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

273. The Alcohol that’s Got It All: GREEN PINES ALCOHOL by Union Carbide

Union Carbide Corp. (founded 1917), is more famous for its brand of car batteries and alkaline batteries. But through its chemical division, Union Carbide  is also a producer of ethylene, a basic chemical made from components of crude oil and natural gas. Ethylene is converted into polyethylene to produce ethylene oxide, which is used by the company in the making of ethylene glycol,  solvents, and—alcohols.

In July 1971, the Union Carbide introduced to the Philippine market, its new GREEN PINES RUBBING ALCOHOL. It mentholated alcohol fives an instantly cool feeling on skin.  It has soothing wintergreen for comfort that lingers.

Packed in Tru-grip bottle, GREEN PINES, also has a flow regulator to avoid spillage. And it’s guaranteed pure. No wonder, GREEN PINES claim is that this is the “alcohol that’s got it all”.

Too bad GREEN PINES didn’t survive the decade. Just like the current situation caused by the corona virus, the alcohol went out of stock before the decade was over. Today, Union Carbide is now wholly owned by the Dow Chemical Co.

272. Wipe Out! TOILET PAPER BRAND ADVERTISING 1955-1967

The Covid-19 Pandemic put the world in panic, causing hoarding of essential sanitation products from alcohol, germicidal soaps, disinfectants—and even toilet paper! Americans, most especially, caused a temporary shortage of toilet paper in the U.S. shortly after the break-out of the corona virus infection.

The practice of wiping one’s self clean with paper sheets after taking a poop is an American habit. It began in 1857 when enterprising Joseph Gayetty invented aloe-lined sheets of manila hemp that were sold in boxes. This led to the commercial production of toilet paper and one of the pioneers was the Scott Paper Company.

 

SCOTTISSUE by Scott Paper Co., 1967

SCOTT Paper Company was the first to put toilet paper on a roll, devised by 2 brothers, Clarence and E. Irvin Scott in 1890. The product outsold Gayetty’s medicated sheets, and the brothers—upon seeing the success of their toilet paper—cast aside their initial shame about the nature of their business—and began branding their toilet tissue with their name in 1913. By 1925, Scott Paper Co. became the leading toilet paper company in the world. In the 1960s, it operated in the Philippines and marketed the SCOTTISSUE brand. Kimberly-Clark Corporation acquired the company in 1995.

 

KLEENEX AND TISS BATHROOM TISSUE, Kimberly-Clark 1967

KIMBERLY-CLARK Philippines Inc., began its Philippine operations in 1964. Started in 1872, it is now a leading global marketer of Family Care, Personal and Professional Care products for use in the home, business, and industry. Its most successful brand was KLEENEX facial tissue, and in 1966-67, introduced KLEENEX BATHROOM TISSUE, which claimed to be the softest. It was sold in 4’s, packed in plastic wrap.

TISS was another paper line with a more popular price. The brand name was carried by its boxed facial tissue, table tissue and toilet paper products. TISS BATHROOM TISSUE would eventually disappear from the Philippine market.

 

SUPER TISSUE, a Globe product of Keng Hua Paper, 1955

The first local producer of toilet paper can be claimed by the venerable KENG HUA Paper Products Co. Inc. of Malabon, which was a pioneer supplier of paper products for school and office needs like bond paper, pad paper, notebooks and carbon paper. It was the largest envelope manufacturer in the Philippines. In 1955, it began manufacturing SUPER TISSUE, a soft and absorbent toilet paper rolls of 1,000 sheets.

While there was much hoopla about toilet paper shortage in the U.S., Filipinos had a “much ado about nothing” attitude of the worldwide tissue issue. After all, there’s still the good old “tabo”—dipping cans—traditionally used to wash and clean their butts. No wiping, no toilet paper needed. Only a good soap washing afterwards!

SOURCES:

How America Convinced the World to Wipe:

https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/23210/toilet-paper-history-how-america-convinced-world-wipe

Scott Paper Company., https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Paper_Company

Kimberly-Clark: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kimberly-Clark

271. Going Anti-Viral: DISINFECTANTS AND ALCOHOL PRODUCTS 1959-1989

In these current time when the world is besieged with the covid-19 virus, alcohols and disinfectants are the products of the moment, simply based on how fast they were snapped up when the infection reached the Philippines. Before the pandemic, disinfectants, bleach, germicides and alcohol were not exactly on top of a shopper’s list, as these products were often relegated in the comfort rooms and first aid cabinets of most Filipino homes. 

FAMILY RUBBING ALCOHOL, by PAGODA PHILIPPINES

Time was when these products were seldom advertised, and the few ads that we know about them were more light than serious (“’di lang pampamilya, pang-isports pa!”). Now, alcohol and disinfectants are much in demand again, with a more serious role—as first line of defense against the dreaded corona virus which has put the world in the throes of fear and panic. 

Let us look back at some of the brand advertising of these products that we used in our war against germs,  bacteria and viruses, when the world was younger—from 30 to 50 years ago. 

SANI-CHLOR, chlorine-based bleach, 1959

LYSOL, ALL-AROUND DISINFECTANT LIQUID, 1964

PUREX BLEACH, 1980

WATCH FAMILY RUBBING ALCHOL TVS

STARRING REFEREE CARLOS PADILLA JR. HERE:

uploaded by Jackie Arjona

CASINO RUBBING ALCOHOL, 1989

WATCH THIS 1992 GREEN CROSS ALCOHOL AD 

uploaded by opmtracker

VIDEO SOURCES:

FAMILY RUBBING ALCOHOL: Old Philippine TV Ad, uploaded by opmtracker, on April 15, 2007,https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQuTPEYg2ow

GREEN CROSS ALCOHOL AD IN MAY 1992, uploaded by Jackie Arjona on April 22, 2010, aired on MBS-48.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZdg-S_s6a

270. Celebrity Endorser: JOSEPHINE ESTRADA, Miss Philippines 1962

JOSEPHINE BROWN ESTRADA, MISS PHILIPPINES 1962 FOR MISS UNIVERSE

The first Filipino-American beauty to represent the Philippines in the Miss Universe beauty pageant was the very popular JOSEPHINE BROWN ESTRADA (b. 9 April 1944/d. 13 Apr. 2019). The 5’5½ “, 120 pounder Zamboangueña was an occasional  actress, model and  held a string a beauty titles before her major win—she was a runner up to Edita Vital in 1960, and was Miss Aviation of 1961.

After an absence of 4 years at the Miss Universe (Chuchay Tuason and Cristina Matias did not participate in 1958 and 1959, no delegates in 1960,1961), Estrada stood tall at the Long Beach stage as Miss Philippines.Though she did not place in the pageant, Estrada returned to the country and became an even bigger star of  Sampaguita Pictures, cast alongside leading men as Joseph Estrada and Tony Ferrer. 

She also became a favorite commercial model, and these print ads from a variety of major advertisers show why. Estrada remained active until 1983, and then permanently settled in the U.S., until her death just days after her 75^th birthday in Arizona.

ESTRADA FOR COKE, 1966

MISS PHILIPPINES JOSEPHINE ESTRADA FOR COKE, 1962

JOSEPHINE ESTRADA FOR COKE, 1962

JOSEPHINE ESTRADA AS A LUX LADY, 1967

JOSEPHINE ESTRADA, FOR MOISTURELLE, 1975

JOSEPHINE ESTRADA, FOR NATIONAL ZIPPER, 1970

DATA SOURCE:

Miss News by Robert Maceda, http://www.missnews.com.br/historia/josephine-estrada-miss-philippines-of-1962-dies-in-us-75

269. THE 1970s-1980s: DECADES OF THE DENIM GENERATION

In the late 70s, jeans took on a new status—apparel not just for the working class, but for the  rich, the beautiful and the famous—with the emergence of so-called “designer jeans”.  Calvin Klein made them, So did Gloria Vanderbilt. Let’s not forget Sergio Valente and Sassoon.  Suddenly, it was “in” to wear jeans again, and a new jeans era began, with a slew of jeans manufacturer, both local and international, jumping into the denim bandwagon.

There were Faded Glory jeans, Bang-Bang, and good ol’ Levi’s. But there was also Cacharel, Bunny Jeans, Boogie Jeans, and Pepe Jeans. There were acid-washed jeans, stone-washed jeans , skinny jeans, double denims.  Jeans were crushed, frayed, and faded and braided. And all sported labels that everyone flaunted with flair. Let’s have a retro-look at some Philippine advertising from the Decade of Denim, the 1970s and early 80s.

BAX JEANS, 1978

BANG-BANG JEANS SHOP, 1974

JEANS CACHAREL, 1980

HUSTLER JEANS, 1978

JAG JEANS, 1978

KLIK JEANS,1978

PADDOCKS JEANS,1978

BOOGIE JEANS,1979

SOLIDENIM FADERS, 1975

WANTED JEANS,1978

YOUNG IMAGE JEANS,1980

PEPE JEANS, 1984

PHOTO CREDITS:

 All identified jeans advertisers, their ad agencies and photographers,

268. THE DELA ROSA BROTHERS: Model Marketers for VICKS and OLD GOLD

Philippine moviedom was at its brightest in the ‘40s and ‘50s with the luminous presence of one talented family of from Lubao: the de la Rosas. The family of performers, children of Feliciano dela Rosa and Rosario Lim,  were all involved in the movies in different capacities. They included Africa dela Rosa, a character actress and a writer and Purita, who dabbled in acting but is more well-known as the 1st wife of Pres. Diosdado P. Macapagal.

Two siblings would join them in the acting bandwagon and would rise to great prominence. ROGELIO DELA ROSA (born as Regidor de la Rosa on 12 November 1916), the older of the two, would become the golden boy of 1930s-50s Philippine Cinema. Discovered for the movies by director Gregorio Fernandez, the strapping 6-footer was introduced to film mogul Don Jose Nepomuceno in 1929.

His launch movie in 1932 was with a Filipina-European mestiza, Rosa del Rosario (the 1st high-flying Darna) , entitled Ligaw na Bulaklak. Other early works included Diwata ng Karagatan for Parlatone Hispano Family (1936) and Bituing Marikit, Sampaguita Pictures (1937). But Rogelio de la Rosa was most known for his team-up with Carmen Rosales, d

His most acclaimed role yet was in the 1955 movie Higit sa Lahat, directed by Gregorio Fernandez. He not only earned a Famas Best Actor Award for his role, but also won the 1956 Asian Film Fest Best Actor Award in Hong Kong.

The popularity of the Dela Rosa brothers earned them a few commercial endorsements. ROGELIO did a print ad for OLD GOLD Cigarettes in 1953. Old Gold was introduced in 1926 by the Lorillard Tobacco Company and, was one of the more famous cigarette brands in the Philippines, thanks to advertising.The OLD GOLD print ad is cross-promoted with dela Rosa’s 1953 movie ,”Sa Paanan ng Bundok”, in post-production at that time. In 1953, Lorillard began advertising king-size Old Gold side by side with the standard brand. in 1957, it added a filtered variety as well.

After retiring from the movies, he entered politics, got elected as a Senator, ran for Presidency, only to retract his candidacy to give way to brother-in-law Diosdado. He then became an ambassador to Sri Lanka, Cambodia. His last assignment was in The Hague, Netherlands, a post he held until his death on 10 November 1986.

Just like his siblings, JAIME DE LA ROSA (b. 1920)  forayed into movie acting. With his debonair looks, Jaime too, was destined to take center stage and follow his own star.

He was studying Law when the teen was first featured in the Eastern Pictures movie, Anak ng Lansangan (Children of the Streets) in 1939, using the screen name Tommy de la Rosa. Soon,  he was cast successively in 3 movies in supporting roles: Cadena de Amor, Bawal na Pag-ibig  and Kahapon Lamang.

His rising career was momentary halted by the War, but right after, in 1951 , Jaime was cast in the 1st ever Darna movie, starring Rosa del Rosario, as the lead’s love interest. In 1953, he was Fredo, the human lover of the fabled mermaid beauty, Dyesebel, played by  Edna Luna. Both movies catapulted him to stardom.

JAIME DELA ROSA dabbled in radio, where he hosted program for PMC. Thus, he became a drumbeater for PURICO as well as COCA-COLA, where promotional postcards of him were made, ca. 1953.

The ‘50s decade can be considered as Jaime’s heyday, with a string of hit movies for LVN like Satur , Galawgaw (a role identified with Nida Blanca),  Anak ng Pulubi,  and Medalyong Perlas. In 1956, Jaime was nominated for the Best Actor FAMAS award his gritty performance in the movie Kumander 13.

When television was introduced in the Philippines, Jaime became one of the new medium’s pioneers, hosting ABS-CBN’s Caltex Star Caravan

  

In 1959, JAIME DELA ROSA was tapped by VICKS to push VICKS INHALER. VICKS then had an expanded product line that includes Vaporub, Formula 44, Impact  and Cough Drops. Along with Jaime, movie stars like Jean Lopez and Luis Gonzales endorsed VICKS INHALER. 

Just like his brother, Jaime entered the world of politics. He served as a councilor of Manila and eventually became the city’s Vice Mayor. He died in service, on 18 September 1996.

Today, the dela Rosa brothers are considered true movie icons and role models of the film industry, their stars shining the brightest in the gilded age  of Philippine Cinema.