Another set of the strangest, most hilarious and unusual barnd names of products that were available in the Philippines from the 50s and 60s.
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Philippine Manufacturing Company (PMC), founded in 1908, forayed into vegetable shortening production in 1917, and launched Purico to great success in 1919. It was made from palm oil, and sold in solid blocks, packed in cartons. When Procter & Gamble U.S.A. purchased PMC in 1935, the product portfolio expanded to include detergents. In 1951, the laundry soap LUTO came into the market. It had a rather strange name—LUTO—or “cook”. It also came in white blocks, which reminded people of Purico. Actually LUTO was derived from the process of making soaps, in which coconut or palm oil with lye is cooked to form a detergent soap, that is then molded into bars. Thus, “Mag LUTO na tayo!” doesn’t just mean,”let’s cook”, but also let’s do the laundry!”, at least in the early 50s!
This medicine intended for a serious disease has such a musical-sounding name, that it’s hard to believe it can bring relief to anemic women and mothers with disorders associated with pregnancy and their menses. Even the ingredients do not give a clue as why it was named MONG ALING. To make it more difficult to decipher, the word and numbers “Silang Lab. No. 8368”, are appended to the brand name. One can just imagine if someone wrote a jingle for MONG ALING. It will probably go “Mong-aling-aling-ding-dong!”
Brand names may sometimes sound alike, but these two
midcentury anti-perspirant products have uncannily similarity and only a letter
separates them: ODORODO and ODORONO.
The older one, ODORODO, is a palindrome—it reads the same way when read backwards. Such literary devices were used to increase memorability of the brand name, but unfortunately Odorodo, even with its catchy name and unique Action-Proof formula, did not catch on. But at least, the euphemistic “B.O.” (for body odor) as headlined in this 1956 ad, is still in our vocabulary today. On the other hand, ODORONO is a cream deodorant which came out in 1961. In today’s stringent trademark rules, imitating the distinctive, perceptual features of a leader brand, such as its brand name is a violation.
Say that again? Say this brand name wrong, and it will sound like a slang for self-erotic gratification. Time was when medicine brands had Spanish names, a way of branding still in practice in the 1920s—when OJOKOL was formulated by Botica Boie. The eye solution was meant to give cool relief to sore, irritated eyes (OJO means “eye” in Spanish, pronounced as “oho”), and as for the suffix, it’s one of those add-ons used by chemicals like alcohol, glycol, ethanol. So next time you say OJOKOL, make sure you pronounced it the way Spaniards do—not with the hard “j” we are accustomed to.
Playboys and dandies would surely go for this pomade brand called “PALIKERO”, that was produced in the mid 1930s. And it even had the audacity to use on its paper label (unauthorized, for sure) the picture of a Hollywood icon who was known for his “palikero” roles on screen—Rudolph Valentino. Whether this pomade lived up to its name is a big question mark, as nobody seems to know this brand, or what happened to it.
SOURCE: By the Author. Originally appeared on esquiremag.ph under the title: Funniest Filipino Brand Names in the 20th Century - Esquire , https://www.esquiremag.ph/culture/lifestyle/old-brands-philippines-a2289-20190211-lfrm4
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