522. Let's Raise a Glass or Two!: CAFE PURO, Various Glass Premium Ads, 1966-69

At the peak of its business, Commonwealth Foods Inc., producer of Instant CAFÉ PURO, held the distinction as the First and Largest Coffee Plant in the Far East, with the Biggest in Sales in the Philippines. It’s flagship brand CAFÉ PUROand its variants Le Café and Café Bueno, was a market and industry leader, known for its professionally-done advertising, and the regular consumer promotions.

Instant CAFÉ PURO was a leader in packaging innovation, the first to come out in glass jars with plastic caps—that were actually, usable decorative drinking glasses. These premiums had added-appeal to consumers, as you not only get coffee, you also get to keep the glass that you can use daily, so you can be regularly reminded of the coffee brand that gave it away to you—Free.

The most popular CAFÉ PURO collectibles that added immensely to the brand’s success were exclusively designed glasses that often came in sets. Chief among these were the CRYSTAL GLASS Collection, which featured applied “starlight” designs, with a flip-off plastic cap. These first came out in 1966, advertised on weekend and women’ magazines.

The CRYSTAL GLASS promo was so successful that the next year, the FOLK DANCE glass series was launched, which proved to be their biggest packaging promo ever. These were the first truly collectible glasses, that also came with matching shakers and pitchers. Each carried an ACL (applied color label) design of the country’s famous folk dances, rendered in stylizes drawings.

Singkil, Tahing Baila, Maglalatik, Itik-Itik and Tinikling were among the illustrated dances that were featured on the glass. To this day, these Café Puro FOLK DANCE series are sought after by advertising collectibles fans. (see separate article about these glasses on this blog.)

In 1968, a more premium-looking glass set was offered; The Instant Café Puro RAINBOW GLASS collection. The colors of the rainbow are all aglow in the glasses with gradating vivid hues of Orange, Yellow, Blue, Violet, Green and Purple.

Unfortunately for CAFÉ PURO, Nescafe, which initially came out in unsightly tin cans, improved on the packaging idea, and came out with their own glass collection that became truly classic—the straight-sided clear diamond-cut glass. Where Café Puro was giving out large glass jars with tin caps, Nescafe was offering classy 4-sided mutli-purpose glass canisters with glass and plastic stoppers. Simple and durable, sales took off for Nescafe, and the drinking glass and glass canisters became ubiquitous in  homes, office canteens, food stalls and wayside carinderias. With its massive market budget, product line extensions, and coffee expertise, Nescafe would bypass CAFÉ PURO by the 70s.,

 That being so, CAFÉ PURO remains a beloved brand, remembered for its full-bodied aroma and taste, as we as for its glass giveaways,  which, in their time, were the most attractive, well-made utilitarian tableware that every housewife would be proud to own.

380. PBA LEGEND: ROBERT JAWORSKI SR. The Basketball Icon as a Product Endorser

BIG J, for Nescafe Master Roast, Print Ad, 1989

One of the most popular and celebrated basketball icons of the Philippines, Robert Vincent Salazar Jaworski Sr (born March 8, 1946) is the so of American-Polish , Theodore Vincent Jaworski and Ilocana Iluminada Bautista Salazar. As a student, he  became a well-known collegiate basketball player for the University of the East, leading the “Red Warriors” to back-to-back victories at the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) meet in 1965 and 1966. That earned him a place in the basketball team that went on to compete at the 1966 Bangkok Asian Games, and at the Asian Basketball Championships, where his team placed first, beating the host country, Korea.

 WATCH THIS CERVEZA NEGRA TV featuring JAWORKSI (1978)

His amateur career began in 1967 when he joined the YCO Painters under coach Carlos Loyzaga. He then suited up for Meralco in 1970. After being banned by the Basketball Association of the Philippines in a mauling incident during a game against Crispa-Floro (which caused him to miss the 1972 Olympics),  he was reinstated in 1973 to the national team.

 “Big J”, as he was called, joined the newly-formed Toyota Comets after his Meralco stint, and he officially became a PBA player in 1975 after the Toyota Comets became one of the league's founding franchises of the league.  He played with Toyota until 1984, and it was there that he became an MVP in 1978.

 WATCH JAWORKSI'S ANEJO RUM COMMERCIAL:

He then joined Ginebra San Miguel, staying with the team for 14 years (184-1998), which would become the most popular Jaworski-led team in Philippine basketball history. As a playing coach, he and his team won the 1986 Open Conference championship finals. He also coached the Philippine team that won Silver at the 1990 Asian Games.

In 1991, Jaworski won his third title at the expense of Formula Shell of the PBA that a team came back from a 3–1 deficit to win the championship.

 WATCH JAWORSKI'S JUVELON COMMERCIAL (1983)

Ginebra’s performance faltered from 1992-95 due to PBA budget limitations, but rebounded in 1996 with new top players that enabled the team to win a 4th championship in 1997 vs. Alaska Milkmen.

Fifty year old Jaworski's last game in the PBA was in March 1997 in a game held at Dumaguete City. He ran for the Philippines senate and won a seat during the May 1998 elections but was defeated when he ran for re-election in 2004.

WATCH JAWORSKI'S GINEBRA "BIDA" COMMERCIAL:

As the country’s most-well known PBA player, Jaworski’s influence cannot be denied. He was sought after by advertisers and agencies for his pulling power, and some of his well-known commercials included TIMEX (“The Tough Watch”), GINEBRA  promotional plugs, Añejo AÑEJO RUM, NESCAFE Master Roast, among many others.

 Recently, his son Robet “Dudut” Jaworski Jr. , who also played in the PBA  along with his fater, announced in 2021 that Robert Sr., age 76, was suffering from a rare blood disease.

SOURCES:

Cerveza Negra Promo 1978 Philippine TV Ad ( w/ Jaworski ),, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvMFXEay4e8, uploaded by ADman1909

1983 Juvelon E+ TVC feat. Robert Jaworski, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTCrLoj-ZLU, uploaded by莢豌豆本舗

MANNY PACQUIAO & ROBERT JAWORSKI - ANG BIDA SA HARDCOURT at sa BOXING RING, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0etF9mUM_v8, Uploaded by DCRJReloaded02

Jaworski's Anejo Rum Commercial, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhu3-5DSrLA, uploaded by Alamat ng PBA.

 

264. DRINKING GLASSES from CAFÉ PURO, BLEND 45 AND NESCAFE, BLEND 45, 1966-1975.

Before the 1960s decade, there were just a handful of coffee brands in the market—like Hills Bros. and Chase & Sanborn, which were American imports. Then, Commonwealth Foods, Inc. began manufacturing the post-war brand CAFÉ PURO, and by 1951, it had become the no.1 selling coffee brand nationwide, a position it held until the 1960s came along.

This was when more coffee brands came into the fray--Consolidated Food Corporation (CFC), founded in 1961 by John Gokongwei Jr., introduced BLEND 45, an affordable coffee that became known as “the people’s coffee”, with its budget-friendly price and favorable taste. 

NESCAFE, was introduced in the mid 50s decade by Nestlé, and aggressively advertised in the 60s.

With more competitors coming into the picture, all sorts of promotions were launched to entice customers and add more product value. Using a reusable packaging as added product value was an old—but a proven tried and tested idea. It came naturally for coffee brands too. In the post-war 50s, coffee brands still came in round tins, including NESCAFE.  

Then, with the advent of instant coffee brands, wide-mouth glass jars were utilized, and discarded or sold after use. But what if the packaging had more utilitarian value after the product has been consumed?

CRYSTAL ANNIVERSARY GLASS WITH FLIP-OFF CAP, 1966 Print Ad

This led to the  idea of packaging instant coffee in drinking glasses that could be used long after the last coffee drop has been sipped. The glass serves also as a remnder of the pleasure of the coffee-drinking experience. It also helped that specially-designed, set-building glasses encouraged repeat purchases as they became collectibles.

 

CRYSTAL ANNIVERSARY GLASSES, 199 Print Ad

The free, giveaway glasses were given fanciful names to appeal to consumers’ eye. As expected, market leader CAFÉ PURO came out first with its “Crystal Glasses”--to celebrate its 15th anniversary-- with flip-off plastic caps in 1966. 

GLASSES, PITCHER AND SHAKERS FROM CAFE PURO, 1967 Ad

The promotion was so enthusiastically received that the next year, CAFÉ PURO launched  their “Philippine Dance” glass series—with not just 12 glasses but also coffee shakers to collect.

 

CAFE PURO RAINBOW GLASSES, 1969 Print Ad

In 1969, CAFÉ PURO offered its “Rainbow Glasses” collection, with “colors a-glow-glow”! There were 6 colors of glasses to choose from.

 

IMPERIAL CRYSTAL GLASSES FROM BLEND 45, 1967 Ad

Not to be outdone, BLEND 45 came up with its “Windsor Crystal Party Glasses” and “Crystal Imperial Glasses” offer, which were all successful.  The more premium NESCAFE introduced its decaffeinated brand in squat "diamond" glasses with repeating diamond shapes in raised relief. Many of these glasses could still be found being used in many Filipino homes to this day, still stored and kept in glass cabinets after all these years.

 

NESCAFE ESPRESSO IN DIAMOND GLASS, 1975 Ad

Eventually, the promotions came to include storage jars, pitchers,--and with the surge in popularity of coffee houses—coffee mugs in glass and ceramic, like what NESCAFE and CAFÉ PURO use.  BLEND 45, meanwhile, has done away with glass bottles and uses only foil packs today.

134. NESCAFE, “Great Cities of the World” Campaign, 1979-1980

NESCAFÉ’s most successful campaigns in the 1980s was, without a doubt,  the "Great Cities of the World", conceived by the all-Filipino agency, Advertising and Marketing Associates in 1979. In fact, the “Great Cities” campaign turned out to be a pre-cursor of another major NESCAFÉ hit—the “One World of Nescafe” , launched in 1983. But that is getting ahead of the story.

The “Great Cities” campaign was actually NESCAFÉ’s response to the claim of Blend 45 that “everyday, millions of cups are served all over the Philippines”.  Blend 45 then was NESCAFÉ’s chief competitor, primarily because of economics (it was cheaper),with a taste that’s “good enough” (although research shows that if the consumer respondent had money, he would go for Nescafe).

Research also showed that the positive image of NESCAFÉ was being driven by perceptions that it was an “international” and “imported” brand—which are often equated to “higher quality” in a time when colonial mentality was still prevalent in the Philippines.

The “internationality” of NESCAFÉ vs. the local Blend 45 thus became the basis of the campaign’s proposition, articulated by the consumers themselves: “We prefer NESCAFÉ because of its superior taste and quality, being an internationally-accepted brand”.

The next step was for creative chief Greg Macabenta to write the thematic line for the campaign, which he summed up as “NESCAFÉ…enjoyed in the great cities of the world.”  Nestle, represented by marketing head, Mr. Levi Castillo, approved the campaign.

TV commercials were immediately produced, with foreign footages supplied by the McCann-Erickson ad agency, which was shooting similar commercials for Nestle Japan. Scenes of people enjoying NESCAFÉ in Madrid, Rome, Paris and other European cities were featured in print ads, and of course, the campaign  was highlighted by a Manila version of the successful commercial series.

The campaign ran for three years until 1983, when the same concept was reincarnated into the equally-acclaimed launches of  "A Classic Taste The World Enjoys" and “One World of NESCAFÉ" extension campaigns.

SOURCE:

Macabenta, Greg B., ”How to Make a Benta - Anecdotes, Lectures & Articles from the Advertising Wars”. pp. 88-89. March 2011