274. Brand Stories: SAFEGUARD of Procter & Gamble (1963)

SAFEGUARD GOLD, INTRO AD, 1987

Procter & Gamble has a rich heritage of soap-making, as James Gamble was a soap maker. In 1879, they created Ivory that became a worldwide business success. P& G was also known for its beauty and toilet soaps.

SAFEGUARD SOAP PACKS, White and Gold, 1987

In 1963,P&G ventured into the germicidal soap market to answer rising consumer demand for odor and germ protection. Thus SAFEGUARD was launched, a deodorant and antibacterial soap that reduced bacterial skin count by 99.3% in clinical tests. It was successfully rolled out in the U.S., and then in 1966, it was launched internationally, beginning in the Philippines.  The soap came in wrappers with a trademark shield icon, symbolic of its germ protection property.

BEFORE & AFTER DEMONSTRATION OF
DE-GERMING POWER OF SAFEGUARD

The next year, scientific proof of SAFEGUARD’s de-germing efficacy were published in clinical journals.  The studies also showed that Safeguard reduces skin infections by 44%. This became the basis of SAFEGUARD’s advertising messaging in the Philippines that remained unchanged to this day.

SAFEGUARD SHIELD ICON USED AS A SYMBOL OF SAFEGUARD'S GERMICIDAL POWER

One of the earliest, if not the earliest SAFEGUARD TVC shows a man in a bath tub  (played by unknown actor Mario O’Hara) happily scrubbing away with a bar of SAFEGUARD as he extolled the virtues of the anti-bacterial soap.

SAFEGUARD enjoyed even greater success when the local P&G secured the endorsement of the Philippine Association of Medical Technologists (PAMET). In the 70s, advertising code prevented doctors from promoting products—but not allied medical workers like bacteriologists and medical technologists.  

WATCH SAFEGUARD'S "MILA DELFONSO" 1970s TVC HERE:

uploaded by Juan DeLa Cruz, 1 June 2008

SAFEGUARD capitalized on this, and its advertising agency—Ace Compton Advertising—produced a series of  commercial  featuring real-life medical technologists using the soap, both in the lab and at home.

The creative thin-tank of Ace Compton continued to churn out even more effective and memorable SAFEGUARD advertising with the launch of the “Conscience” campaign. The TV commercials featured mothers in the act of buying more affordable beauty soaps for their families. The mother’s personified “ghost conscience”  appears,  to remind her of her responsibility to give only the best for her family. With her conscience piqued, she chooses SAFEGUARD with 24 hour germicidal protection.

WATCH SAFEGUARD'S "KONSENSYA" 1980s TVC HERE:

Uploaded by Safeguard Philippines, 1 May 2016

With SAFEGUARD dominating the germicidal soap market for decades,  the brand was in a position to launch other promotional initiatives—introducing variants such as SAFEGUARD White and Gold,  linking with PAMET to offer free med tech scholarships, and leading the way with allied efforts like the “Wash Your Hands” campaign that has evolved into a Global Handwashing Day—a unique event that is saving lives around the world.

For the rest of the 80s-90s decade, SAFEGUARD continued to rule the germicidal soap market with its unique combination of effective germ protection and mildness, even with the fold-up of the local P&G marketing office. 

WATCH SAFEGUARD GOLD 1987 TVC HERE:

Uploaded by vibesey, 6 May 2017

SAFEGUARD continues to be present worldwide in 15 countries, including the Philippines.  The modified shield on the packaging is still there—now called Germshield, also a name for the active ingredient  in SAFEGUARD that fights off more types of harmful germs longer than any other anti-bacterial soap. Over the years, new products have been added to the SAFEGUARD name as well—from anti-acne soaps.  body and face wash, to foaming hand soaps.

In these times when the COVID-19 pandemic is upon us, we need to fight germs and viruses more than ever, and reduce incidence of preventable diseases such as diarrhea, influenza, and pneumonia.  Then, as now,  SAFEGUARD is on our side!

SOURCES:

Procter and Gamble Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Procter_%26_Gamble

Safeguard, Par of the P&G Family : https://www.safeguard.ph/en-ph?gclid=Cj0KCQjwmpb0BRCBARIsAG7y4zaql_-P3CrUumjeWi9sDEiyTFHlBE71D6S4cyJ5hWjAMAHUh0dlQ5kaArJUEALw_wcB

1988 Creative Guild of the Philippines Awards Night Souvenir Program

VIDEOS:
Safeguard Commercial (Mila Delfonso), uploaded by Juan dela Cruz, 1 Jun. 2008, 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIUtUgHRBOw
Safeguard "Konsensya", uploaded by Safeguard Philipines, 1 May 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKqPVw79prs&t=37s
Safeguard Gold with new fragrance, uploaded by vibesey, 6 May 2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uusp1RHW1-Q

210. Health is Life: LIFEBUOY SOAP, Philippine Ads, 1936-1966

EARLY 1936 PHILIPPINE AD, LIFEBUOY HEALTH SOAP & SHAVING CREAM.

LIFEBUOY Health Soap  has a long history in the Philippines, available here in the Philippines since the Commonwealth years. Originally introduced by the Lever Bros. in England in 1895, it made a splash in America, becoming one of the country’s most popular soaps from 1923 to the 1950s.

The first LIFEBUOY Soaps in the country were imported from the U.S. by Smith, Bell & Co.Ltd. in the 1930s. The soaps—which were phenol-based carbolic soaps—were advertised on a “health” platform as the mediciney-smelling soap had germ-fighting qualities.

The Philippine Refining Company (PRC, founded 1916, incorporated 1927) became the manufacturers and marketers of Lever Brothers products when the company ventured into bath and beauty soaps. The first soap product introduced was LUX in 1950.  By 1951, LIFEBUOY was the best selling health soap in North America , prompting PRC to launch the soap here that same year.

 

WASH DAILY WITH LIFEBUOY! 1953 AD

The first illustrated, locally-made ads came out in 1953, touting the germicidal properties of the soap. The octagonal shaped LIFEBUOY  came in red and yellow packaging.

 

LIFEBUOY, KILL GERMS--GUARDS YOUR HEALTH,1953

Sometime in 1951 or 1952,  Lever Bros. experimented with adding perfumes to the soap, and made the changes permanent in 1954. Thus LIFEBUOY was repositioned as both a health and beauty soap. It is credited for popularizing the term “B.O.”for ‘body odor’ in it advertising.

 

MARLENE DAUDEN AND TONY MARZAN, LIFEBUOY SOAP, 1955

Advertisements from 1955, featured the coral-colored LIFEBUOY Soap endorsed by local showbiz love teams as a family soap. The ads made mentioned of LIFEBUOY’s exclusive purifying ingredient—Puralin—which keeps body safe from sweat and perspiration. The same ingredient also clears skin of blemishes. The first romantic pair featured were Marlene Dauden and Tony Marzan.

 

MARLENE DAUDEN AND TONY MARZAN, FOR LIFEBUOY, 1955

The use of the country's leading love teams turned out to be very successful, as beauty soaps made use of the same celebrity formula for their ads. The no #1 tandem of Nida Blanca and Nestor de Villa,  joined the LIFEBUOY bandwagon in 1957. 

NIDA BANCA AND NESTOR DE VILLA, FOR LIFEBUOY, 1957 Photo: VIDEO48

Sampaguita Pictures was contracted by PRC to provide wholesome romantic pairings to appear in the LIFEBUOY print ads, and they were employed for regular as weall as seasonal promotions,

NATION'S LEADING LOVE TEAMS, LIFEBUOY ENDORSERS,1957

Other leading love teams of the country who pushed the product in the 50s decades included Amalia Fuentes and Juancho Gutierrez, Shirley Moreno and Zaldy Zshornack, Maruta Zobel and Robert Campos, and Lita Gutierrez and Willie Sotelo.

MARITA ZOBEL AND ROBERT CAMPOS FOR LIFEBUOY SOAP, 1961

 In the 1960s, the love team formula in LIFEBUOY advertising was continued by the new toast of Philippine movies, Susan Roces and young, matinee idol, Romeo Vasquez,  Marita Zobel and Robert campos also pushed the products to new height in 1961

SUSAN ROCES AND ROMEO VASQUEZ, FOR LIFEBUOY SOAP, 1960

LIFEBUOY surged in popularity in  late 1960s through the early 1970s, with the introduction of LIFEBUOY White.

 

GLORIA ROMERO & JUANCHO GUTIERREZ, FOR LIFEBUOY SOAP, 1961.

By 1966, LIFEBUOY began modernizing its look, and upgrading its formulation, with its Double Care  Action, which protects against skin bacteria, and which gives a longer-lasting feeling of after-bath freshness. This was at a critical time when Procter & Gamble decided to launch its bacterial skin soap, Safeguard, internationally, beginning with the Philippines.

LIFEBUOY'S DOUBLE-CARE ACTION, for all-day protection, 1966

LIFEBUOY's original anti-bacteria platform had been diluted through the years with added promises of complexion care due to the proliferation of beauty soaps. This proved to be LIFEBUOY's undoing, as Safeguard would latch on to this single-minded "germ protection', and built it with credentials from medical authorities. By the new 70s decade, SAFEGUARD had a stronghold on the bacterial soap market.

LIFEBUOY, Double-Care campaign, female version, 1966

LIFEBUOY advertising continued till the early 2000s, until the product itself was totally phased out from the U.S. market in 2006, though it still is produced in some parts of the world, including India—for the Asian market.

AN ATTEMPT TO PRE-EMPT SAFEGUARD'S LAUNCH, Note tagline. 1966

SOURCE:

NIDA-NESTOR LIFEBUOY PRIINT AD, courtesy of Video 48.http://video48.blogspot.com/2008/04/terrific-tandem-of-nida-and-nestor.html