323. Beauty Queens as Ad Models: CHARINA ZARAGOZA, 1968 Bb. Pilipinas-Universe

MODEL OF BEAUTY. Charina Rosello Zaragoza. Bb. Pilipinas Universe 1968

ROSARIO CHARINA ROSELLO ZARAGOZA, a 19 year old Interior Design graduate from Madrid, won one of the two Bb. Pilipinas crowns at stake (co-winner was Nini Ramos who was sent to Miss International) on July 1968 at the Araneta Coliseum. 

CHARINA AS ESKINOL GIRL, 1968

Her father was the renown architect and National Artist Jose Ma. V. Zaragoza (married to Pilar Rosello), who had designed buildings like the Sto. Domingo Church in 1954. Her paternal grandmother was Rosario Infante Velez of Guagua, making Charina a quarter Kapampangan. 

CHARINA FOR DIAL SOPA, Print Ad 1974

Charina was already a popular cover girl for may Manila magazines even before she joined Bb. Pilipinas. Her Latina mestiza beauty, her pedigree and her talents—she was a trained flamenco dancer, guitarist and singer—won her the plum crown of Bb. Pilipinas-Universe. 

CHARINA MODELS FOR POND'S, Print ad 1976

Charina went to Miami Beach, Florida to compete in the Miss Universe contest, won by Brazil’s Martha Vasconcellos. Though she didn’t win, she came home full of stories of her exciting times in Miami. Over the years, she landed a few advertising jobs for blue-chip clients like ESKINOL, DIAL SOAP and POND’S. 

CHARINA WEDS LUCAS SAINZ

She married civil engineer and Spanish rally champion Lucas Sainz in 1978, and settled in Madrid. They had a son, Mark Lucas. Both she and her husband share a love for music (her husband was a former member of Los Pekenikes, a popular pop group in Spain.

LISTEN TO SHARINE'S "SOLO PARA TI" HERE:

She pursued her music career with Lucas as her manager-producer and came under contract with Columbia records, Under the name “Sharine” she recorded a number of successful compositions in Spanish.

SOURCE:

youtube video: Sharine "Solo para ti", https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c75JQ2f_V-Q&t=50s.

Uploaded by MrLazarovfan, July 31 2022

322. Sun, Sand, and Sandals! SANDALS OF SUMMER, 1959-1962

BEACH WALK SANDALS, 1960. Most Popular Footwear in the World.

Long before high-end Havaianas and signature "flip-flops" came into fashion, there were the bright, all-purpose, cheap rubber sandal brands that we wore, available practically anywhere. These were our everyday footwear, but they were most useful for walking on the beach, strolling on the sand during summer excursions. These mass-produced footwear had basic constructions, consisting of rubber soles, and criss-crossed or straight straps, or a Y-shape thong. Since they all looked so similar, companies differentiated their brands by using attractive colors, decorative features, and slight design variations. Most were of rubber, although a few were made of plastic. This assortment of sandals print shows the bewildering number of sandals and styles produced during the late 50s to the early 60s decade.

BEACH WALK RUBBER SANDALS, 1959

HONGKONG SANDALS, 1961

SANDALIAS / ANCHOR SANDALS, 1961

SWALLOW SANDALS for that light-footed feeling! 1962

SWALLOW SANDALS, 1961

BANTEX, 1962

321. MAGNOLIA NATIONAL SALES CONVENTION RALLY SONG, “FIGHT LIKE A PRO!”, 1985

 

"FIGHT LIKE A PRO!'on the cover of Kaunlaran, SMC Magazine

In the 1980s, SMC-Magnolia Corporation caps  the year by holding its annual national sales convention, usually in major key cities in the country, like Manila, Baguio, Cebu and Davao. Here, members of its national sales team are flown in, gathered, and apprised of the next years plans for the various Magnolia products they are pushing. These include a review of all the Magnolia brand’s performance and a presentation of next year’s sales targets, marketing, advertising,  and merchandising plans.

LISTEN TO MAGNOLIA'S "FIGHT LIKE A PRO" RALLY SONG

The direction of next year’s sales initiative is embodied in a theme, and in 1985, “FIGHT LIKE A PRO!”  was the battle cry, a call to more aggressive selling, but carried out in a professional manner. A Rally Song was commissioned by Magnolia’s ad agency to motivate  the sales teams and lift their “fighting spirit”. Music  was provided by the late award-winning composer, Caloy Agawa, from lyrics written by Creative Director, Alex Castro.

During the whole duration of the 2-day conference, the song was played during social events, most especially on the last day of the conference: the Magnolia Sales Achievement Awards Night. Here, sales achievers of every rank are given recognitions in a grand evening  of musical entertainment, featuring the country’s leading artists of the decade.

 CREDITS:

AGENCY: Ace-Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising

ACCOUNT: Gigi Garcia, Lawrence Tan, Dudy Masilungan

CREATIVES: Alex Castro, James Bernardo, Vianne Lizardo

PRODUCER: Paul Suarez

 

320. Celebrity Endorser: GEMMA G. CRUZ, Miss International 1964

GEMMA'S CHOICE IS LADY'S CHOICE, 1965

The honor of being the first Filipina to win a world beauty title belongs to Gemma Teresa Guerrero Cruz (b. 30 Sep.1943), who was crowned Miss International of 1964 in Long Beach, California on Aug. 14, 1964. She was also the first Asian to win the title. 

GEMMA CRUZ,  AT HER MISS INTERNATIONAL CROWNING

The statuesque Cruz has an illustrious pedigree, the daughter of writer and journalist Carmen Guerrero Nakpil, and Ysmael Arguelles Cruz. Araneta's paternal great-grandmother was Doña Maria Mercado, sister of Dr., José Rizal, which makes her a great grandniece of the national hero.

 WATCH GEMMA'S CROWNING AS MISS INTERNATIONAL 1964

Cruz endeared herself to her countrymen when she donated her prize money of  US$10,000 to Manila Boys Town and Girls Home, which sponsored her in the Miss Philippines contest.  She came home to a triumphant welcome., with a ticker tape parade in Manila.

 It’s almost expected that an international beauty contest winner will be deluged with offers from advertising agencies and movie producers after her reign. But surprisingly, Gemma appeared in just a handful of ads. 

AS A FASHION MODEL, 1964

Pre-Miss International, she had dabbled in fashion modeling and was featured in at least one print ad for HELENE CURTIS  COLOR ESSENCE hair coloring product in 1963.

GEMMA CRUZ IN A RARE AD APPEARANCE, 1963

 After her historic win in Long Beach, Cruz was seen in at least 2 print ads for LADY’S CHOICE and ROSE BLOOM scented hair sprays. It would seem that Cruz did not pose exclusively for these products; instead, she made a pool photographs dressed in one attire, which were used as ‘photo clips’ for a variety of products. 

GEMMA CRUZ, FOR ROSE BLOOM HAIR SPRAY, 1965

After her reign, Gemma Cruz married Tonypet Araneta in Avila, Spain with whom he had  2 children. She had been a director of the National Museum in 1968. She eventually moved to Mexico, and came back after Marcos was deposed. She was appointed Secretary of Tourism (1998-2001) by President Joseph Estrada.  A member of the National Heritage Commission of the Philippines (NHCP), she also became president of the Heritage Conservation Society. Cruz has 7 books to her credit, mostly history-base books, and is currently a columnist for Manila Bulletin.

SOURCES:

Youtube; Miss International Beauty 1964 (1964), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6XNkiHifCY, uploaded by British Pathé

 

319. World Boxing Champion, GABRIEL ‘FLASH’ ELORDE for KLIM POWDERED MILK, 1960

ELORDE FAMILY FOR KLIM POWDERED MILK, 1960

KLIM was one of the early American milk brands that found its way to the Philippines, through importer Getz Bros. in the early 1930s. the brand is “MILK” spelled backwards, first createad in 1920 by Merrell-Soule Company of Syracuse, New York. It was developed as a dehydrated whole-milk powder for use in the tropics, where ordinary milk tended to spoil quickly, so it was perfect for the Philippines. In fact, during World War II, it was included as part of the military jungle rations of the U.S. Army and was used by the Red Cross to feed prisoners of war

KLIM was advertised as early as 1935 in the Philippines, and was actively promoted through the decades, especially through its peak years in the 60s. 

In 1960, the Borden company sought the services of rising professional boxer,  GABRIEL “Flash” ELORDE (b. 25 Mar. 1935/ d. 2 Jan. 1985), who made his professional debut at the age of 16  in 1951, against Kid Gonzaga. He was the most well-known boxer in the country by that time, and lost only twice in his first 14 fights. But he gained international prominence when he became the  Junior Lightweight Champion of the World against Harold Gomes.

 Elorde and his family, which included wife Laura, two boys and daughter, appeared in the 2-color print ad for KLIM—The Complete Milk--where he claims that “My family keep in shape with KLIM”. “That’s why, I think every family should drink this milk”, he suggests, “my family always drinks KLIM at mealtimes”.

 By the end of his long and illustrious boxing career in 1971, Elorde had a achieved a record that is hard to beat: The first Filipino boxer to hold the WBA and WBC World Title belts, the first to become a World Super Featherweight/Junior Lightweight Champion, and the first to hold longest the Junior lightweight division title--7 years 3 months. Elorde retired with a record of 88 wins (33 KOs), 27 losses and 2 draws.

 

Even in retirement, Elorde was a visible presence on Philippine media, due t his association with San Miguel Beer. He was tapped to appear in a 1984 commercial for the world-famous beer along with Bert Marcelo and Rico J. Puno, entitled “Pulutan”, where he delivered the punchline “isang platitong mani”. The commercial was voted the year’s best TV ad for 1984.

Considered as the greatest super featherweight champion of all time in WBC history, he was inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame in 1988 and the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1993. Elorde also made itof the 80 Best Fighters of the Last 80 Years by Ring Magazine, the world’s leading publication on the sports of boxing. Two of his grandsons, Juan Miguel and Juan Martin Elorde, have followed in his footsteps as boxers.

SOURCES:

KLIM: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klim_(powdered_milk)

Gabriel Elorde: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabriel_Elorde

Elorde Photo: ebay.com

BoxRec/Boxing's Official Record Keeper: Flash Elorde boxing records: https://boxrec.com/en/proboxer/12678

318. CAFÉ BUENO, “No Nerves” Print Campaign, 1962

CAFE BUENO INTRO ADS, 1958

Commonwealth Foods Inc. was founded back in 1951 and its first flagship brand was  the popular CAFE PURO. It paved the ay for the opening of a new Comfoods plant in 1956,  the country’s first instant and soluble coffee manufacturing plant. Once established, new variants were added to the Café Puro line in 1958:  CAFÉ EXCELENTE, a premium brand known for its winey taste, and CAFÉ BUENO, the decaffeinated version. 

PARACHUTE JUMPER, Cafe Bueno, 1962

When CAFÉ BUENO was launched, its benefit of “having coffee as often as you want and wake up refreshed” was touted in the headline.  Since it had less caffeine, it caused no jitters—“no nerves”, as the copy noted. Four years later,  the “no nerves” story became the 1962 campaign’s central theme. 

HUNTER, Cafe Bueno, 1962

To visualize the benefit, critical situations in which alertness was pivotal were used in a series of ads: jumping with a parachute, hunting and shooting a wild animal, walking on a tightrope.

TIGHTROPE WALKER, Cafe Bueno, 1962

CAFÉ BUENO enjoyed a level of popularity with a niche market throughout the late 60s, longer than CAFÉ EXCELENTE, which was phased out by 1966.  

317. BEAR BRAND STERILIZED MILK “Generations” (“I Remember Yesterday”) TVC Campaign (ca.1988-90)

BEAR BRAND "I REMEMBER YESTERDAY" ca. 1988.

BEAR BRAND Sterilized Milk  is an iconic milk brand with a long history in the Philippines, one of the first brands to be imported locally at the turn of the 20^th century. It is no wonder that “Marca Oso”, as it was popularly called, became a part of the everyday life of Filipinos for many generations. The heritage story also inspired the creatives of Advertising and Marketing Associates (AMA) Consolidated to use this angle in crafting BEAR BRAND’s new campaign around 1981, producing a "Decades" TVC that used vignettes to show how the milk brand played a role in nourishing Filipino families, under the theme--"The special milk trusted for generations"/ 

Few years down the road, around 1988, a refreshed campaign was launched again for BEAR BRAND, usin te same thematic line, but executed differently.

 WATCH THE BEAR BRAND TVC HERE:

The result was an epic, jingle-based commercial that was unprecedented in terms of length (a minute and a half!)  and cost—a novel idea at that time. The agency came up with a series of period commercials situating BEAR BRAND in the lives of Filipinos through decades,  adding the line, "So much a part of our lives", to the original positioning statement "The special milk trusted for generations”.  

The commercials were noted for their grand production design, period sets and wardrobe, plus wonderful casting. The main commercial was pure nostalgia, prefaced by the jingle line “I remember yesterday, the world was so young….” , shows a 1930s scene where family members visit grandma. A young boy is prodded to “dance with Lola”, with courtesy shots of family members drinking the milk. 

A picture is taken by the boy’s father as lola and grandkid dance. Fast forward to the 1980s. A young girl points to the same picture, now old and framed, and points to the young boy. She asks an oldish man by her side—“Is that you Lolo?”. To which the senior citizen replied—“Yes…Look at my mole!”. We realize he was the same little boy 5 decades ago!  The story comes full circle when the Lolo starts dancing with her granddaughter. 

The BEAR BRAND “Generations” commercial not only became famous for its jingle, and memorable dialogues, but an urban legend developed around the other girl talent (the one wearing a ribbon) who is  allegedly a ghost. Her face, people say, is never seen in the commercial, and in the end shot, she mysteriously is  not present!

The campaign lasted through the early part of the 1990s. There has never been another BEAR BRAND ad that reached the level of prominence and popularity that this campaign has achieved;  in fact, most children of the ‘80s are quick to recall and sing the jingle that began wistfully  with—“I remember yesterday..”

 CREDITS:

ADVERTISING AGENCY: AMA Consolidated / CREATIVE DIRECTOR; Eva Perez

ART DIRECTORS: Franz de Castro, Roel Sunga / COPYWRITER: Joyce Bustamante

CLIENT: Nestlé Philippines

SOURCES:

Bear Brand old Commercial, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBCguyjreXs, uploaded by Marwin Manuel, 17 Dec. 2009.

Dela Torre, Visitacion. Advertising in the Philippines, Its Historical, Cultural and Social Dimensions. Tower Book House. 1989.