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| Comedian PUGO, as WINNER Refrigerator celebrity endorser, Print Ad, 1978 |
Philippine Appliance Corp. (PHILACOR) had its humble
beginnings in 1963, when an enterprising
engineering graduate of the University of the Philippines, Dante Santos, began assembling
basic home appliances, together with artner Hilarion Henares. He had also gone to the University of Washington to take
advanced studies in Mechanical and Electrical Engineering.
In March 1965, PHILACOR plant was inaugurated in Parañaque
and by the 70s, became the leading manufacturer of freezers and refrigerators
in the Philippines with around 1,500 employees. Its line of refrigerators under
the brand name WINNER turned out to be one of the biggest best-sellers.
It is no wonder that PHILACOR became one of the more
active advertisers during this period. One of the celebrities employed to push
WINNER Refrigerators was the veteran comedian PUGO (Mariano Contreras in real
life, b. 12 Jul. 1910. 12 Dec. 1978). He started as a bod-a-bil comic,
achieving fame in the 1930s thru the 1950s, as the other half of the Pugo and Togo
comedy tandem.
From the stage, PUGO went into movies, landing leading
roles in Sorry Na Lang (1947), Edong Mapangarap (1950), Kambal Tuko,
Sundalong Kanin (1952) and Nukso ng Nukso (1960) . He found greater
fame with the advent of TV, in sitcoms like Tang Tarang-tang (1966)
which became Si Tatang Kasi in 1970. His other hit TV shows in
the 1970s were Wanted: Boarders and My Son, My Son.
Due to his popularity, PUGO was sought by a few clients to
endorse their products, including San Miguel Beer in 1967. This WINNER Refrigerator
print ad, which featured PUGO in 1978, was the last of his appearances. As the
Dean of Philippine Comedy died later in the same year, at age 68.
As to PHILACOR, it woukd be beset with serious problems
in the new millennium, including union woes, unsettled debts, huge losses
traced to failure to sell its old plant and over-production. This led to a
break-up of its operations in June 2000.
SOURCES:
Pugo, Wikipedia.com
Philippine Appliance Corporation is inaugurated today,
March 1965,
Phil. Daily Inquirer, Philacor closes shop for 3 months,
settles P1B IOUs, break up operations, June 8 2000
