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| 1965 KLIM AD "Best Milk for Baby" |
KLIM Powdered Milk is one of the oldest
milk brands available in the Philippines, but the product version sold
here was made by Borden Co., a well-known U.S.-based dairy company that
had its beginning in the 19th c. Early ads featured the slogan "Spell
it backwards”.
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| EARLY 1935 PHILIPPINE KLIM AD |
The
brand KLIM had an even earlier history though, that
began in 1920, when the Merrell-Soule
Company of Syracuse, New York improved the spray-drying method
patented by Robert Stauf in 1901, a process that dried milk into powder. Merrell-Soule replaced regular milk
with condensed milk, resulting in a dehydrated whole-milk powder that kept not
only its nutrients, but also did not spoil quickly.
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| WORLD CHAMPION BOXER 'FLASH" ELORDE FOR KLIM,1957 |
KLIM Powdered Milk was sold in cans, and
just a few spoonfuls mixed with water can give babies and kids the pure
wholesome goodness and flavor of real cow’s milk. As KLIM can stay fresh
without refrigeration, it was perfect for use in humid, tropical places. Hence,
KLIM was brought to the Philippines as early as the 1930s,
imported and distributed by the Getz Brothers.
KLIM achieved success in the Philippines,
and its advertising played up on its completeness, value for money, and the
convenience of no refrigeration. In the 1960s, NAMARCO-branded KLIM products
were launched in support of the National Marketing Corp. which aimed to
help Filipino retailers procure products at reasonable prices and promote
economic welfare.
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| 1966-67 KLIM AD |
Over the
years
KLIM used tri-media advertising to push the product, using
celebrity endorsers that included world champion boxer
Gabriel “Flash”
Elorde in the late 50s and a young
Lea Salonga in the early 80s who
popularized the jingle
“I love KLIM…wow-..woww..woww.wow..I
Love Klim!”.
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| 1966-1967 KLIM AS |
In 1998,
Nestle acquired KLIM from Borden, which filed for
bankruptcy in 2020. That same year, New Dairy Opco LLC won Borden's
assets via an auction, becoming the company's new owner. KLIM Powdered Whole Milk is still being
manufactured by Nestlé to this day, assuring us that this iconic brand will
endure for more generations to come.
