509. Procter & Gamble PMC's TIDE, "Tide Clean" Campaign, 1961

In 1961, TIDE embarked on a local campaign that was based on a formulaic P&G advertising strategy principle of re-setting the bar of laundry cleanliness, using “Tide Clean” as the new standard. This benefit is expressed in the selling line: “The cleanest clean is TIDE Clean”.

The campaign also featured a tried-and-tested “product demo”,  P& G copy jargon that visualizes the product superiority through a demonstration of its cleaning power—statically shown as a series of captioned inset pictures , so typical of their advertising in the 60s and 70s. 

A sub-text of “affordable cost” is embedded in the execution expressed thru an additional copy intended to reassure : “…and costs so little to use!”. P&G was often fond of cramming their advertising with many sub-messages and their agencies were challenged to think of ways to include these seamlessly in crafting the copy (think Mr. Clean’s “labadami, labango, labanayad’  Dari Crème’s “pinipili ng mapiling ina…at anak!).

To top it all—just to make sure the message is not lost on the mass market,  the TIDE Clean campaign, used all sorts of talents to represent a father, a mother, their kids, friends and a token grandparent, who appeared in their own individual colored print ad. 

Truly, this TIDE print campaign can be held up in a basic marketing class as a perfect example of P&G’s formula advertising, ticking all the boxes of how their product advertising should be done—this, from a company which “invented” brand management.

499. Choosy Moms with Choosy Kids Choose DARI CREME, 1984

"CHOOSY MOMS, CHOOSY KIDS", DARI CREME Print Ad, 1984 

Procter & Gamble prides itself as having started “brand management” in product marketing, and the pedigree of success across of its advertising across all brands proves that. The company even employed advertising “copy experts” who patrolled their international network for possible advertising approaches that can be adapted and applied to their other brands in need of promotions.

Such was the case of DARI CRÈME advertising, which was in need of revamping in the late 70s.  Launched in 1959, DARI CRÈME was one of the first products of Procter & Gamble PMC (now P&G Phils., Inc.). It was the first locally manufactured refrigerated margarine and was introduced as a local alternative to imported butter. All throughout the 1960s, DARI CRÈME consistently led the butter and margarine market, preferred for its more buttery taste, availability and price. 

P&G's "Adapt & Apply" practice resulted in a borrowed slogan for DARI CREME ad campaign.

In the late 1970s thru the early 80s, efforts were made to refresh DARI CRÈME advertising in the face of a growing competition that would come to include new Magnolia Butter and Buttercup. The inspiration for a new DARI CRÈME thematic campaign came from a Procter & Gamble product from the U.S.—JIF Peanut Butter. JIF’s success owes much to its advertising with a slogan “Choosy Mothers Choose JIF”, coined by its creative agency, Grey Advertising, in 1966. The campaign catapulted JIF past erstwhile leader Skippy to market leadership around the time of the peanut butter crisis of 1980.

The idea of having “discriminating or choosy mothers” when it comes to food for their children,  resonated with Filipino mothers—hence Ace-Compton, the local agency of DARI CRÈME localized the theme into “Pinipili ng mapiling ina”, that became the crux of the product TV ad series. The TVCs featured a mother showing another mother the difference the taste difference between DARI CRÈME and another unnamed brand, when slathered on a piece of bibingka, on a puto, ensyamada, etc.. The new campaign secured DARI CRÈME’s dominant position in the marketplace, and the commercials became very popular on TV.

 WATCH DARI CREME's "CHOOSY MOMS" TVC HERE

The campaign went a step further when a DARI CRÈME usage campaign was launched in 1984, but the slogan was not only converted into English, but was also extended to include discriminating kids. Hence, “Choosy moms with choosy kids choose DARI CRÈME” (Pinipili ng mapiling ina…at anak!). The campaign ran for many years, despite it being—well—a mouthful. But P&G didn’t mind, as the message came across well, and business resumed its brisk pace.

In a twist of irony, a decade after the “choosy moms” campaign, Magnolia Inc. (then known as Philippine Dairy Products Corp.) acquired DARI CRÈME from Procter & Gamble Philippines, ensuring the continuity of the much-loved, iconic brand—and even the “pinipili” slogan, that is still in use to this day.  

SOURCES:

Magnolia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnolia_(Philippine_company)

JIF Peanut Butter: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/364858362_Choosy_Mothers_Choose

DARI CREME TV Commercial, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__Zd7ODZbXo, youtubevideo uploaded 2016, by Albert Marc Justine Carreon, 

432. Pilipino Advertising Klasiks (PILAK): CAMAY SOAP, “Ang Barko, Pres. Roosevelt” TVC, 1967

In 2002, the Association of Accredited Advertising Agencies of the Philippines (4 A’s) chose 25 Best Ads out of 100 nominees. The nominees were culled from hundreds of commercials spanning 5 decades, and these went  through the gruelling scrutiny of 3 generations of creative minds and advertising practitioners, sieved through their stringent standards and critical sensibilities. The 100 nominees were later pruned to 40. 

CAMAY "Pres. Roosevelt", one of 25 PILAK Awardees

The final 25 merited the distinction of being called “PILAK: Pilipino Advertising Klasiks”. One of the 25 is the CAMAY SOAP commercial of Procter & Gamble PMC, produced by Ace Compton Advertising Inc. It created quite a stir in 1967 as the first commercial to be shot on board the  SS President Roosevelt American President Luxury Liner. The commercial was also unusually long (over a minute!), with a cast of mostly foreign talents—except the lead, Camay Girl TINA ARTILLAGA, one of the country’s top-ranked fashion models.

 WATCH THE 1967 CAMAY "Pres. Roosevelt Lines" TVC Here:

“Ang barko….President Roosevelt. Ang dilag…kahali-halina..”

Thus began the commercial where the creamy-complexioned Tina walks past male passengers on the ship, entrancing them with her “malinis, mala-kremang kutis”—repeated several times for emphasis! “Ang lahat ay napapalingon…” (everyone wants to take a look..) became a memorable line from the TVC , and was retained in future CAMAY commercials.

THE COUNTERPART PRINT AD OF CAMAY "Pres. Roosevelt" Campaign

Inexplicably, the print ad counterpart featured another model, but published in the same year. It had the feel as the commercial and even bears the logo of the American President Lines to lend further credence to the ad. 

TOP MODEL TINA ARTILLAGA AT HER PEAK

Camay Girl TINA ARTILLAGA modelled for Pitoy Moreno in his fashions shows abroad. In 1968, she travelled to Europe and walked the runways in Moreno’s creations, along with Maita Gomez, Cherrie Pie Villonco, Pearrie Arcache, Jean Margaret Lim, and Joji Felix Velarde. That same year, she joined Bb. Pilipinas and placed 4^th to winner Charina Zaragoza. She did a couple of movies in the mid 1970s like “Alas 5:00 ng Hapon, Gising Na Ang ga Angel”, “Hoy Mister, Ako ang Mrs. Mo”, “Sekretaryang Walang Silya” (1976) ,and  “Ako si Emma, Babae”, (1977)

 CREDITS:

AGENCY: ACE COMPTON ADVERTISING, INC

CREATIVE DIRECTOR: CONNIE REID / COPYWRITER: KEITH GAMBOA

DIRECTOR: TONY SMITH / PRODUCTION HOUSE: A.D. SMITH PRODUCTIONS

Many thanks to 4A's for the use of their youtube channel where many of these TV features were sourced.

310. The “BLINDFOLD TEST” Campaign of CAMAY Soap, early 1980s

 

CAMAY BLINDFOLD, "Gigi", Print Ad. ca. 1981

Beginning in 1980, CAMAY, Procter & Gamble’s leading  beauty soap launched a more hard-sell campaign to ward off its perennial arch-rival, PRC’s LUX. LUX had all the glamorous stars at its disposal as it was globally positioned as “the soap of movie stars”.  CAMAY felt that perhaps, the soap would appeal to  women on a more rational level, so sometime in the 1980s, it launched a “blindfold ” tactical campaign to test its new mildness.

The “blindfold challenge” was a format used before by CAMAY in the U.K. when it launched its new scent—Camay Wildflower. A blindfolded woman was asked to figure out the scent by smelling  a perfume bottle int which a soap has been inserted. Once she identified the “perfume scent”, her blindfold is removed and her cheeks are lathered with CAMAY soap.

The format was borrowed and was used to challenge a relatively unknown Filipina to test the gentleness of her beauty soap against CAMAY. She lathers one side of her cheek with her current soap, the other cheek with CAMAY. At the end, she is asked to choose which side felt smoother  and more “banayad” on the skin. Invariably, the CAMAY side always won.

A parade of newfound girls were recruited to do the “blindfold test” commercials, to draw in more mass appeal. They were not as well-known as previous talents, but still were referred to as CAMAY girls. Some of the models included the fashion model Gina Leviste, a band singer named Esperanza Tatlonghari (aka Zsa-Zsa Padilla), Angeli Pangilinan, member of the band Music and Magic (future talent management agency owner and wife of Gary Valenciano). A  few memorable lines came out if these popular ads-- as a result of the models’ discovery of Camay’s superiority over their current soap brands.  Upon removing her blindfold, for examples, a surprised Angeli squealed—“Hah? CAMAY? Akin na lang twooooohhhh!”

CREDITS: AGENCY: Ace Compton Advertising / CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Gryk Ortaleza / COPYWRITERS: Menchu Arrogante, Mimit Zialcita / CASTER: Baby Dumaup, Myra Mendoza / PRODUCER: Dante Datu / ADVERTISER: Procter & Gamble Philippines

293. PEPSI-COLA’s “Have A PEPSI DAY” Campaign, 1977-79

PEPSI-COLA's’ answer to the huge global success of its rival’s “COKE Adds Life!” campaign was the “Taste the PEPSI Way---and HAVE A PEPSI DAY” thematic campaign. 

 It harkens back to the PEPSI GENERATION that was conceived by advertising man and marketer Allan Pottasch (b.1927-d. 2007) who was first to observe the  youthful, carefree and optimistic culture emerging from the post-World War II baby boom. He thus coined a term to describe these up-and-coming power consumers: the PEPSI GENERATION, with a campaign launched in 1963

Over the next decades, advertising was focused on this Pepsi generation—and HAVE A PEPSI DAY was a continuing effort to engage these baby boomers to include Pepsi in their life. Launched in the U.S. in 1976, the campaign was rolled out in the Philippines the next year, using the internationally-famous jingle, but using local talents and situations.

 Launched in the U.S. in 1976, the campaign was rolled out in the Philippines the next year, using the internationally-famous jingle, but using local talents and situations.

LISTEN TO THE "HAVE A PEPSI DAY" JINGLE HERE:

The challenge for Ace-Compton Advertising Inc., the Makati ad agency tasked with localizing the campaign. The choice of “daily events” thus became critical—it should be within the realm of a Filipino’s social experience,  that can be heighten by the presence of PEPSI—leading to a “brand new moment” that will leave you “alive and feeling free”. 

 Hence, such situations as a tennis match, a trip to the zoo, a kalesa ride—becomes a celebration with PEPSI.

The campaign also had Celebrity versions, featuring top celebrities of the day  like superstar Nora Aunor, and her love team partner Tirso Cruz III. The Aunor TVC commercial had her defining her own PEPSI DAY---a free day without a film shooting, just bumming around, a day all to herself, with just  a bottle of PEPSI for a refreshing change.

HAVE A PEPSI DAY was a popular campaign, but “Coke Adds Life” was hard to beat. The jingle was more catchy, and the commercials featured the younger teen set that were cuter, funnier, more spontaneous in their ways. In the MTV years, Coke commercials were hipper, and more “with the times”.  It didn’t help that in 1977, the PEPSI COLA account was moved from Ace-Compton to J. Walter Thompson, major news that reverberated throughout the whole Philippine ad industry.  Coke regained its dominance, and the PEPSI DAYS were no more.

278. Creative Guild’s 1986 Print Ad of the Year, P&G Phils., IVORY “Purity”

IVORY "PURITY" PRINT AD,  1986 Creative Guild Print Ad of the Year

ISA MUNANG PATALASTAS CONTINUES  ITS  TRIBUTE TO MR. RAMON R. JIMENEZ JR. (14 Jul. 1955/d. 27 Apr. 2020),, or simply MONJ to his colleagues, whose passing at the age of 64 is mourned the Philippine advertising industry that he inspired. After his illustrious career, he was named as the Secretary of the Department of Tourism, promoting the country via his well-received and hugely successful campaign “It’s More Fun in the Philippines” . Before he left Ace-Saatchi & Saatchi in 1988 to join wife Abby in their agency, Jimenez &Partners, MonJ was a VP-Creative and Executive Creative Director at Ace-Saatchi & Saatchi. One of his blue chip P&G accounts was IVORY Soap. Here is the story behind the print ad he helped create with his concept team, and which went on to bag the 1986 Creative Guild of the Philippines Print Ad of the Year.

**********

In 1986, clients and agencies wth a prevailing fear of white space were thrown off their swivel chairs by what appeared (or, in this case, didn’t appear) in several major newspapers. The full page was prited in special white paper and bore the headline, “You are looking at IVORY PURITY”. The text was printed, in an appropriately delicate  type, and the visual was simply a blank space framed by thin black border.

Ivory Phil. Ad, 1930s

The ad, “Purity”, was Ace Compton’s second winner, and was made possible by the fact that “ we were feeling a lot braver,” says Jimmy Santago. The client was global manufacturing giant Procter & Gamble, a Compton client for some 38 years  at the time the revolutionary ad was run, and this was the company’s third attempt at launching IVORY SOAP. “After two failures, it was no longer that sensitive a product.” Recalls Santiago. “The market was tired of it.” Santiago credits the brilliance of "repositioning” with reviving public interest in IVORY and taking its Philippine sales figures to unprecedented new heights.

The first two times it was launched , IVORY had been marketetd first as a soap for teenagers, and then as a family bar. The provincial teen markets, accustomed to heavily perfumed toiletries, also didn’t take too well to IVORY’s non-existent scent. Plus, the agency had to reckon with Filipnos’ completely different—and for the product, potentially damaging –-concept of “purity” at that time. “Pure was understood to be harsh, or concentrated, like a detergent,” Santiago recalls. The description was giving everybody the wrong idea.”

The time came to launch IVORY anew as a baby soap and an exceptionally pure product. The creative team was likewise in a fix about presenting a baby soap wthout unleashing the babes. Baby-filled ads were already the specialty of main competitor Teneder Care—“and we certainly  didn’t want Tender Care to sell any more soap!”Santiago says.

All of Compton’s creative teams were thus invted to pitch ideas for the xciting new projects, and art directors instinctively began by doodling babies—until Santiago declared it was time to leave the babies to someone else. He suggested a blank piece of paper, whiter than standard ash-colored newsprint, whose dirty color simply wouldn’t get the message across. Art director Melvin Mangada, then a fresh college graduate, framed the page n the simple black border, and writer Isabel Gamboa provded the straightforward copy highlighted by the brand logo. “The PUREST SOAP there is,” the copy reads, key words were capitalized for effect, and readers looking down at the white expanse couldn’t help but agree that, yes, this was as spotless as you could possibly get.

BACK TO BABIES. Ivory Ad, late 1986

The ad was a complete surprise. It broke several rules, not the least of whch was the tried and tested procedure of sung a baby to sell a baby product. The absence of a cute face seemed like a sure step towards marketing disaster. Also, client Procter & Gamble was an advertiser traditionally averse to wasting space or departing from bestselling formulas. “Cases like these are exceptions,” Santiago says, because you’re out there to jolt the market. Procter & Gamble’s  General Manager was pleasantly jolted himself, enough to call the ad “brilliant” and refreshingly “discontinuous”.After a time, however, client “got worried,” Santiago recalls, and eventually succumbed to convention by running more baby ads. “But after ;etting us come up wth the ad we wanted, it was alright,” Santiago laughs—especially after “Purity” won a Clio citation.

CREDITS:

AGENCY: Acre Compton Advertising, Inc.

ADVERTISER: Procter & Gamble, Philippines

PRODUCT: Ivory Soap

CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Mon Jimenez Jr.

COPYWRITER: Isabel Gamboa

ART DIRECTOR: Malvin Mangada

275. TESSIE TOMAS, CREATIVE GUILD HALL OF FAME AWARDEE 1990

On the 18^th of May 1990, at the star-studded Ad of the Year Awards held at Hotel Nikko Manila, the Creative Guild of the Philippines paid tribute to its very own--TESSIE HERMOSA TOMAS—by according her a Hall of Fame award.

The former agency creative-turned-show biz star, Tessie Tomas (b.31  October 1950), was to showbiz born. Her mother, Laura Hermosa was a famous radio personality, a much sought talent who voiced classic radio serials as well as radio commercials during the fledgling age of Philippine advertising.

14 YEAR OLD TESSIE modeling for PALMOLIVE with mother LAURA HERMOSA

Tomas finished Broadcast Communications at the University of the Philippines and opted to follow a different path—advertising.  She cut her teeth at Ace-Compton Advertising and then moved to McCann –Erickson where the gifted copywriter wrote successful campaigns for blue-chip client Johnson & Johnson products (Remember Johnson’s Baby Powder--“Ikaw Lamang, Wala ng Iba” campaign).

Tomas rose quickly up the corporate ladder; she was sent to London and New York for further training, and upon her return, she was named as the creative head of McCann-Erickson, the first Filipina creative director.

TESSIE TOMAS, the first Filipina Creative Director of a multinational ad agency.

But her showbiz genes impelled her to foray in stand-up comedy even as she conceptualized campaigns and wrote product slogans. Tomas joined a comedy troupe that included Subas Herero and Noel Trinidad (himself, an ex-agency man) and started performing at a popular bistro in Magallanes,”The Windmill”. 

She introduced  whole brand of humor to a willing audience--more cerebral, less slapstick, comedy that made funny commentaries on our social state, from the perspective of unforgettable characters. Tomas took a jab at corrupt politicians, and celebrated the resilience of Filipinos. Suddenly, Tomas became the talk of the entertainment circuit!

CREATIVE GUILD OF THE PHILIPPINES CITATION

In early 1983, she did the unthinkable--she  resigned from her steady and stable corporate job and decided to plunge headlong into the dizzying, dazzling world of showbiz-- a world she was born in, and whose challenges she was now set to embrace.

Her first one-woman show—“Miss Margarida’s Way”—featured her as the demented, underpaid schoolmarm, which proved to be her first hit. Like a true creative, Tomas wrote most of her material, and created alter egos like social worker Charito Calubaquib, Boni Buendia “da bold star”, sex therapist Natassia Kinky, Saudi wife Mimay Timtiman, Japanese geisha Sakura Bitsu-Bitsu, Princess of Leyte Gulf Lady ‘Day, and Miriam Defensor Saanmanmagtago.

TESSIE TOMAS WITH CHAMPOY GANG, 1984

When she joined the hit comedy show “Champoy”, Tomas introduced the wacky umbrella-wielding weather girl “Amanda Pineda” who made dire observations about our social conditions under a repressive government, with her fearful forecasts for the nation, sugar-coated with her brand of seemingly-innocent humor and catchy punchlines.

TESSIE TOMAS as MELDITA

But her most famous perosna was “Meldita”, a deluded, larger-than-life  take on the First Lady. Each staging exposed Rizal Theater SRO crowds to the lurid madness that was Malacanang: from Meldita’s  stormy relationships with Macoy and rebel child Imee, her royal fantasies, her obsessive-compulsive drive to make the Philippines great again. But it was also a story about finding fulfillment and acceptance by all means and at all costs, which Meldita always sought but never gained.

HAKONE SARDINES AD,as Sakura Bitsu-Bitsu 1989

Tomas not only received accolades for her tour-de-force performance, but also death threats. But she couldn’t care less; it was her craft that spurred her on--her pioneering one-woman shows had given her the avenue.

It was just a matter of time that movie producers saw her talent. From the stage to the screen, Tomas proved to be an equally effective performer. Her first film was “Broken Marriage” in 1983.

TESSIE TOMAS MODELLING FOR CHIZ WHIZ, channeling Barbara Tengco, 1993

Then in 1987, she was cast in the international TV series “A Dangerous Life” based on the dying moments of the Marcos regime, where she bagged the coveted role of—who else?—Imelda Marcos. For this, she won an HBO Best Actress nomination.

She found another groove on television by becoming a TV host. For six years, Tomas hosted the popular morning talk show, “Teysi ng Tahanan”. At the same time, she was in the cast of the highly-acclaimed “Abangan ang Susunod na Kabanata” as the rich, but paranoidal  Barbara Tengco. Her other critically-received movies include “Separada” (she wrote the screenplay) “Ploning” and “100”.

THE MANY FACES OF TESSIE TOMAS

Happily married to marine biologist, British Roger Pullin, Tessie Tomas is also a mother of an artist, U.S.-based deigner Robin Tomas. After playing a supporting role in the ABS-CBN soap opera The Blood Sisters, Tomas and her husband moved to the Isle of Man where the family is now quietly and happily settled.

253. Procter & Gamble PMC: PERLA SOAP, Early Print Ads 1951-1957

Since its early beginnings in the first decade of the 20^th century, the business of Procter & Gamble PMC has been rooted in the production of vegetable shortening and detergent soap. When Philippine Manufacturing Co. (PMC) –then still wholly Filipino-owned—was incorporated in 1913, a new objective was set to manufacture and sell coconut oil. That time, there was only one coconut oi mill in the Philippines, so PMC set up its own oi mill and pressed its first copra in 1914.

 

PERLA, LOTS MORE SUDS, FEWER RUBS! print ad, 1951

The first coconut-oil based product from PMC were edible products beginning with Purico vegetable shortening in 1919. When P&G of Cincinnati, Ohio acquired PMC in 1935, it continued this venture, putting up its own plant, but the operations were halted during the war when Japanese forces occupied the plant in 1942.

 

PERLA WHITE SOAP,  print ad, 1951

But when thing settled, P&G PMC resumed its operations, rebuilt the plant,  and forayed into coconut oil-base soap production. That was how PERLA came to be in 1949, one of the very first white detergent bars made from pure coconut oil and natural ingredients.

 

WHITER, BRIGHTER CLOTHES with PERLA, 1953

As believers of advertising, P&G PMC began advertising PERLA in 1951. The first print ads basically promised many conveniences—“lots more suds with fewer rubs”, “gets whites white—no yellowing”, “no color fading”. “safe as clean water”.

 

BIG, HANDY NEW PERLA, print ad, 1955

Later, PERLA’s benefit became more focused, with the addition of a “sunshine ingredient”—Supersol—for the whitest, brightest of clothes.

It would take over 2 decades before PERLA found its niche when repositioned as the soap that gently cleans clothes—especially those made of delicate fabrics like undergarments, lacey apparel, lingerie and heirloom clothes. This insight actually came from PERLA users themselves who stood by the gently cleaning ability of the soap—as it was made from pure, natural ingredients.

 

PERLA, print ad, 1957

In fact, a secondary usage was also unearthed. Apparently, women were also using PERLA to wash their faces as part of their skincare regimen. Thus, the added benefit of “keeping hands in good condition after every washing” was incorporated in its messaging thru the 1980s. the advertising was handled by Ace-Compton Advertising, and later by Publicis-Jimenez Basic in the mid 1990s.

 

PERLA, today, in 3 variants. Photo: Perla FB page

PERLA was sold to SCPG Asia-Pacific, a manufacture of soaps, detergents and washing Powders  after 1994. Currently, Mt. Makiling International Oil, Inc. is  toll manufacturer of PERLA,  housed by SCPG Asia-Pacific Inc.  After 70 years, the iconic white bar—PERLA—is still around, with new variants (Blue) and revitalized formulation (with papaya extract) to keep up with the demands of the times.

SOURCES:
Perla FB Page, https://www.facebook.com/perlaphilippines/
Then and Now, Progress Report Magazine, 1958 

221. Creative Guild’s 1993 Print Ad of the Year: PHILIPPINE NATIONAL BANK “Seeing Double”

The 1993 Print Ad of the Year, a Saatchi creation for the Philippine National Bank, a client from 1986 to 1993, gain exploited two-pronged meanings. This time, however, the meanings could be deciphered in the simple, graphic visual image.

The market was the family and/or dependents of the overseas contract worker based in Hong Kong, the product is one of Santiago’s admitted favorites, remittance services, specifically the bank’s new, speedy “Rapidremit” system.

“It’s an interesting audience,” Santiago observes,”you’re talking to the people waiting here for the money. “Mainit na ang ulo niyan. It’s a very emotional market.”

Yet, Santiago and his team, composed of creative director Mario Monteagudo, writer Edsel Tolentino, art director Randy Tiempo, and artists Lulu san pedro  and Tracy Montinola, skipped the overtly emotional approaches commonly employed for such complex, close-to-home subject as the Filipino laborer. “You can always talk to labor exporters, show pictures of workers,” Santiago says ,but it’s hard to be emotional in print. The speed must be the message.

As fast as the snap of a finger. Or as the ad shows, fast as the blink of an eye,the “kisapmata” or fleeting moment it tales for a closed eye to open.  “People easily lose interest in a newspaper message. It has to be simple. The visual has to tell the story”.

The bonus, courtesy of Monteagudo, was the witty cultural reference. The “kisapmata” also mared the difference between a slit eye, the kind you’d find I a Chinese Hong Kong native, and the long-lashed orb of the Pinoy. The double entendre again fell smoothly into place; PNB couldn’t have asked for a simpler, more appropriate visual representation for the people of a foreign land—one that happened with the big idea as well. This big idea was speed; if you happened to get the cultural connotation, as well, then Santiago be doubly happy.

The bank’s aggressive advertising did its job. PNB became the leader in the remittance field, and the campaign also contributed to the perceieved credibility of the country’s national bank.

CREDITS:

AGENCY: ACE-SAATCHI & SAATCHI

EXECUTIVE CREATIVE DIRCTOR: Jimmy F. Santiago

CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Mario Monteagudo

COPYWRITER: Edsel Tolentino

ART DIRECTOR: Randy Tiempo

PRINT PRODUCER: Beloy Anegeles

ARTISTS: Lulu San Pedro, Tracy Montinola

ADVERTISER: PHILIPPINE NATIONAL BANK

PRODUCT: PNB Remittance

SOURCE:

PERFECT 10: A Decade of Creativity in Philippine Advertising, 1995, p. 36

216. Where Are They Now?: MYRA MENDOZA: The Face of Close-Up, Camay, Oil of Olay---and JINGLE Music Magazine!

THE FRESH, WHOLESOME FACE OF ADVERTISING,

One of the most refreshing faces in the modeling scene in the mid-70s to the 80s, was teen beauty MYRA MENDOZA. The winsome high schooler from St. Paul was but a teen when she started modeling for commercials; she enjoyed the experience so much and never looked back—bagging major contracts for Close-Up toothpaste, Camay Soap, US Shampoo and Clearasil in her heyday.

She was in high school when she performed in a dance number for an event sponsored by the popular 1970s music magazine, JINGLE Chordbook. She met the owner  Gilbert Guillermo, whom she credits as her “discoverer”.

MYRA, as she appeared ob JINGLE Music Magazine, 1977, Source: Nonoy Bonzon

Pretty soon, she was appearing on the pages of the widely-read  Jingle magazine, along with song lyrics set with guitar chords. Her posed pictures were just small insets—strumming a guitar, reading the magazine,  candid shots. But the readers were drawn to her good looks—and she would become the unofficial sweetheart of the popular youth-oriented music magazine.

Next thing Myra knew, she was being besieged by talent agents and casters from major ad agencies. She recalls:  “In those days , casting was not done as efficiently and professionally as today. I would just get phone calls from agents or ad agencies asking if I was available to shoot. Simple as that. No try outs, no vtr’s  (videotaped auditions).

US SHAMPOO AD, 1979

Her earliest ad was a TV commercial for Clearasil, directed by legendary commercial director Jun Urbano. In 1979, she also did an ad for US Shampoo with conditioner, targetted at teens and young adults. This turned out to be her busiest year, as she also was featured in the popular Chiclets’ “Tsikletin Mo, Baby” TVC.

MYRA, Tsikletin Mo baby, TV Ad, 1980

Myra was also scouted by local women’s magazines, and she became a cover girl i many of them, shot by the leading photographers of that time. She was still finishing her communications course when she was cast to appear in one of the most sought-after roles in the industry—that of being a Close-Up girl for Close-Up Toothpaste, then a very popular youth brand. For many of the lucky Close-up talents, the slick, well-produced commercials were springboard to TV and movie stardom.

“The Close-Up ad was fun to do!” , Myra reminisced.  Though she could no longer remember the name of her male partner in the (“I think his last name is Rodriguez”), she found the experience of shooting her commercial very easy and enjoyable. “Close-Up was doing a campaign consisting of a series of ads. So all the lead talents --some of them at least--came out in each other’s TVCs as background talents. Parang barkada!”.

MYRA MENDOZA, on the cover of Women's Home Companion Magazine, 29 Nov. 1979

Incidentally,  Loren Legarda, the future senator,  was also part of that Close-Up batch. Years later, when Myra was working for ABS-CBN, she would bump into Legarda, who, by then, was the anchor of the late night news, “The World Tonight”. “ And she still remembered me long after our  Close-Up years were over!”, Myra enthused.

With a diploma finally in hand, Myra landed a job with one of the most prestigious multinational advertising agency in the Philippines—Ace-Compton Advertising (later, Ace-Saatchi & Saatchi)—as a talent caster, of all positions!! That time, Ace-Compton had the best in-house talent casting department in the industry, complete with a studio and VTR machines for go-sees and auditions.

MYRA MENDOZA, as the Face of Oil of Olay, Procter & Gamble, 1980

She was casting for such blue-chip clients like Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson, and Filipro-Nestle, Inc. Her stint with Ace-Saatchi & Saatchi was memorable for 2 reasons. It was with the agency that she was picked to do the Camay “Guess Who’s 16” TV commercial, thus joining the elite circle of Camay Girls. She also became the face of Oil of Olay when it was introduced by P&G in the Philippines.

Looking for other creative challenges, Myra set her sight on commercial production. When Advertising & Marketing Associates had an opening, she resigned from Ace to try broadcast production. She realized that she was not cut out to be a producer, so she made a drastic move to the hotel industry, by being a banquet sales manager for Manila Hotel.

MYRA, AS A CASTER AT ACE-SAATCHI with copywriter Alex Castro

But the lure of advertising, the world in which she grew up in,  proved irresistible after awhile. Lintas top honcho Wally Reyes called her up and invited her to set up the casting department of the growing agency. She took up the offer, organized the agency’s talent department and stayed on for 4 years.

Myra would move back to Ace-Saatchi & Saatchi for a brief interlude. Her last corporate job was with the Sales Department of ABS-CBN. After ten years, she resigned in 2002 due to health issues, as she needed time to recuperate from a major surgery.

WATERCOLOR ART OF MYRA, A SELF-TAUGHT ARTIST.

“I’ve stayed a homemaker ever since”, she says without regret.  So I then started painting among other things. I’m a hobbyist. I created some fashion jewelry, I sew, despite having no formal training. I also like to cook. So really, I dabble in anything that interests me.”

COME A LITTLE CLOSER BABY, SMILE, FOR ME.
Myra Mendoza and  boyfriend, Chris Portillo in their younger days.

True to her calling, Myra Mendoza remained an honest-to-goodness model all her life.  With her collective life experience and achievements, you could say that she is a model homemaker, mother, and wife today!

WATCH THIS VIDEO OF FORMER AD 
MODEL MYRA MENDOZA-PORTILLO TODAY:

SOURCE:

E-mail interview conducted by author, April 2, 2019

Where in the world is Myra?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UYWnDmPqMo, posted by Dennis Garcia, 7 Sep. 2013

Photo collage of Myra as Jingle Music Magazine model, Nonoy Bonzon, posted on Jingle Music Magazine FB page.

Myra Mendoza-Portillo FB Page.