413. Romancing the Readers: MILLS & BOON BOOKS, 1980

MILLS & BOON, Philippine Ad, 1980

In the 1980s, starry-eyed bookworms fell in love with MILLS & BOON Romance Books, that led them to raid bookshops to buy these escapist works of  fiction, mostly directed at women. The romance novels were published by Gerald Rusgrove Mills and Charles Boon in 1908, until the Boon family sold their company to Harlequin Enterprises of Canada in 1971, a successful licensed seller of  MILLS & BOON titles in North America.

Various MILLS & BOON 1970s-80s titles, Source: Gumtree

In 1976, an Australian office was established in Sydney to handle sales in the Asia-Pacific region. A large chunk of the MILLS & BOON sales in Asia and Oceania  came from the Philippines—along with India,  Australia, and New Zealand. The books became readily available in the country by the late 1970s, and became very much in demand, pushed by magazine advertising, which announced title releases regularly.

MILLS & BOON books were exclusively distributed in the Philippines by Philippine Book Distributors with offices in Pasig. These were distributed to large bookstore chains like National Book Store, Alemar’s, Merriam-Webster, PECO etc. The books were priced at Php 7.95 each, while gift packs of 4 books, cost Php 31.95  in 1980.

MILLS & BOON, Local Ad, 1980

Scores of MILLS & BOON novels were  released each month, covering a wide range of possible romantic subgenres. Some of the popular 80s titles include: "Mackenzie's Mountain" (by Linda Howard), "Leftover Love" (by Janet Dailey), "Savage Surrender", "Abduction" (by Charlotte Lamb), "Pagan Lover" (by Anne Hampson) and "The Tempestuous", "Burning Obsession" (by Carole Mortimer).

MILLS & BOON March Releases, 1981

The books continued to be very popular all through the ‘80s decade, inspiring Filipino entrepreneurs to cash in on this large romance book market. Benjie Ocampo, the proprietor of Books for Pleasure, Inc., which carried MILLS & BOON books,  started a line of books called Valentine Romances, printed in the vernacular. The books, when launched, enjoyed a strong patronage, peaking with 10,000 units sold in a span of 3 months.

In 1992, the Precious Pages Corp. was started by Segundo D. Matias Jr. and Richard Reynante, who worked in TV entertainment and advertising field. Knowing the tastes of Filipinos in entertainment, they launched the Precious Heart Romance books in Tagalog language, and met with unprecedented success that grew exponentially in  the next 5 years. 

MILLS & BOON local Ad, 1980

The enterprising duo bought their own printing machines, created a talent pool of the best Filipino writers, and cornered the OFW market with their more affordable books. In time, Precious Hearts Romance became  the bestselling Tagalog romance pocketbook in the country, and even inspired a TV drama series based on the PHR stories.

There was a major shift in readership preference with the cheaper, Tagalog-language romance novels, thus MILLS & BOON was eased out of its early dominance of the romantic fiction market. It is no surprise then that today, Precious Pages Corp. has entered an agreement to translate select Harlequin Mills & Boon titles into Tagalog, which are sold online under Precious Hearts Romances Pocketbooks.

 SOURCES:

Mills & Boon Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mills_%26_Boon

Mills & Boon UK: https://www.millsandboon.co.uk/

Best 1980s Mills & Boon Romance: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/151274.Best_1980s_Mills_Boon_Romance

Precious Hearts Romance website: http://phr.com.ph/about-us/

412. Piliin At Gamitin Ang Sariling Atin (PAGASA) “Buy Filipino” Ads, 1974

DIPLOMAT, SECRETARY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS CARLOS P. ROMULO

Two years into Martial Law, a nationalistic campaign launched by the government-controlled Department of Public Information and the Mabuhay ang Pilipino Movement. The movement was launched on 20 On November 1972, which summoned the energy of Filipinos anew to the cause of democratic revolution.

WORLD BOXING CHAMPIONS, BEN VILLAFLOR & FLASH ELORDE

The PAGASA battlecry encouraged Filipinos to patronize and buy Philippine-made products, and as such, the communication program was supported by Filipino-owned enterprises like Destileria Limtuaco, CFC Corporation, Cosmos Bottling, La Tondeña, La Suerte Cigars, M.Y. San, Rustan’s and Philippine Rabbit Bus Co.

WORLD FAMOUS BAYANIHAN DANCE TROUPE

A series of print ads were meant to instill a sense of pride for the accomplishment of a number of Filipinos from different fields: government, entertainment, performance arts, sports, and even pageantry.

PILITA CORRALES, WORLD-CLASS SINGER

On this spread is the PAGASA Print Ad series, that flouted the proposition: "Pilipino…Maipagmamalaki Kahit Saan” (Filipino…A Source of Pride, Everywhere”. The campaign came alive with carefully-selected personalities and their global acclaims.

MISSES UNIVERSE GLORIA DIAZ & MARGARITA MORAN

411. CHEEZ WHIZ by Kraft Foods: Spreading Cheese, Spreading Smiles, since 1967.

TASTE THE CHEEZ WHIZ DIFFERENCE, 1968

Kraft Foods Inc. (founded in 1923) introduced CHEEZ WHIZ as one of its first products way back in 1967. It was an easy, quick, and convenient way to make cheese sandwiches as the processed cheese spread so easily!

Processed cheese foods actually contain regular cheese that has been reprocessed along with additional ingredients such as emulsifiers and stabilizing agents, such as xanthan gum or carrageenan, and owes its tangy flavor from additional ingredients. Annatto is used for coloring. Credit goes to food scientist Edwin Traisman (1915–2007) and his team which developed the product and which Kraft launched in several U.S. states in late 1952.

SPREAD SMILES, Cheez Whiz Ad, 1975

It took 15 years for CHEEZ WHIZ to be made available in the Philippines, but once it was launched, it became a much loved cheese spread—the only one in the country—and steadily built a loyal patronage among cheese snack lovers. 

The orange-yellow creamy cheese was packaged in reusable glass bottles, and  found other various usages in Filipino households. CHEEZ WHIZ was used as sauce for macaroni and spaghetti, for hotdog bun sandwiches and as taco and corn chip dips.

TASTES LIKE NO OTHER, CHEEZ WHIZ Ad, 1981

CHEEZ WHIZ was a constant presence in supermarkets and groceries, and was a staple in a mother’s shopping list. Which is why probably, advertising was sporadic through the decades; it had a dedicated following that the brand needed only a bit of marketing push. It even introduced a variant, CHEEZ WHIZ Pimiento, which contains real pimiento (cherry pepper) bits.

TESSIE TOMAS for CHEEZ WHIZ, Print Ad 1993

In 2012, Kraft Foods Inc. was renamed Mondelez International ( a coined term combining the Latin “mundus”, or world + “delez”, a word derived from “delicious”) . It continuous to be a global company engaged in confectionary, food, beverage and snack business.

 WATCH CHEEZ WHIZ TVC 15  'Hidylin" Here:

Source: DRPS One - PH TV Ad Archive Channel

CHEEZ WHIZ in the Philippines has become more active in the Philippines today, wit regular TV and online advertising, as the product is also available from online shopping platforms. Its current selling message is hinged on the promise of “building strength” through nutritious breakfasts, employing Olympic weightlifting gold medalist. Hidylin Diaz as its brand endorser.

SOURCES:

Cheez Whiz FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/CheezWhizPH/

Cheez Whiz-wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheez_Whiz

Mondelez website: https://www.mondelezinternational.com/

 Cheez Whiz TVC 2022 15s with Hidilyn Diaz (Philippines), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Qq7CZdY2fs, Uploaded by DRPS One - PH TV Ad Archive Channel