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.

484. 1960s LAUNDRY SOAPS THAT BECAME WASHED-UP BRANDS

Four laundry detergent brands from the 1960s decade no longer with us. For one brief, shining moment, FAS, GLOW, SUNLIGHT and MARVEL had promising benefits that soon got washed away, for reasons we do could only assume as poor sales due to marketing, promotion, product or company issues.

1960 SUNLIGHT Print Ad

SUNLIGHT, introduced in 1960, was Lever Bros. brand that was created back in 1884, the world’s first packaged product. Despite being touted as “the world’s largest selling household soap”, it did not catch on with the public”.

FAS, 1966 Print Ad

FAS, with “the fastest cleaning power” was a product of Philippine Detergent Products introduced in 1966, but was killed when their other brand “Marvel” made greater strides in the market, so resources were put behind that brand instead.

 

GLOW, 1965 Print Ad

GLOW “Fights Stubborn Dirt” was the very first laundry product manufactured and launched by Peerless Products Manufacturing Corp. (est. 1963). It did not last long in the market dominated by Tide and Breeze. The company had their biggest success in 1977 when it launched “Champion” detergent, which continues to be a pillar of laundry care products for the company,

MARVEL, ca. 1967 Print Ad

MARVEL , a brand of Philippine Detergent Products introduced in 1967 had better success as it was pushed with TV commercials and print ads (“Relax Lang” campaign)  that saw it thru the early 1970s, before it fizzled out.

401. PRC's WHEEL: A Little Wheel Does a Lot of Washing Campaign, 1965-66.

' A LITTLE WHEEL DOES A LOT OF WASHING' LAUNCH AD, 1965

WHEEL, a product of Philippine Refining Co.,(PRC), was one of the leading detergent bars of the 1960s, a precursor of ‘SUPERWHEEL’, which would turn out to be even bigger. In 1965, a new campaign was rolled out, that touched on the capacity of one slow-melting detergent bar to handle bigger washloads—making WHEEL, in effect, cost-efficient, economical, giving value for money unlike any other.

The thematic campaign ‘A Little Wheel Does a Lot of Washing’ was developed by J. Walter Thompson, Phils., and to make the promise come alive, the agency employed large Filipino families—obviously with loads and loads of laundry to wash--- to provide testimonials to WHEEL’s ability to handle large volumes of dirty clothes.

Leading off the print ad series were members of the DELA ROSA FAMILY., 10 children in all: Front Row: Raffy, Bobby, Charito, Monina, Eddie and Cheque. Back Row: Menchu, Maricel, Mike, Ginger. “WHEEL  melts slowly”, Mrs.  Dela Rosa notes.”With a large family like mine, this is important.”

The family of ATTY. AND MRS. BARTOLOME RIVERA includes  brood of 10:  Renato (22), Mario (20), Rebecca (18), Reynaldo (16), Antonio (14), Leonor (12), Jessica (10), Bartolome III (8), Josephine (6), Nerissa (4). “WHEEL melts so slowly…”, Mrs. Rivera gushes, “see now how it is so economical!”

The family of MR. AND MRS. BENJAMIN PEREZ consists of 9 children: Cherrie (7),  Fancy (14, twin), Benjie (15), Jeannette (19), Mina (23), Lilian (17), Edwin (12), Glenn (3), Ruby (14, twin). Mrs. Rosario Perez says: “Just a little WHEEL is enough to wash all our white clothes whiter . all our colored clothes cleaner!”

The family of DR. AND MRS. GREGORIO CANCIO counts 9 kids: Marie Ched (3), Jose Marie (4), Margaret (1), Imelda (8), Greg (14), Salvador (12), Marie (10), Louies (9), Manny (6). Mrs.  Imelda Borromeo-Cancio enthuses: “Economical WHEEL keeps my family looking neat and clean, all days of the week!”.

This must have been a convincing campaign as by the mid to late 60s, most large families do their washing the economical way—with WHEEL!

384. Before Peerless Products Mfg. Corp. had their Champion, there was GLOW, (1965)

Peerless Products Manufacturing Corp. began in 1963, when stakeholders  invested in a laundry detergent technology that led to the creation of its very first brand, GLOW—in 1965--which works with “micro-clean action”. The revolutionary powder detergent guarantees deep-down cleaning of stubborn dirt in clothes, penetrating dirty spots, as active suds take over. No more scrubbing pains—GLOW ads touted.

 That time, the detergent market was saturated with dominant powder brands Tide, and Breeze, and traditional bars Ajax and Wheel. New introductions like Daz and Fab, tried vainly to penetrate the market. Unfortunately, GLOW suffered the same fate, as it could not sustain the kind of push that the multinational companies like P&G PMC and PRC  put behind their brands.

 

It would take 14 years for Peerless to finally come up with a winning laundry brand aptly called Champion, launched in 1977. It would become the primary laundry care banner brand for the company,  paving the way for the launch of detergent powders in the 2000s, and the expansion to dishwashing liquid, fabric conditioners (Calla), and shampoo (Hana). Today, after more than 50 years, Peerless Products Mfg. Corp.  continues to recognize that Filipino consumers only deserve genuine product quality, a promise fulfilled by their products.

 SOURCES:

Peerless background info: https://www.linkedin.com/company/peerless-products-mfg.-corp.

Photos of Champion, Calla, Hana: FB Page.

375. Great New Laundry Soap Discovery! PMC's OSO, 1957

As one knows Philippine Manufacturing Company (PMC) started as early as 1908, under the name Manila Refining Co. It capitalized on the rich coconut industry of the country, to give us edible products like “Purico”, an early vegetable oil-based shortening. When Procter and Gamble acquired it in 1935, the company beefed up its coconut oil-based product portfolio to include laundry detergent bars, with the introduction of PERLA  in 1949.

The next decade saw PMC expanding its detergent line. In 1951, it came up with dirt-fighting “Luto”, and in  1957, it launched OSO.

OSO was heralded as “a great new soap discovery”, with a promise that it “washes better than any other soap”—a bold superlative claim, at that time. It was a product of a “new process” that made the soap purer and brighter. Thus, OSO had a 3-way advantage: longer-lasting suds, greater economy, and more fragrant clothes.

 Subsequent ads positioned it as “the whitest soap, for the whitest wash”. Even with this, OSO did not last the 50s decade.  After all, P&G already had 3 detergent bars at that time, and the differentiation was not delineated at that time. The best performer was PERLA, and consumers have also began discovering that it was also ideal for white clothes, as it was not only effective, but gentle. OSO was eased out towards the end of the 50s decade; LUTO would also be dropped. PMC decided put its marketing resources behind PERLA, a move that proved to be wise, as the iconic soap bar continue to exist to this day.

308. DAZ AND FAS : Two Lesser-Known Detergents of the Mid-60s

DAZZ gets clothes dazzling clean--saves you money too! 1965

Sometime in 1965, two laundry detergents were launched one after each other in the Philippines, both with one syllable-brand names, which also rhymes, and both price brands. DAZ was a Procter & Gamble project introduced in 1953 in the United Kingdom. It was aggressively promoted there, and over a decade later, was rolled out to the Philippines as Super DAZ, in the hope of replicating its success in the U.K. market. DAZ was sold on  the basis of its fast, cleaning power, at a price more economical than any laundry bar or powder. 

FAS, for the fastest cleaning power! 1966

Right on its heels was FAS, a locally manufactured laundry powder of the Philippine Detergents Products.  FAS claims to be the detergent with “the fastest cleaning power”, in a time where  supelatives were permitted without any substantive proof.

Both DAZ and FAS had print ads that looked suspiciously similar, one is wont to think that they were made to compete against each other. But no such fireworks happened, as DAZ failed to dazzle and FAS was fast to fade; both brands did not even survive the end of the 60s decade.

 

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 

228. Mother And Daughter Models: ROSA ROSAL & TONI ROSE GAYDA

LIKE MOTHER, LIKE DAUGHTER, Rosa Rosal with only daughter, Toni Rose Gayda.

Rosa Rosal (born as Florence Lansang Danon on 16 Oct. 1931) was one of the prized stars of LVN Pictures. She often assumed the roles of femme fatales, sexy vixens, wayward girls (but with a heart of gold) and a daring, seductive siren.

She was only 15 when she appeared in her first movie, “Fort Santiago (1946) by the Nolasco Brothers Studio. Her performance impressed the LVN bosses who got her  and transformed her into a fine actress in such classics as Biyaya ng Lupa (1959) and Anak Dalita (1956). She won the FAMAS Best Actress for Sonny Boy in 1955.

 

ROSA ROSAL, Early CAMAY GIRL. Print Ad, 1953.

Offscreen, Rosa Rosal led a quiet , purposeful life. She joined the Philippine National Red Cross in 1950 and has actively promoted blood donation though the years. She also engaged in charitable and humanitarian work on TV (Damayan, Kapwa Ko, Mahal Ko) that won for her the ramon Magsaysay Award in 1999.

As such, she became a role model and early in her career, she was chosen to be one of the 1950s CAMAY Girls, that included such legendary screen beauties like Norma Blancaflor, Gloria Romero, Nida Blanca, Nenita Cardenas, and Charito Solis.

 

ROSA ROSAL, for GENTLE Fine Fabric Deteregent, 1976.

In the 70s decade,  Rosal became active on television, and did dramas and sitcms like “Yan Ang Misis Ko”, opposite Ronald Remy.  She also did one movie in 1976,”Sakada”, directed by Behn Cervantes, that was banned by the Marcos government. Because of her familiarity to TV audiences, Rosal was persuaded to appear in a commercial for GENTLE Fine Fabric Detergent.

Rosal’s daughter with American pilot Walter Gayda whom she married in 1957, alo had a successful run as a showbiz personality. Toni Rose Gayda became a sought-after model, and was a CAMAY Girl, like her mom.  She did at least ne campaign for JOHNSON’S BABY LOTION, in 1979, with Ace Compton Advertising, Inc. 

TONI ROSE GAYDA, for Johnson's Baby Lotion, 1979.

Toni Rose Gayda, later found fame as a TV host of Eat Bulaga (1996-2014), following her stint in Student Canteen and Lunch Date. Gayda presently co- hosts of A Song Of Praise Music Festival on UNTV,  gospel music TV program.

181. It’s Here! America’s Newest Washing Discovery! BREEZE: The First Philippine Ads, 1962-1968

THE LAUNCH AD OF BREEZE 'Washes Doubly Clean". Magazine double-page spread. 1962

Philippine Refining Company (PRC), started as an oil milling business in the country as early as 1916, but it was only in 1927 that it was incorporated until it was acquired by Unilever Goup. 

1966 box

By the start of the 1960s, PRC had become a worthy competitor to Philippine Manufacturing Co. P&G, with a portfolio that included margarines, beauty soaps (Ever, Lux), shortening/cooking oils (White Band, Camia) and detergent bars, specifically the very popular Wheel. As one can see, all these products had competitive counterparts from PMC.

But when PMC launched the highly successful powdered detergent TIDE in 1957, PRC  was caught flat-footed and it took 5 years for the company to respond. But when it did, the product touted as America’s newest washing discovery—BREEZE—also took off and became a major player in the powdered laundry detergent segment.

BREEZE was actually launched in the U.S. market by the Lever Bros. in 1947 as a soapless, cleaning product. It was heavily supported with promotions and advertising, and became an established brand by the mid 1950s, so it was the perfect product to match to TIDE which had a hold on the powdered detergent market. The first ad appeared in 1962, which referred to the product as "America's newest washing discovery", in an age of colonial mentality.  TIDE, of course, was touted as "a sensational new washing discovery.")

 

BREEZE SUSTAINING AD, 1963

BREEZE was initially sold in pouches, and then in boxes. With its unique benefit—“BREEZE washes doubly clean—clean all over, clean all through”—the detergent’s dual promise, with a value-for-money undertone proved very appealing to Filipino housewives, and by 1963, it was drawing converts and new users by the thousands.

 

BREEZE "BANDWAGON" SUSTAINING AD, 1963

It is  accurate to say that TIDE and BREEZE grew the powdered detergent category in the Philippines, and both brands helped in popularizing a new detergent form that was looked at as more modern, more advanced, than detergent bars. It was one of the first brands to use music marketing; on radio, local singer Ruben Tagalog was hired to sing kundiman paeans to the art of  the wash.

 

DOUBLY CLEAN BREEZE AD, 1964

BREEZE consistently stuck to its “double clean” benefit, and further fortified this promise with the claim--“one soaping…one rinsing..no bleaching”.

 

THE ICONIC  HOUSEWIFE SNUGGLING TO BREEZE-WASHED SHEETS, 1965

In 1965, BREEZE ads began featuring an iconic outdoor shot of a woman with windblown hair, snuggled close to a bundle of clean, white sheets in her arms. The shot was meant to visualize “the fresh-air cleanness of clothes washed with BREEZE”.

 

NEW BREEZE, WITH INSTANT WASHING POWER, 1965

This picture would be used on the front panels of BREEZE boxes, as well as in its first relaunch since 1962. In 1966, BREEZE with New Instant Washing Power, was introduced. The new, improved BREEZE had quick-acting, power-packed suds that instantly work at once on stubborn stains and dirt. The results are clothese “so clean, you can even smell the freshness”.

 

FRESH-AIR CLEANNESS! 1966

This messaging would be used for the next two years, 1967-68. As a new decade dawned, PRC would go easy on BREEZE advertising, as by 1967, it was kept busy introducing its second laundry powdered detergent brand, the short-lived “RINSO”.

 

SMELL THE FRESHNESS. 1967

BREEZE would survive the rise of syndet (synthetic detergent) bars in the 1980s; today, BREEZE, (like its staunch competitor, TIDE), remains available in the Philippines, in powder and in the new liquid form, powered with ActiveBleach. The brand also continues to be advertised.

THE REAL TEST OF CLEANNESS. 1968

SOURCES:

Various Sunday Times Magazine issues

Breeze detergent: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breeze_detergent

Unilever Ph, website: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unilever_Philippines

Then and Now, Magazine 1961, Philippine Refining Company, p. 27

173. PMC LUTO: “The Soap that Fights Dirt!” (1951)

Philippine Manufacturing Company (PMC) started as Manila Refining Co., way back in 1908 for the purpose of manufacturing candles and fertilizer. By 1917, PMC forayed into vegetable shortening production, but things too off when Procter & Gamble of Cincinnati U.S.A. purchased PMC in 1935, resulting in the expansion of its product portfolio.

PMC entered the soap business in 1950 beginning with Camay. The next year, PMC ventured into the detergent business with the introduction of PMC LUTO.  The laundry soap came in blocks of to, and the PMC trademark is carved in every genuine block of PMC LUTO Soap.

The early 1951 ads were all in English, using the campaign theme “The Soap that Fights Dirt”. In an age where advertising regulations were still no-existent, PMC LUTO  was described as “the most effective laundry soap—easy-lathering, fast-working”.

One of the comics-style ad shows a lavandera from Saluysoy, Bulacan, extolling the virtues of the product in perfect English—“PMC LUTO really lathers easily..makes laundry chores a pleasure!”

By 1954, the PMC LUTO print ads now were appropriately written in the Pilipino language.  There was a new power ingredient too—Lumina—“bagong pampasinag na sangkap!”. The ad copy was picturesque and flowery—“Limutin ang mga “Antuking Sabon”! Damit na nilabhan sa PMC LUTO ay nagiging higit na malinis, napakabango! Ang puti ay higit na pumuputi, ang mga kulay higit na marilag!

PMC LUTO would give way to a new, breakthrough detergent powder in 1957—a first in the Philippines—TIDE--which would make Procter & Gamble PMC an undisputed leader in the detergent industry.

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