521. HELENE CURTIS SUAVE presents: "The Creation Series" 1961

“POUFF PARISIENNE” by Panching Servando of Ben Farrales Glamour House. The August creation puts a twist on the French pouff by flattening the hair on the sides and back exposing the ears. The model is Ines Villareal-Regala.

One of the earliest haircare brands to forge a strategic alliance with beauty institutions and the leading hairdressers in the country was HELENE CURTIS, In the early 1960s the company began to build on the success of its SUAVE brand, introducing shampoos, creme rinses, and wave sets. To promote it, SUAVE was promoted by beauty salon operators and the country’s leading hairstylists, in tie-up ads that bannered new hairstyles and the latest coiffure craze for them month, through a “creation series” launched in 1961 through 1962. The following 2-color ads which featured name models, were part of the series that ran in women’s magazines nationwide.

“PAPILLON” by Beny Baluyot of Beny’s Beauty Salon. A new creation for February that flaunts soft-looking hair for a chic, casual style that women will love.

“BOB PARISIENNE” by the Kayumanggi Styling Group, This shimmering hairstyle creation for December with lovely highlights features model Mrs. Caroline Manning. 

“THE BELL” by Moises Sia of Del Val’s Beauty Salon. Classically-designed  hair highlighted by sparkling gleams created by Suave for a radiant effect, without looking oily.

SUAVE, introduced in 1937 by Helene Curtis, is one of the most successful and enduring brand of the company and is still available to this day. Now with Unilever, SUAVE as a brand represents more than 100 products including shampoo, lotions, soaps and deodorant, used in United States, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and Canada.

SOURCES:

Suave (the brand), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suave_(brand)

Helene Curtis Industries Inc. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helene_Curtis_Industries,_Inc.

520. Is that Who I Think He Is? ANTHONY ALONZO for LITTON DENIMS, 1983

Once, in the 1950s-thru the 70s, the Philippines was a major manufacturer of fabric in the Asian region, thanks to LITTON & Co. Inc., producers of the well-known LITTON brand of fabrics. The business was started by Englishman George Litton Sr., who came to the Philippines and married a local girl, Rosa Tulod. His fabric business survived the war and became a success in the 50s, helping develop the country’s fabric industry, By the 60s decades, over 20 textile mills were operating in Mandaluyong and Pasig area, with LITTON having the largest and most complete factory built for Php 40 million.  

The Denim craze in the 70s and 80s drove the demand for denims to great heights, and LITTON denims were in full color, in major magazines and newspapers. LITTON’s choice as celebrity endorser surprised many as he was over 30 years old then, quite mature, while other brands employed younger models.

Still, LITTON opted to use the action-sexy film star ANTHONY ALONZO, as he was perhaps, the most visible actor around, with some 30 films under his belt, shot from 1980 to 1985 alone. This meant that Alonzo had quite a major exposure on the silver screen, as well as on videos. In fact, within this 5-year period, he won the 1982 FAMAS Best Actor Award for Bambang and , he triumphed as Best Actor twice at the Manila Filmfest for Bago Kumalat ang Kamandag (1983) and Moises Padilla Story: The Missing Chapter (1985). He would win again in 1987 for Anak ng Badjao, making him the second most awarded Best Actor in the filmfest, after Christopher de Leon.

Born as Antonio Viana Hernandez (2 Apr. 1948) in Quezon City, Anthony is known as  the brother of actress Alicia Alonzo, who herself is still appearing in Filipino films and soap operas. He was already 26 when he appeared in his first movie, Muntinlupa 1950. But he made up for it by becoming the Philippines’ busiest actor from the 1980s thru the 1990s decade. Some of his well-known roles were in the movies Hindi Sa Iyo ang Mundo, Baby Porcuna (1978), Dakpin si Junior Bombay (1979), Dakpin si Pusa, Totoy Scarface (1981), Ang Paghihiganti ni David Burdado (1983), Jabidah Massacre (1990), Relaks Lang, Sagot Kita (1994)-Warlito Gan, and his last movie, Masdan Mo ang Mga Bata (1997). Alonzo died of skin cancer on 9 Oct. 1998 at age 50.

As to LITTON & Co., the heirs—that includes the famous TV Host and Personality Johnny Litton, has shifted its business from clothing to shelter, still aligned to its mission of helping make life better, all for the benefit of many.

SOURCES:

Litton Company: https://littonandcompany.com/litton-legacy.php

Anthony Alonzo, Wikipedia,https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Alonzo

The Washington Post, List of People who fled with Marcos

Video 48, THE EIGHTIES # 504: ANTHONY ALONZO, ROBERTO GONZALEZ, et.al. "ANG PAGHIHIGANTI NI DAVID BURDADO" (1983), https://video48.blogspot.com/2021/03/the-eighties-504-anthony-alonzo-roberto.html

519. KLIM Powdered Whole Milk by Borden, 1935-1967 Print Ads

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 19^th c. Early ads featured the slogan "Spell it backwards”.

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.

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.

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!”.

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.

518. GOYA CHOCOLATE PRODUCTS, Print Ads, 1967-69

GOYA OMNIBUS CHOCOLATE DRINKS, 1968

One of the more popular brands of made-in-the-Philippines chocolate products is GOYA, a joint venture started in 1956 by the enterprising  Chua and Vilabrille families, under the company name GOYA Products, Inc. The first products were actually coffee and cocoa powder mixes.  The cocoa line proved to be more viable, so GOYA expanded to making instant chocolate mixes and chocolate-flavored beverages. Eventually, GOYA would extend its line to include chocolate bars and confections that proved to be successful, favored for its affordable price and chocolatey goodness.

FROM COCOA DRINKS..TO MILK CHOCOLATE TREATS, 1967

This led to Nestlé acquiring the local company in 1996, and was promoted actively through seasonals and regular advertising. Eight years later, in 2006, Petra Foods, a Singaporean food company —now known as Delfi Limited--- bought GOYA from Nestle, which continues to oversee its manufacture and marketing promotions in the Philippines, as well as in other Asian regions.

GOYA has had several relaunches, and is positioned to cater to the medium-end and lower-end brackets. But GOYA also has premium variety, a flanker product that is also part of the portfolio, and still affordably-priced.  

GOYA ALMOND CRUNCH with a Toblerone-type packaging,1969

From the plain cube-sized chocolates, GOYA now produces dark chocolates, dark mint chocolates, white chocolates, almonds dipped in chocolates, crunchy bite-size chocolates and even choco-covered biscuits. GOYA is into spreads, syrups and baking ingredients too—so long as it’s got chocolates.

The chocolate products are manufactured in a 3-hectare plant in Marikina City that has been globally-certified for its quality and taste. The iconic GOYA is now a heritage brand favored, recognized, and much-loved by generations of Filipino chocolate lovers. The GOYA brand continues to endure, providing chocolate enjoyment to Filipinos young and old alike, that is envisioned by Delfi Ltd. to prosper and grow even morem in the years to come.

517. Brand Stories: PAPA CATSUP, Nothing Like the “Father” of All Banana Catsups, 1954

Heroine Maria Orosa, a food scientist,  is credited with inventing the more affordable banana catsup, but it took Magdalo Francisco to develop it into a successful commercial enterprise with his “Mafran” banana catsup brand in 1942. In 1954, another catsup brand was introduced by Neri Papa—PAPA Banana Catsup, under his Papa Food Products Corp.

 PAPA Banana Catsup was developed using a steaming process that conserved vitamins, blended with native spices that included Philippine labuyo. The new condiment became a national favorite for over 2 decades,  eclipsing Mafran and Jufran, moreso when it was promoted as the catsup “chosen to match the famous” MAX’s Fried Chicken”. This was probably one of the early examples of marketing cross-promotion

But by the 1980s, the condiment market had changed dramatically with the rise of major players like the Universal Food Corp. (UFC) that was established in 1960 by the combined forces of the Franciscos and their financiers, Datu-Reyeses (founder of the Datu Puti food business).

One of their flagship brands was UFC Tamis Anghang Banana Catsup, launched in 1969. In early 1980s, Francisco left the company and assigned the PAPA brand and trademark to Hernan Datu Reyes, who registered the mark in 1983 for use on banana catsup, chili sauce, achara, banana chips, and other local products. In 2002, Barrio Fiesta Mfg. Corp. attempted to use the mark “Papa Boy & Device” for its products, but was sued by UFC Corp.

Barrio Fiesta lost but won the case in an appeal. The case was elevated to the Supreme Court which upheld an earlier decision of the Intellectual Property Office, thus finally rejecting Barrio Fiesta’s use of “Papa Boy & Device” for its products.

Eventually, the PAPA brand would be acquired by and assigned major companies in succession: Acres & Acres Food, Inc., Southeast Asia Food, Inc., Heinz-UFC Philippines, Inc.. Today, UFC and all its brands have all been consolidated by the giant food conglomerate , Nutri-Asia.  

Hernan Datu-Reyes established the HDR Foods Corp. with pioneering products under the Mother’s Best brand, including the top-selling Mother's Best Hot Sauce (chili),  Barbecue Marinade, Toyomansi, and Patismansi, all  original Filipino inventions of the owner.  

516. CAMEL CIGARETTES, "The Taste That’s a Legend", 1984 Ads

CAMEL CIGARETTES as a cigarette brand is over a century old, developed by Richard Joshua "R. J." Reynolds, founder of the company that still bears his name way back in 1913. The cigarettes were originally blended to have a milder taste than other brands. He named his packaged cigarettes ”CAMEL” because its main ingredient was Turkish tobacco.

The widely promoted  cigarettes was advertised with the slogan  "I'd walk a mile for a Camel!", that was so popular, it was used for decades. In the Philippines, Fortune Tobacco Corp., founded by business tycoon Lucio Tan in 1965, and the producer of the hugely successful local brands Champion, Fortune and Hope Cigarettes, expanded their portfolio with the inclusion of foreign brands that included Winston, Salem and CAMEL.

The CAMEL product advertising adapted by the local agency, J. Romero & Associates, were all American-conceived materials. In 1984, the campaign “The Taste That’s a Legend” was launched, using U.S. color print ads that showed up on glossy magazine covers, shown on this page. The ads featured a man going on a solo trip on an Amazon River-like setting, that is bound to be, indeed, a legendary adventure!

515. CONTINENTAL NOODLE SOUP: The 1st Instant Noodle Soup in Packs, ca. 1950s-60, Print Ads

Before the advent of instant noodle soups in packs like Lucky Me, Maggi, Payless and Nissin’s, a noodle brand in foil packs has been satisfying Filipinos since the late 1950s: CONTINENTAL NOODLE SOUP, developed by Lipton, and distributed locally by the Philippine Refining Company (now Unilever).

When first sold, the brand was simply called Continental Noodle Soup, a dehydrated soup mix that cooked in 7 minutes. The first flavor was the classic Chicken Noodle Soup, made from noodles and chicken flavorings—a far cry from today’s noodles that cook in 2 minutes, available in a range of flavors from your basic chicken and beef to pancit canton, lomi, mami, even Thai and Korean spicy flavors.

Lipton's entry into the soup market is believed to have begun in the early 1950s with test campaigns for Continental Noodle Soup mix. The company also produced other dehydrated soup varieties, including onion soup mix, by the mid-1940s

At 45 centavos per pack, Continental Noodle Soups were expensive, but the copy claims that a pack is good for 4 servings. A sick child was usually served this soup treat, as chicken soup then, as now, a  it was sastisfying, warming, and comforting.

The first advertising were black and white print ads with clip art illustrations. By 1960, the ads, designed by PRC’s ad agency, were hand-illustrated and in full color. In 1964, Continental Noodle Soup was re-branded to the shorter ROYCO Noodle Soup (a coined term for ROYal + COntinental), and this brand name was used in other Asian and African countries. 

The new ROYCO name caught on with Filipino consumers and became a familiar household brand, until the late 70s when the more convenient plastic-packed oriental noodles were launched, displacing ROYCO.