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| Creative Guild Print Ad of the Year 1988: LUX “Starcare Skincare Originals” |
The 1988 Print Ad of the Year blrew competition away
through sheer star power. The stunning ad, a full color magazine spread for LUX
Beauty Soap, featuredthree of the year’s most recognizable faces in Philippine
show business: Movie star Sharon Cuneta, singer Kuh Ledesma, and then up-and-coming
starlet (and presidential daughter) Kris Aquino. “Starcare” was a creation of
J. Walter Thompson, which has had LUX manufacturer. Multinational heavyweight Philippine
Refining Company, as a worldwide client since the 1950’s.
“LUX has always been about celebrities,”says JWY
Executive Creative Director Socky Pitargue,”and it has always been important to
choose the right names and faces.” The last Filipina endorser Pitargeue recalls
was screen actress Hilda Koronel, and the launch of three new variations for
normal-to-dry, oily, or sensitive skin was the perfect excuse to go beauty-hunting.
The idea was clear: three superstar faces using there classy variatons of one
glorious product.
The original plan had been to shoot three separate print
ads for each of the models, but Pitargue had a more ambitious idea.”Why not get
them together? Why not come out with one big ad two or three times for maximum
impact?” Pitargue even predicted the fans, especially young girls, would tear
the ad out and use it as a poster—which research shows they did.
After PRC had closed deals with three celebrities, chosen
for their individual styles as well as their beautiful complexions, Pitargue,
creative irector Adele Estrada and executive art director Edwina Arroyo
confronted another logistical hurdle: how to get the three stars together for a
photo session. “That’s when we decided to get a fourth superstar to take the
photograph,” Pitargue says. Millionaire businessman, philanthropist, and high
profile hobby photographer Jaime Zobel de Ayala had never done any commercial
photography before, and he welcomed the project.
The strategy worked. With a reputation bigger than those
of his subjects, Don Jaime called the shots. “He asked the ladies to be at his
studio at 7 pm. sharp,” Pitargue recalls,”or he would close the doors. The trio
complied, and the shoot was over in less than three hours. Don Jaime’s
professional fee, Pitargue reports, was subsequently donated to charity.
Bare arms and shoulders for the subjects were decided
upon early, to do away with the problem of coordinating outfits. Neither did
the agency ant anything to distract from the glowing complexions. The three LUX
variations were photographed for the same poster and reinforced with copy in
small text, but the yes remained rivettted on the unmistakable stars of the
spread.
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| KRIS AQUINO, KUH LEDESMA, AND SHARON CUNETA TODAY |
The print ad ran alongside three slick TV commercials,
individually featuring Sharon, Kuh, and Kris. JWT git the media exposure they
wanted, and LUX is still happily riding on the fame of cinema’s most stellar
skins.
CREDITS:
ADVERTISER:
Philippine Refining Co.
PRODUCT: Lux
Beauty Soap
AGENCY: J. Walter
Thompson Co.
CREATIVE DIRECTOR:
Adele Estrada
COPYWRITERS: Adele
Estrada / Carol San Pedro
EXECUTIVE ART
DIRECTOR: Edwina K. Arroyo
ART DIRECTOR: Bobby
Canlas
PRINT PRODUCTION: Jun
Jamolangue
PHOTOGRAPHERS: Jaime
Zobel / Neil Oshima
SOURCE:
PERFECT 10: A Decade of Creativity in Philippine Advertising.
Ed. by Mr. Butch Uy. Published by the Executive Committee of the Creative Guild
of the Philippines, 1995. “Superstar
spread,” p. 26
PHOTOS: Kris Aquino (pep.ph), KuhLedesma (Inquirer Entertainment), Sharo Cuneta (fanpix.net, Showbiz Central)
