231. COMTRUST JINGLE, “We Share The Same Horizon”, 1973

Commercial Bank and Trust Co. (COMTRUST) was a commercial bank that was founded in 1954 and its head office was at the J.M. Tuason Bldg., in Escolta. By the 1960s, the fast-growing bank had bracnches along Taft Ave., Quezon City, San Fernando in Pampanga. It moved to Makati, then, a burgeoning commercial district, a spanking new corner building on Ayala Avenue in mid 1960s.

 

EARLY COMTRUST PRINT AD, 1966

The bank started advertising actively in the 1960s. It was rebranded in the 1970s as COMTRUST, complete with a modern logo.

 

COMTRUST PRINT AD, 1968

In 1973, COMTRUST rolled out its new corporate commercial featuring a minute-long song that achieved a measure of popularity with its simple, but engaging melody and its lyrics that talk about building a bright future together.

The song was composed by Jose Mari Chan, who by then, was an established singer and composer, known for hit songs like “Deep in My Heart”, “Afterglow”, and “Can We Just Stop and Talk While?”, which was the country’s entry to the 1973 Tokyo Music Festival.

LISTEN TO THE "COMTRUST JINGLE" HERE:

Singing the song was Tillie Moreno, one of the female vocalists of the hugely popular Circus band that spawned great singers like Basil Valdez, Hajji Alejandro, and Jacqui Magno. “We Share the Same Horizon”, was so popular with the young crowd that Jingle Chordbook Magazine, the top music magazine of the 1970s, had to include it on its pages, complete with guitar chords. To top it all, Vicor Records put out a 45 RPM disc of the said jingle. 

By the late 1970s, Ayala Avenue was teeming with scores of banks, and the banking giant, Bank of the Philippine islands, began acquiring other banks. COMTRUST became one of its notable acquisitions in 1981.

The only reminders of  COMTRUST today is its distinctive saucer like building in Escolta designed by national Artist Jose Ma. Zaragoza, and its memorable jingle –“We Share The Same Horizon”, which fortunately is included in one Jose Mari Chan CD compilation, “Strictly Commercial”.

SOURCES:
"COMTRUST" FB PAGE, https://www.facebook.com/Comtrust-101454099939266/
JOSE MARI CHAN, STRICTLY COMMERCIAL (The Jingles Collection)
http://pinoyalbums.com/82783/jose-mari-chan-strictly-commercial-the-jingles-collection/
BEFORE AYALA, THERE WAS QUAD, https://www.spot.ph/newsfeatures/the-latest-news-features/71404/14-nostalgic-images-of-old-makati-a1806-20170912-lfrm4?ref=feed_1

219.Over 20 Glasses of SUNQUICK, Print Ads 1970-71

PICK A QUICK! Sunquick Orange Concentrate Intro Ad,1970

The refreshingly different orange drink that made waves in the Philippines in 1970 was developed by Danish brothers Jep and Flemming Petersen. They succeeded perfecting a process of concentrating real orange juice  and produced a juice drink first launched in the United Kingdom in 1966 as SUNQUICK Orange Concentrate.

Needless to say, SUNQUICK became an incredible success, and the company began advertising in 1968, that propelled the product to eve greater heights. It became an international brand as SUNQUICK in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia—including the Philippines in 1970.

SUNQUICK Orange Concentrate was bottled locally by Marina Sales, Inc. in Mandaluyong, a distribution company that has been in business since 1954.

When it was launched in the Philippines through print and TV advertising, it created by a buzz because of its concentrate form. One need only to add water to make an orange drink that has 5 times more orange juice than ordinary fruit drinks in the market. At that time, only Julep and Sunkist were the only other available orange juice choices.

VALUE-FOR MONEY SUNQUICK MAGAZINE ADS. 1970

The initial interest in SUNQUICK Orange Concentrate was dampened by the perception that it was too expensive for a bottled product. Also, the use of concentrate was largely unknown. So, SUNQUICK embarked on an aggressive value-for-money campaign. One small bottle of SUNQUICK, the ad message conveyed,  could actually make 20 glasses of orange juice drinks!

LISTEN TO THE 1970 SUNQUICK JINGLE 

as sung by The Ambivalent Crowd

A TV commercial was the vehicle for SUNQUICK’s value-for-money message that featured the young, talented members of the Ambivalent Crowd that included Pol Enriquez, Celeste Legaspi, Cynthia Patag, Gigi Escalante, Mae Cendana, Pinky Marquez and Berg Villapando , among others. The much-sought after singing group had Willy B. Cruz as musical director.

REPRICED VALUE-FOR MONEY AD. The original 17 centavos per glass
has risen to 23 centavos due to inflation in 1971.

The Ambivalent Crowd were shown frolicking in what looked like a garden setting, as they sang the memorable “Over 20 Glasses of SUNQUICK” jingle that was specially composed by Jose Mari Chan.

SUNQUICK 1971  MAGAZINE AD

Decades later, SUNQUICK is one of the world’s most popular concentrates, present in over 70 markets. Though no longer active in traditional advertising. its business continues in the Philippines, under  SUNQUICK Philippines, finally established in 2012.

1970 SUNQUICK FLAVORS: Orange, Lemon, Mandarin Orange, Grapefruit

Other than the flagship brand, SUNQUICK, its line has expanded to include Lemon, Mango, Pink Guava & Strawberry, Mandarin, Blackcurrant, Ice Tea Lemon and Tropical flavors—perfect summer refreshment for the family! 

2019 SUNQUICK FLAVORS. Share the Joy of 8 Flavors!

These are supported through merchandising, sales and online promotions. Concentrating on great taste for many years now, SUNQUICK has truly succeeded in its mission embodied by its new slogan: “Share the Joy!”

SOURCES:

Sunquick Philippines FB page

Sunquick History: https://www.sunquick.com/

Marina Sales Inc., http://www.jobscity.net/pls/jobs/companyprofile?comid=Y1fcq

111. Kalinisang Kuskos-Piga: P&G’s MR. CLEAN KALAMANSI, 1987

A guest article from NANCY TIZON-TRUSCOTT former Mr. Clean copywriter.

By the mid-1980s, MR.CLEAN detergent bar had become the overall laundry market leader in the Philippines, surpassing Superwheel and Ajax. After all, the brand was fully supported with aggressive advertising (“Sylvia La Torre’s Labadami, Labango” was instrumental in promoting the brand—it would be selected as one of top 25 commercials of all times at the 2002 Pilak Awards) and continuous product developments. For example, the current Mr. Clean at that time was infused with “Solarex” sun-brightening power.

There would be more introductions of revolutionary variants, starting with the breakthrough MR. CLEAN KALAMANSI that resulted in clean, citrus-scented laundry—“linis bango ng kalamansi”. Its launch ad was printed with green ink that had the citrus-y scent of kalamansi—almost similar to the “scratch ‘n sniff ads” popular in the U.S., a  technique that’s a first in the Philippines. The TV commercial was developed separately—and it gave birth to the coined term “kuskos-piga” (scrub-squeeze) that was soon being mouthed by housewives all over the country. And who could forget a character from the commercial named Bulak—not a child, but a baby goat! Nancy Tizon-Truscott recalls her experience in the making of this delightful commercial.

**********

WATCH  MR. CLEAN KALAMANSI TVC HERE

One of my most memorable TV commercial shoots ever in my 20 year advertising career was the shooting of the classic MR. CLEAN "Bulak" TVC in the late '80s. MR. CLEAN was one of the top selling detergent bars of our client Procter & Gamble. The product was constantly improved with the addition of  known effective cleaning ingredients like "kalamansi". This gave birth to the campaign line "kuskus-piga" after the washing practice of scrubbing and squeezing kalamansi juice on stained clothes.  Later, with the addition of bleach to the product, the line morphed to "kuskus-piga-patak".

 LISTEN TO MR. CLEAN "KUSKOS-PIGA" 

& KUSKOS-PIGA-PATAK JINGLE HERE:

The slice-of-life "Bulak" TVC was cinematically directed by the late great Ishmael Bernal and set in a remote village in  bucolic Asin Valley in Benguet province. It tells the story of a sheep farmer in search of his lost baby goat, Bulak. He finds him hurt and entangled in a thorny bush. When he brings him home, his wife notices the lamb's blood on his shirt which she then confidently washes with MR. CLEAN with bleach.

 

AGENCY & PRODUCTION STAFF. Seated: L-R: Director Ishmael Bernal
CD Jimmy Santiago, writer Nancy Tizon. Standing: agency producer
Jack Dumaup, art director Bingo Bautista of Ace/ Saatchi & Saatchi.

Like many out of town shoots, this wasn't without its complications. Initially a three day shoot, it became a five day shoot after one of the cameras broke down and a new one had to be brought in all the way from Manila. Cast and crew were billeted in an inn in Baguio and most days, we got up before dawn for the nearly two-hour ride to Asin Valley. And to think that the night before, we ended the day's shoot at past midnight. Most nights, we barely got two hours' sleep. 

MR. CLEAN CREATIVE, Nancy Tizon with ad talents, acct. supervisor
Chatie Bantug of Ace/Saatchi & Saatchi..

While we were shooting, it seemed the whole village came to watch with great interest, including friendly but heavily armed NPA rebels!  At our first meal on set, I could barely eat because the village children were watching us hungrily as we ate. Fortunately, our production house FILMEX was so kind and generous that they cooked enough food to feed the entire village. This shoot must have been the most exciting event  to have happened in their tiny village in many years!

 

TIME-OUT! Direk Ishmael Bernal playing charades with agency people
during a break in the commercial shoot in Asin, Mt. Province.

This MR. CLEAN "Bulak" commercial successfully sustained MR. CLEAN's dominance in the detergent market. It also became immensely popular. At the time, a Jollibee commercial featured a kid who lost her doll named "Jennifer." A popular joke went the rounds with the question, "Sinong kasama ni Jennifer nung nawala siya? " And of course the answer was, "Si Bulak!"

CREDITS:

CLIENT: PROCTER & GAMBLE PHILIPPINES

AGENCY: ACE/ SAATCHI & SAATCHI ADVERTISING

CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Jimmy F. Santiago

COPYWRITER: Nancy T.Tizon

ART DIRECTOR: Bingo Bautista

ARTIST: Abe Montañez

PRODUCTION HOUSE: Filmex

TV DIRECTOR: Ishmael Bernal

JINGLE COMPOSER: Jose Mari Chan

SINGER: Ayen Munji

CASTER: Flor Salanga

Jingle Source Credit: 
MR. CLEAN KALAMANSI, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfMlXw_UZ5g, uploaded by vibesey, 7 May 2017

Strictly Commercial: THE JINGLES COLLECTION, by Jose Mari Chan
http://www.deezer.com/track/76894508

67. Creative Guild TV Ad of the Month, Dec. 1987: KNORR REAL CHINESE SOUP

The film, “The Last Emperor”, was making waves in Hollywood in 1987 when Pacifica Publicity Bureau produced a memorable  KNORR REAL CHINESE SOUP commercial with lush imageries inspired by the said movie, which the agency entitled "Kowloon"

 

KNORR SOUP, with Richard Tan. Print Ad, 1987

Knorr Chinese Soups, with their one of a kind flavor-- captured the authentic taste of the real thing—with just the addition of one egg! The product was The commercial this came alive with  a jingle-based commercial that came across as genuinely Chinese.

There was a character who looked suspiciously like PuYi  (the last emperor) garbed in similar costume mouthing a memorable line, “GoodAh!”, a court attendant with a high-pitched voice (a eunuch?) and a pleasant singing presentor who cracks an egg on the head of an attendant who sounds like a high pitch court eunuch.

Then, there's a Westernized Oriental in the person of singer Richard Tan (before he added an extra “n” to his name), who looked dapper in a tuxedo.

LISTEN TO THE ORIGINAL

KNORR CHINESE SOUP JINGLE HERE:
Source: aianchan, uploaded 19 Sep. 2017

A 30-second version waslater created to ride on the momentum of the ad's popularity, entitled "Last Emperor", minus Richard Tan.

WATCH THE KNORR CHINESE SOUP

TVC 30s(2nd version "Last Emperor") here:
Uploaded by MultiJLambo, 5 Mar. 2012

The  popular Knorr Chinese Soup (“Kowloon”) commercial, with the Crab and Corn flavor as lead variant, was directed by well-known director, Boldy Tapales. It was voted by members of the Creative Guild of the Philippines as the best as the top ad for December, and by the year’s end, competed against an array of monthly finalists—including favorites, won by the sleek, technically-produced TVC of Shell Brake Fluid.

CREDITS

AGENCY: PACIFICA PUBLICITY BUREAU

CREATIVE HEAD: Joy Cortez

ART DIRECTOR: Danny Arada   /  COPYWRITER: Carmille Agana

ACCOUNT: Anna Domingo
PRODUCTION HOUSE: Electromedia

DIRECTOR: Boldy Tapales     /   ASST. DIRECTOR: Mae Paner

CLIENT: California Manufacturing Corp.

Sources: 

1987 Creative Guild Ad of the Year Program

de la Torre, Visitacion. History of Advertising in the Philipiines, Torre Publishing. Manila.
youtube, 1988 Knorr Chinese Soup featuting Ruchard Tan,https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XujASMlQqmA, Uploaded by aianchan, 19 Sep. 2017.
youtube, Knrr Real Chinese Soup,https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hDs3FkFdw4, uploaded by MultiJLambo, 5 March  2012.