First United Bank Phils. , founded in 1963 was the
forerunner of United Coconut Planters Bank (UCPB), more popularly known
as COCOBANK. It was meant to cater to the needs of the coconut industry,
especially its planters/farmers who need credit, but it also served a wide-ranging
clientele.
COCOBANK grew to become one of the biggest banks
in the country, and along with other top banks, formed MegaLink, one of
the three main interbank networks in the Philippines. COCOBANK was one
of the earliest banks to institute ATM services in the 1980s. It invested heavily
in advertising, tapping Ace-Saatchi & Saatchi to handle its product
and corporate promotions.
One such well-known campaign was conceived in 1989
promoting the simplicity of its banking processes. The project was assigned to
the creative team of veteran art director Mario Monteagudo and young copywriter
Merlee Jayme.
Merlee Jayme, who rose to found her own agency and
become the only woman in the 20 top creative directors in Asia, recalls the conception
of that campaign after being briefed by the account person of the bank’s proposition—“banking
made simpler”.
"PIGGYBANK" Print Ad, Part of the COCOBANK "Banking Made Simpler" Campaign
“Mario in our brainstorming came up with the “Piggybank”
TV and print execution”, she said. “.
I was soooo pressured and stressed out when he asked me to come up with
another one. It had to be a visualization connected to banking of course. Then
it hit me-- being part Japanese, I love origami…I tried folding one hundred peso
bills into a caterpillar and turtle—perfect symbols to show slowness”
“Then I drew the board and showed it to Mario the next
day. He smiled and that was my reward”.
When the storyboard was presented to the COCOBANK clients,
it was met with approval despite the unexpected visuals –origami insects, of
all things!-- that were not readily bank-associated. “They were amused and
curious how we will pull this off”,Merlee continued. “Remember
back in the 80s we didn’t have innovative ways of shooting these kinds of
boards. Just a simple stop motion technique
was used to shoot the COCOBANK ad”.
WATCH COCOBANK "Origami" TVC 30s HERE:
The creative team’s biggest reward though was at the 1991
Philippine Advertising Congress when the COCOBANK “Origami” TVC scored
the biggest victory at the Araw Awards night. “That was my very first TVC ever
--- and it won the Platinum Award at the
Phil Ad Congress!” she enthused.
COCOBANK enjoyed many more decades of further
success. In 2020, the government increased its ownership of the
bank to 97%, thus resulting to more control. In 1 March 2022, COCOBANK merged with Land Bank of the Phils,, its
name becoming defunct.
"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.
From the
mid 1980s to the 1990s, TAKAYAMA Garden Restaurant was one of the most
renown Japanese fine dining places in Manila, known for its innovative Japanese
menu like their Love Boat Special (a mixed platter of authentic Japanese
specialties) and tempuras made from real, edible flowers.
The restaurant
was started by the De Mesa sisters (Diana de Mesa Santamaria and Erlinda
de Mesa Yap) of Tri-Chef Foods Corporation, They opened the 1stTAKAYAMA Restaurant on August 1985, along Wilson St., Greenhills, named
after the saintly Japanese samurai, Justo Takayama Ukon, who died in the
Philippines. A statue of the blessed Japanese once graced the TAKAYAMA branch in Greenhills.
Early Takayama ads show different looks.
The restaurant
business took off, and because a favorite of businessmen, office workers, and families in the area. A 2nd
branch sprouted in Makati Greenbelt. With business doing very well, the company
went the rounds of small agencies to handle their advertising. The output was
rather inconsistent and not cohesive, as there was no distinctive TAKAYAMA design
look.
The company
sought out the services of powerhouse agency ACE-SAATCHI & SAATCHI,
which was assigned to the team of Melvin Mangada, Art Director, and Lilit
Trinidad. Copywriter. They created these stunning black and white “Senses”
campaign featuring reworked old Japanese prints, and copy written in the style
of Japanese haiku.
The TAKAYAMA
Garden Restaurant chain flourished for a decade more, closing in February 2002,
after 37 years of bringing the tradition of fine dining to its satisfied
clients.
By the end of the 80s, SHARP (Phils) Corp. entrusted to
Ace-Saatchi & Saatchi its corporate advertising, as they entered a new
decade with plans to launch more products and expand its robust business.
The project was assigned to Ace-Saatchi’s winning-est Concept
Team, Mario Monteagudo (AD) and Robert Labayen (Writer). Just 2 years before,
the duo had won a 1987 Print Ad of the Year award for their Visine Eye Drops print
ad for client Pfizer.
The result was a stunning Print Ad series that focused on
the amazing pedigree of success that the company enjoyed over the course of 4
decade, through pioneering inventions, trailblazing products and state-of-the
art innovation.
“Our generation grew up with Sony”, recalls Robert Labayen
when asked about the SHARP campaign background. “So, Mario and I were excited
when we learned that our account, SHARP, scored many firsts in the history of
the world’s tv technology.
The brief came from our account person Timmy Jayme. We
used illustrations that looked like Japanese characters to present SHARP as THE
name behind Japanese TV technology.
I made the illustrations because that was the time that I
was into doodling. Mario came up with the line “Very Sharp. Very First.” That
was another instance when Mario and I exchanged roles.”
The Print series delighted SHARP clients and marketing
man, Mon Bermeo so much that the client not only ran the complete series in regular
dailies, but also appeared in Visitacion dela Torre’s history book about
Philippine advertising.
Mario and Robert would go on to enjoy a 3-year Print AOY
award-winning streak from 1991 to 1993, earning Creative Guild nods for British Airways, Philippine National Bank and
Petron. After their sterling career with Ace, Mario formed his own agency, while
Robert joined ABS-CBN to become its VP-Head of Creative Communication in 2004.
CREDITS:
Many thanks for Robert Labayen for his recollections about making this SHARP Ad series; likewise to Mario Monteagudo, for his inputes.
ANG GAAN-GAAN NG FEELING, with Ivory model Bianca Araneta, 1995
MTV’s golden age lasted from the early 1980s to around
1992, but endured longer in music-loving Philippines. At its peak, MTV had a
significant impact not only on our music landscape, but the format was also
borrowed and used in advertising production. Agency creatives would often
propose executions “a la MTV” to capture the interest of youth who were very
much into music videos popularized worldwide by the MTV
cable network.
WATCH AND LISTEN TO IVORY'S"ANG GAAN-GAAN NG FEELING" MTV, 1995 HERE:
Courtesy of Merlee Jayme, uploaded on youtube 30 Dec. 2021,
One of the most memorable campaigns that used this longform
MTV format was the IVORY Shampoo and Conditioner campaign created by
Ace-Saatchi & Saatchi in 1995 for Procter and Gamble. It spawned a jingle--
“Ang Gaan-Gaan ng Feeling”, which became a hit pop song for the singers DV8, a
fairly new music band. It also introduced us to a fresh new model, Bianca
Araneta, whose mother (Maritess Revilla) and grandmother (Paquita Goyena) had strong Procter & Gamble ties, being
former Camay Girls.
Chairmom Merlee Cruz Jayme, then copywriter for IVORY at
Ace-Saatchi& Saatchi shares her recollection of the now iconic music video,
with the hit jingle that turned into a mainstream monster hit, ruling the TV
and radio airwaves for quite awhile, nationwide.
**********
As a Copywriter in Ace Saatchi & Saatchi, I worked on
the launch of IVORY Shampoo & Conditioner.IVORY is gentle on hair and
scalp with no harsh and heavy ingredients. So, hair feels light and not weighed down.
It was the 90s, and music videos were a big thing.
Targeting young teens, I started writing a song. When I wrote the first line,
“Dati ang aking buhay ay kulang sa sigla…” I tried to set the mood for
heaviness and the need for lightness. Then the mood changes with a happy,
catchy, breezy refrain that perfectly captures the feeling of lightness: “Ang
gaan, gaan ng feeling.” The famous composer Jimmy Antiporda did the melody.
We searched and discovered the perfect talent to embody
the pure, gentle, and light brand persona: the 14-year-old Bianca Araneta, the
daughter of the 70s actress Maritess Revilla and businessman Iking Araneta. I
remember that day when I had to go to their condominium in Mandaluyong with my
Accounts Director to convince her parents to allow her to be our Ivory girl.
The music video made her an instant star, and her
signature hair shot. She was blowing her wispy bangs away.
Today, what surprises me is the fact that carolers and
choirs sing “Ang gaan, gaan ng feeling” during Christmas. I didn’t think the
lyrics I wrote for a shampoo had a deeper religious meaning.
About the Guest Writer: MERLEE CRUZ JAYME is the Chairmom & Chief Creative
Officer at Dentsu Creative Philippines and Chief Creative Officer APAC at Dentsu. Before that, she co-founded DM9 Jayme and Syfu. She started her illustrious career as a Copywriter at Ace-Saatchi & Saatchi
advertising, where she met and married her colleague, Timmy Jayme, then an
account executive. They have 4 daughters. Merlee is also a founder of a school,
The Misfits, a training camp for autistic and deaf creatives.
In the early
1980s, SMC-MAGNOLIA entered the lucrative juice and juice drink market with
a brand called Nature’s Best Orange Drink. It had also introduced in 1981, a premium
bottled fruit juice brand called Magnolia Juice, in Orange, Mango and Guyabano flavors.
Nature’s Best proved to be more viable, especially with the growing shift from
bottled packaging to the cheaper, recyclable tetra-pack cartons.
TRUER TO THE FRUIT, Launch Ad, 1983
Magnolia
eventually dropped the more expensive bottled juice line and retained Nature’s
Best for some time, only to be incorporated in a new fruit drink line introduced
in 1983: MAGNOLIA FRUIT DRINKS in
single-serve tetra cartons with straws.
The
launch materials include a Radio Jingle that was composed and sung by the Apo
Hiking Society, with the catchphrase: “Give me the fruit…or give me Magnolia”,
commissioned by its agency Ace-Saatchi & Saatchi.
LISTEN TO MFD RADIO BY APO HIKING SOCIETY, 1983 HERE:
The MAGNOLIA
FRUIT DRINKS line would expand to include Buco (Coconut water), Mango, Guyabano (Soursop), and Calamansi (Philippine
Lemon) juice flavors. The carton-packed fruit drinks survived the 90s decade,
and would be reformulated several times.
In
2000s, MAGNOLIA FRUIT DRINKS reverted to PET bottles and crowned bottles.
Today the MAGNOLIA FRUIT DRINK line is applied to bottled products
(Grape and Orange Flavors) advertised in tandem with their fruit-based HealthTea
line,
MAGGI RICH MAMI NOODLES "Woman in a Shoe" PRINT AD, 1989
By the
late 1980s, MAGGI RICH MAMI NOODLES was already an established instant
noodle brand from Nestlé. It was supported by annual advertising campaigns
developed by Ace-Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising.
One such
notable tri-media campaign was inspired by a nursery rhyme “Old Woman Who Lived
in a Shoe”, that originally talked about an old mother’s dilemma over her many
children.
WATCH THE MAGGI RCH MAMI NOODLES "Nursery Rhyme" TVC HERE:
Source: Youtube Video uploaded by AlanChan80
The popular
Mother Goose rhyme was given a new spin, in which the many versions of MAGGI
RICH MAMI NOODLES were presented as the perfect answers to satisfying a
large brood. The copy retained the rhyme format, but rewritten this way:
“There
was a woman who lived in a shoe
She
had so many children, and she knew what to do
She
gave them some MAGGI RICH MAMI NOODLES
Rich delicious
noodles, in rich flavorful soup
Steaming
hit and hearty, to the delight of the whole group
“Tasty
Chicken!” “Real Beefy!”
“Zesty
Chicken Asado!” “Spicy Curry!”
“Mmm,
love ‘em, mom!”, they said,
And
she kissed them all soundly, and sent them to bed".
The
sales promotion component of this campaign was a giveaway activity book, MAGGI
RICH MAMI NOODLESNursery Rhyme Games, that contained coloring pages, dot-to-dot,
puzzles and games.
CREDITS:
Advertiser:
Nestlé MAGGI
Agency: Ace-Saatchi
& Saatchi Advertising
Creative
Director: Cid V. Reyes
Copywriter:
Isabel Beltran / Art Director: Bingo Bautista
DARI CREME WITH HONEY, 'How Sweet it is to be Loved by You", 1989
DARI CRÈME was one of the first products of Procter &
Gamble PMC (now P&G Phils., Inc.) launched
in 1959. It was the first locally manufactured refrigerated margarine and was
introduced as a local alternative to imported butter. By 1990, it owned 70% of
the butter-tasting spreads market.
So
successful was DARI CRÈME that in 1989,
P&G decided to launch a new taste: DARI
CRÈME Honey. It was introduced to the market in response to growing demand
for a wider variety in margarine tastes. This variety was made with “the real
goodness of honey”, and capitalized on the habit of slathering pancakes and bread
with butter and syrup.
WATCH DARI CREME HONEY TVC 15s Here:
It was
so successful that at one point, it held a substantial chunk of the total DARI CRÈME business. Aside from DARI CRÈME Classic, there was also a DARI CREME Buttermilk variant.
The 15
sec. commercial for DARI CRÈME Honey
was created by Ace-Saatchi & Saatchi, one of the accredited agencies of P&G
Phils. It featured a James Taylor song, “How
Sweet It Is”, and a honeybee animation. The kid talent was the young Paolo Contis. The agency creative team was led by Cid Reyes (Creative Director), Lilit Trinidad (Copywriter), Bingo Bautista (Art Director). DARI CRÈME Honey was good for
just a few years, until P&G ceased production of this once popular variant.
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.
"FIGHT LIKE A PRO!'on the cover of Kaunlaran, SMC Magazine
In the 1980s, SMC-Magnolia Corporation caps the year by holding its annual national sales
convention, usually in major key cities in the country, like Manila, Baguio,
Cebu and Davao. Here, members of its national sales team are flown in,
gathered, and apprised of the next years plans for the various Magnolia
products they are pushing. These include a review of all the Magnolia brand’s
performance and a presentation of next year’s sales targets, marketing,
advertising, and merchandising plans.
LISTEN TO MAGNOLIA'S "FIGHT LIKE A PRO" RALLY SONG
The direction of next year’s sales initiative is embodied in
a theme, and in 1985, “FIGHT LIKE A PRO!”was the battle cry, a call to more aggressive
selling, but carried out in a professional manner. A Rally Song was
commissioned by Magnolia’s ad agency to motivatethe sales teams and lift their “fighting
spirit”. Musicwas provided by the late
award-winning composer, Caloy Agawa, from lyrics written by Creative Director,
Alex Castro.
During the whole duration of the 2-day conference, the song
was played during social events, most especially on the last day of the
conference: the Magnolia Sales Achievement Awards Night. Here, sales achievers
of every rank are given recognitions in a grand evening of musical entertainment, featuring the country’s leading artists of the decade.
CREDITS:
AGENCY: Ace-Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising
ACCOUNT: Gigi Garcia, Lawrence Tan, Dudy Masilungan
CREATIVES: Alex Castro, James Bernardo, Vianne Lizardo
MOT’s domestic tourism
campaign for 1986-87 was assigned to hotshot Ace-Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising, which was on a roll for its string of
major creative awards in the local and international front. Again, it came up
with a winning theme that DOT approved and which the agency executed under
Creative Directors Cid Reyes and Jimmy Santiago.:“Huwag Maging Dayuhan sa
Sariling Bayan” (English version: “Don’t be a Stranger in Your Own Paradise”).
LISTEN TO THE MOT JINGLE "Huwag Maging Dayuhan"
The campaign was rolled out using black and white illustrated
print ads, as a planned tro-media campaign did not materialize due to budget
limitations. Meanwhile, radio jingle studies with lyric written by Jimmy Santiago (Pilipino version)
and Alex Castro (English version) were produced by award-winning composer Caloy Agawa. These
were never used, however, as the campaign had a very limited run. In any case,
the slogan “Huwag Maging Dayuhan sa Sariling Bayan”, was used intermittently in
DOT promotional materials, till the rest of the decade.
Beginning in 1980, CAMAY, Procter & Gamble’s
leadingbeauty 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 smootherand 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 EsperanzaTatlonghari (aka Zsa-Zsa Padilla), Angeli Pangilinan, member of the bandMusic 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!”
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 pedroand 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
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-readJingle 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 ourClose-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
