a schoolboy look was born Roel Arce Vergel de Dios on 30 Oct. 1958, one of the six sons of Marcelino Vergel De Dios of Baliwag, Bulacan and Esperanza Arce of Manila. He has two younger sisters.

He owes his mestizo looks to his forebears, specifically, his maternal grandfather, Ramon Arce, who was a Spanish court stenographer at the Philippine Congress during Pres. Quezon’s term. The enterprising Arce saved enough money, and invested in land. In his Novaliches farm, he raised herds of carabaos that he milked which he used to produce dairy products, which he eventually parlayed into a profitable business—Selecta Dairy Products and Ice Cream. The outlets were transformed into restaurants to showcase the cooking skills of Ramon's wife, Carmen.

Roel also has Spanish blood from his paternal side. His great grandfather was a civil guard who married a Filipina when he was stationed in Zamboanga. Daughter Angela married Fernando Vergel de Dios, from a big family in Baliwag.

TOP ROW (L-R): Ronald, Roel, Raul. BOTTOM ROW (L-R) Renato, Rolando Bambi

Roel went to Ateneo for Grade School and JASMS-Q.C. for his high school. It was as a college boy in the University of the East that he forayed into fashion modeling and which led to appearances in commercials and print advertising spreads. Due to his runway background, he was chosen as a signature model for Image Maker, a very popular line of sports and leisure wear in 1978.

ROEL VERGEL DE DISO for IMAGE MAKER SHIRTS, Print Ad, 1978

He also appeared in a print ad for Alfa, a premium fabric made with Tefilin polyester that was produced by Philippine Synthetic Fiber Corporation.

ROEL VERGEL DE DIOS for Filsyn's ALFA, Print Ad 1978

While doing the rounds of advertising casting agencies, the movies beckoned. A cousin had dabbled in movies under the screen name Anthony Rodriguez.  Roel got producers into the cine bandwagon in time at all, and somehow, he managed to do both—modeling and acting—quite very well.

One of his earliest films was “Huwag  Pipitas ng Bubot na Bunga", with Amalia Fuentes and Vivian Velez in 1977.  In 1978, he made a daring appearance in Regal Films' “Bomba Star”, with Alma Moreno, then, one of the most sought-after sexy young stars of the country. This was followed by the Gosiengfiao-directed  “Promo Girl”, with Vilma Santos in the lead, “Nakawin Natin ang Bawat Sandali (1978), “Holdup” (1979) and “Pag-ibig, Bakit ka Ganyan?” (1979).

In 1980, he teamed up with Moreno again in “Lumakad kang Hubad sa Mundong Ibabaw”, a much-talked about film directed by Manuel “Fyke” Cinco. He also did “Apat na Maria”, partnered with Julie Ann Fortich, based on the story of Mars Ravelo. In 1985, Roel Vergel de Dios bade Philippine showbiz goodbye when he married Jaye Murphy, Bb. Pilipinas International 1975, and opted to settle in the U.S. Their union bore one daughter,

SOURCES:

Many thanks to Ms. Angel Vergel de Dios, sister of Roel Vergel de Dios, for providing updated information and latest pictures of his brother. 

Roel Vergel de Dios, FB Page

Screengrab from the Memorial video of Roly Vergel de Dios, brother of Roel Vergel de Dios, 

Screen grabs from movie on youtube, "Apat na Maria" (uploaded by Apochingching) and "Bomba Star" (uploaded  y Regal Entertainment, Inc. )

532. Brand Stories: VICKS INHALER, Richardson-Vicks, 1941

Movie idol JAIME DELA ROSA for VICKS INHALER, 1959

Pharmacist Lunsford Richard founded  Richardson-Vicks out of a family emergency. His young son, Smith Richardson suffered from a serious case of croup. Lunsford combined unique ingredients into a salve that when heated by the body, would release soothing vapors.

The boy found relief and the homemade croup and pneumonia salve was soon being sold as a legitimate product in 1894, after Lunsford took over his brother-in-law Dr. John Vick’s drugstore business,  Thus began the Vicks Family Remedies Company (later, Vicks Chemical Company) in 1898.

In 1911, the salve was renamed as VapoRub by the now-grown up Smith,  the very boy who inspired its creation and now a the helm of the business. The soothing vapors became the unique advantage of the product, such that in 1941, that effective production action was used in the development of Vicks Cough Drops, that provided instant, portable relief. The cough drops were an immense success.

Matinee Idol LUIS GONZALES for VICKS INHALER, 1956

The Vicks “vapors” line was extended in 1941 with the launch of the VICKS INHALER. This unique products brings the soothing vapors of Vicks in your pocket, just by inhaling the vapors from a plastic tube which are released from an absorbent material (like a cotton wick) that has been saturated with a blend of ingredients formulated by the company. Again, the reception to this innovation was met with widespread approval.

Singer-actress JEAN LOPEZ for VICKS INHALER, 1960

By the 1950s, VICKS INHALER  was available in the Philippines, and its early local advertising in the late 1950s featured popular movie stars, shown on this page. Despite the rise of Thai and Chinese made inhalers, VICKS INHALER—now also available in the key chain type, continues to be a favorite among local users, as the brand is now owned and managed by Procter & Gamble, a trusted maker of products that make Filipino lives easier.