401. PRC's WHEEL: A Little Wheel Does a Lot of Washing Campaign, 1965-66.

' A LITTLE WHEEL DOES A LOT OF WASHING' LAUNCH AD, 1965

WHEEL, a product of Philippine Refining Co.,(PRC), was one of the leading detergent bars of the 1960s, a precursor of ‘SUPERWHEEL’, which would turn out to be even bigger. In 1965, a new campaign was rolled out, that touched on the capacity of one slow-melting detergent bar to handle bigger washloads—making WHEEL, in effect, cost-efficient, economical, giving value for money unlike any other.

The thematic campaign ‘A Little Wheel Does a Lot of Washing’ was developed by J. Walter Thompson, Phils., and to make the promise come alive, the agency employed large Filipino families—obviously with loads and loads of laundry to wash--- to provide testimonials to WHEEL’s ability to handle large volumes of dirty clothes.

Leading off the print ad series were members of the DELA ROSA FAMILY., 10 children in all: Front Row: Raffy, Bobby, Charito, Monina, Eddie and Cheque. Back Row: Menchu, Maricel, Mike, Ginger. “WHEEL  melts slowly”, Mrs.  Dela Rosa notes.”With a large family like mine, this is important.”

The family of ATTY. AND MRS. BARTOLOME RIVERA includes  brood of 10:  Renato (22), Mario (20), Rebecca (18), Reynaldo (16), Antonio (14), Leonor (12), Jessica (10), Bartolome III (8), Josephine (6), Nerissa (4). “WHEEL melts so slowly…”, Mrs. Rivera gushes, “see now how it is so economical!”

The family of MR. AND MRS. BENJAMIN PEREZ consists of 9 children: Cherrie (7),  Fancy (14, twin), Benjie (15), Jeannette (19), Mina (23), Lilian (17), Edwin (12), Glenn (3), Ruby (14, twin). Mrs. Rosario Perez says: “Just a little WHEEL is enough to wash all our white clothes whiter . all our colored clothes cleaner!”

The family of DR. AND MRS. GREGORIO CANCIO counts 9 kids: Marie Ched (3), Jose Marie (4), Margaret (1), Imelda (8), Greg (14), Salvador (12), Marie (10), Louies (9), Manny (6). Mrs.  Imelda Borromeo-Cancio enthuses: “Economical WHEEL keeps my family looking neat and clean, all days of the week!”.

This must have been a convincing campaign as by the mid to late 60s, most large families do their washing the economical way—with WHEEL!

400. SHOWER TO SHOWER by Johnson & Johnson, Launch Ads 1980

WEAR FRESHNESS THIS SUMMER! Shower to Shower Omnibus Ad, 1980

For more than 100 years, since 1893, health product giant Johnson and Johnson has dominated the profitable talcum powder market beginning with Johnson’s Baby Powder.  Few products have developed the longevity of use that baby powder has his product became a global icon brand and soon, J&J began expanding to other talcum brands that were not just meant for babies’ bottom.

 In 1972, J&J launched a deorodizing talcum brand meant to be used after showering called SHOWER TO SHOWER. One of its most popular 70s campaign theme in the U.S. was the jingle-based “A sprinkle a day, helps keep the odor away”.

Eight years later, the product was launched in the Philippine market by J&J Phils., and, together with  its ad agency, developed a short-lived SHOWER TO SHOWER campaign, that, nevertheless surprised its audience. 

 The“Wear Freshness this Summer” campaign featured half-naked models in all shapes and sizes, wearing nothing but a long, and strategically placed towel, presumably after a shower. One of the models in the omnibus ad was even Ace Compton’s very own producer, Dulce Aristorenas. For the next few years, SHOWER TO SHOWER, with ots catchy jingle, help people to stay dry, to feel fresh, and to be pampered.

J &J held on to SHOWER TO SHOWER for fifty years before it was sold to Valeant Pharmaceuticals in 2012.

In recent years, however, health issues about talcum powder have risen sharply. A commonplace practice for decades, women have used talcum powder and talc-based products in their genital area which indicates the correlation to the deadly cancer. 

SHOWER TO SHOWER is still being sold in Asia—the Philippines included—today. But in May of 2020, Johnson & Johnson quietly announced that it would stop selling all talc-based products—including SHOWER TO SHOWER—in the United States. 

399. 1987 Creative Guild’s Radio Ad of the Year: PEPSODENT “Brush-Your-Teeth Crusade”

The PEPSODENT momentum carried over into the following year. After successfully hitting families with the mini-pack, PRC wanted to impress the kids and Socky Pitargue (JWT Creative Director) and company decided on a public service campaign that could pit the new toothpaste against market giant Colgate. The winning ad and the campaign were christened “The Brush-Your-Teeth Crusade”, and the idea, Pitargue says , was all about “writing a set of instructions that would be easy to remember.

Butch uy write the lengthy commercial, what he called “ang kwento ng Pepsodent,” in Pilipino, and had a gentle-voiced teacher/mommy character taking youngsters on a guided tour of their oral cavites, taking them left, right (‘kaliwa’t kanan”), up down (“taas-baba”) and around (“pa-ikot-ikot”). Uy didn’t forget to take side trips to the back of the teeth and the gums as well.

The commercial ended with a proper “Mumog-mumog, whoooosshh!” and was soon being memorized and recited by kids in public schools all over the country.

 SOURCE:  This article originally appeared on: Perfect 10, A Decade of Creativity in Philippine Advertising, pubished by the Exeutive Committee of the Creative Guild of the Philippines, First Edition 1995.  pp.72-73