106. THE ART OF DUNKIN’ DONUTS, according to Lydia Velasco-Cruz

DUNKIN' DONUTS MUNCHKINS AD. Illustrated by Lydia Velasco-Cruz. 1984.

America’s favorite coffee and baked goods chain was founded in 1950 by William Rosenberg in Quincy, Massachusetts. DUNKIN' DONUTS has come to be one of the largest food chains in the world with presence in 36 countries.

 It was only in 1981 that it came to the Philippines, when Golden Donuts Inc.,based in Mandaluyong, acquired the Dunkin’ Donuts franchise.The corporation is owned largely by the Prieto family, which also owned the local franchise for Shakey’s, Racks and Tia Maria, among others. Golden Donuts, Inc. opened its first ever shop at the Quad Car Park in Makati, and began serving food-loving Filipinos the first Dunkin’ Donuts. Its menu included filled and plain donuts, Munchkins, coffee, hot and cold beverages, croissants, bunwiches, brownies, muffins.


The donuts proved to be a hit, and Ace-Compton Advertising, which had already been working on the Shakey’s account, was also assigned the Dunkin’ Donuts chain.

The creative team included a talented female art director, Lydia Velasco-Cruz, one of the few in the male-dominated field of advertising art.

 Lydia Velasco, (b. 1942 ) was the eldest child in a family of nine brothers and sistaters, the daughter of Jose Velasco, a noted LVN set designer. Her first job was selling fish in her native Navotas and in Malabon. But she heeded her artistic calling and enrolled in Fine Arts, major in Advertising, at the University of Santo Tomas.

 After graduation, she landed a job as an artist at Philprom, where de. she honed her art direction skills for over a decade. She went on to become a full-fledged Art Director for several multinational advertising companies, with a long and productive stint at Ace-Compton Advertising. Lydia worked on the blue chip Procter and Gamble PMC account, and was also assigned some Johnson & Johnson brands like Reach Toothbrush and Modess Napkins. She would actually illustrate the artworks herself with her mastery of pastel crayons.

DUNKIN' DONUTS AD, Art direction by Lydia Velasco-Cruz

Her Dunkin’ Donuts assignment was a nice break from the more rigid P&G ads that she used to do, and it allowed her a freer rein to experiment with drawings, art direction techniques, typography and composition. In 1988, Lydia left advertising to be a co-partner of Lightmoves Photo/Design, Inc., but the changing business environment forced her to give up the business and return to her first love: painting.

BREWED COFFEE AD, art direction by Lydia Velasco-Cruz, 1984

She joined Malang’s Saturday Group and rediscovered the feel and power of her brush,. Soon, she was mounting her own exhibits, and became known for her massive, heavy-set beautiful women engaged in their work—selling wares, fish, flowers and fruits.

CHRISTMAS AD, DUNKIN' DONUTS, art directed by Lydia Velasco-Cruz, 1984

Today, this former Dunkin’ Donuts art director is one of the country’s most celebrated female painters; her works are in private homes and galleries around the world, and are prized at international auction houses. It’s been a long and arduous journey, but for Lydia Velasco-Cruz----it’s worth the trip!

105. PALMOLIVE SOAP, “Like Mother, Like Daughter” Campaign, 1965

WHO IS THE MOTHER? WHO IS THE DAUGHTER? The future actress-comedian Tessie Tomas--known then as Teresita Hermosa--poses with her mother, radio icon Laura Hermosa--in this launch ad for Palmolive's new camapign that sought to point out t-its consumer promise of delivering "younger-looking skin". 

PALMOLIVE SOAP was produced in 1916, and it was only 12 years later that the soap was imported by the company of Arthur Brent, for sale in the Philippines. Brent’s company was the pre-cursor of Colgate-Palmolive Philippines.

The soap got its name from its ingredients—palm oil and olive oil. It was the second brand of the company, after Colgate, and would become one of the best-selling soaps in the world. In the Philippines, PALMOLIVE was also one of the leading beauty soaps in the market along with Camay and Lux. Ad agency Grant Advertising (which became Bates-Alcantara, then DYR-Alacantara) acquired the account in 1949.

In 1965, a new campaign for PALMOLIVE SOAP was launched which created talk-of-the-town buzz and would endure for many years.  Its proposition latched on to the promise of giving “younger-looking skin”. A TV commercial version dramatized this in a commercial that featured a Santacruzan where the Reyna Elena was recognized by a female onlooker who tells his malE friend—“Classmate ko siya 5 years ago!”.  To which the male friend quipped—“Bakit mas mukhang bata pa siya kaysa sa iyo?”. 

The compelling story was translated to a print campaign entitled, “Like Mother, Like Daughter” which sought to visualize mild PALMOLIVE’s  ability to give clean, clear, and radiantly beautiful skin.

 

THE MAKALINTALS AND THE GLORIAS, mother-and-daughter
tandem in 1967 and 1970 Palmolive print ads.

The main picture of the ad shows a real-life mother and daughter, posed side-by-side. The headline read—“Sisters?…or Mother and Daughter?”.  The perfectly-cast ad draws the reader to the youthful appearance of the mother, whose looks are comparable to the daughter. It invites the reader to look at the picture and pick out the mother (or daughter)—a clever way to go around the rules of comparative advertising which was not allowed in Philippine advertising at that time.

The first models for this barrier-breaking PALMOLIVE campaign were the radio personality Laura Hermosa and her 15 year-old daughter, Teresita Hermosa. Teresita would go on to become a creative director of a multinational agency and find greater fame in showbiz as the award-winning comedienne-actress, Tessie Tomas.

 

THE BURGOS AND THE FARGAS mother and daughter tandem
in 1966 and 1970 Palmolive print ads.

The campaign lasted for at least 5 years, and the ad looked pretty much the same except for some copy tweaks. In subsequent years, the ads carried headlines like “Like mother, like daughter”, and a more direct call-to-action, “Which one is Mother?"

PALMOLIVE SOAP, took a backseat with the introduction of the highly-popular PALMOLIVE Shampoo line. It was in recent years that the soap was resurrected as a line of PALMOLIVE Naturals, each formulated with a distinctive ingredient to suit a person’s needs.

LOOK AT WHAT HAPPENED TO 

THE PALMOLIVE DAUGHTER!

PICTURE SOURCE:
Tessie Tomas photo: https://movietimes.com/celebrities/tessie-tomas
Palmolive vintage ad: https://hiveminer.com/Tags/ad,palmolive/Recent

104. Lady, You Deserve A Break! LAGERLITE, SMC's Light Beer for Women

1st LAGERLITE LAUNCH AD, featured just a product shot. Note first slogan. 1980

 In 1980, San Miguel Corporation added to its ever-growing list of beer portfolio, a light beer that was branded LAGERLITE. Initially, it was advertised as light, non-filling beer—“Full-flavored, yet less-filling!” went the initial slogan, subsequently revised to "When you like it light!". The campaign didn’t quite take off, as it defeated the purpose of macho beer drinking.

 

LAGERLITE."When you want it light" replaced the first slogan that was
nothing but a strategy statement. 1980

In 1982, Ace-Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising took on the account and positioned it as the beer for female drinkers. Slowly, LAGERLITE inched its way into the consciousness of Filipinas who traditionally refused to be beer guzzlers.

Creative Director Cid Reyes explained how the ad campaign was conceived, “If you see Celeste Legaspi drinking beer and you nvere thought of her as immoral, then you’d say there’s nothing wrong in drinking beer. Of course, there’s more to it than that. The campaign, ”Lady, you deserve a break!” has two meanings: First, it means let’s have a break! Let’s unwind and have a nice glass of beer. The second meaning which is more important to us is the idea of women getting a break from the shackles of societal taboos. So we showed successful women in their respective fields.

Female director LAURICE GUILLEN in a Lagerlite strip ad. 1982.

The resulting LAGERLITE launch campaign featured  3 jingle-based TV 30s that celebrated the coming of age of the Filipina in a male-dominated world. The initial batch of celebrity endorsers included female director Laurice Guillen, singers Joey Albert and Celeste Legaspi.

The future senator, Loren Legarda, who was a campus beauty and modelled on the side, appeared in a sustaining TV commercial and a matching print ad.

WATCH LOREN LEGARDA'S LAGERLITE TVC 30s here:

More than a novel campaign, the LAGERLITE ads are a toast to the ladies in making headway in breaking down cultural and social barriers. LAGERLITE also did well in the launch period, and a PBA Magnolia basketball team of San Miguel Corporation’s  was even renamed after the brand. Eventually, the novelty of a lady’s beer fizzled off as Asia Brewery took back the fight to the male beer market, pushing SMC to put all its resources to protect its Pale Pilsen brand.

CREDITS:

AGENCY: Ace-Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising

CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Cid P. Reyes

EXEC. ART DIRECTOR: Kits Yamsuan

CONCEPT TEAM: Isabel Beltran-Gamboa / Melvin M. Mangada

CLIENT: San Miguel Beer Marketing Division

SOURCES:

KAUNLARAN, October 1980 issue, San Miguel Corporation

De la Torre, Visitacion. Advertising in the Philippines: Its Historical, Cultural and Social Dimensions, Tower Books. 1989.

103. Brand Stories: RUFINA PATIS, Rufina Patis Factory

RUFINA PATIS...AY MALINAMNAM! An old 1950s patis bottle and a promotional Rufina Patis plate.
Vintage Rufina Patis Bottle, courtesy of Atty. Jai Gatchalian.

The fish sauce that has been  adding flavor to the Filipino dining table for over 100 years began operations in 1900, making RUFINA PATIS the oldest fish sauce brand in the country. It was a  widow and a fish dealer,  Rufina Salao vda. de Lucas, who prepared the mix of fish and salt in earthen jars that resulted in flavorful sauce that added zest to everyday dishes.

 

MRS. RUFINA SALAO vda. de Lucas receives an award from Pres.Garcia

Rufina’s  home industry that she put up with a capital of 50 pesos, would grow into a national business and would jumpstart patis production in the town. The product would also make Malabon famous.

Mrs. Lucas soon replaced the jars with large wooden barrels,  which were soon discarded in favor of concrete vats. Groceries and supermarkets stocked up on RUFINA PATIS which were snapped up as soon as they were placed on shelves. 

1950s RUFINA PATIS MAGAZINE AD.

Thanks to advertising, the fish sauce became a byword in Filipino homes. The increased demand  necessitated the building of the the first processing and bottling plant of RUFINA PATIS at C. Arellano Street in 1957.

 

FACTORY EMPLOYEES WORKING WITH NEW BOTTLING MACHINES

The next year, son Jesus S. Lucas went to the United States and discovered the large and untapped overseas Filipino communities market. After submitting many samples to the Federal government, Lucas succeeded in having RUFINA PATIS approved for sale in America, after passing the strict food standards of the country.

THE NEW RUFINA PATIS FACTORY IN 1957

After her mother’s death in 1961,  Jesus took over as head of the company, and grew the brand further. In 1968, RUFINA PATIS inaugurated its second processing and bottling plant on Bonifacio Street corner Naval, thus more than doubling its patis production. RUFINA PATIS today is exported in Europe, Canada, Hongkong, Australia, Middle East and the Mainland USA, a fine example of a homegrown product gone global.

RUFINA PATIS XMAS AD, 1950s.

102. ESKINOL: VILMA SANTOS' "Cherished Possession", 1983

ATE VI FOR ESKINOL. Full Color Print Ad. 1983.

The widely-popular facial lotion—ESKINOL—was the creation of Dr. Esperanza Castro-Palting, a pharmacist, who concocted the solution back in 1945. She launched her ESKINOL MEDICATED FACIAL SOLUTION  with 200 bottles, which sold out quickly and would be one of the most successful anti-pimple products  in the history of the Philippine skin care industry.

ESKINOL to advertise at the start of the 50s decade, with small, black and White illustrated ads. In the 60s, it began featuring models in its more polished ads. 

Later it introduced more well-known models beginning with beauty queen Pilar Pilapil in 1968. Thus began the “Eskinol Girl” print ad series that would include Marianne de la Riva and Tina Revilla.

The most famous Eskinol Girl---due largely to her memorable TV commercial—was Vilma Santos. Already a teen superstar, Vilma starred in the ad where she introduced ESKINOL as her “cherished possession”, along with her acting awards. The TVC was produced by ad agency, J. Romero & Associates.

THAT ESKINOL GIRL, VILMA SANTOS, 1984

Her endorsement worked, and soon, the audience would also make ESKINOL, their “cherished possession”—with the phrase becoming a byword, and the commercial spoofed in comedy shows.

WATCH ESKINOL" Vilma" 1995 AD HERE:

 Vilma would be under contract with Metro Drugs, then the manufacturer of ESKINOL, for years, and would do more product advertising for their no. 1 selling brand--including its line extensions-- until the 1990s.

SOURCES:

Endorsing Eskinol:

https://starforallseasons.com/2013/08/09/endorsing-eskinol/

https://www.unilever.com.ph/brands/our-brands/eskinol.html