Commercials and jingles that we grew up with

At the height of the rallies a couple of weeks ago, I was tuned to ANC and caught Pia Hontiveros’ show Shop Talk expecting to hear more political issues. Instead, Pia took the viewers on a pleasant journey back in time. In this era of our political storm, her guests Louie Ocampo and Jose Mari Chan brought a breath of fresh air and nostalgia into my room. No wonder, she was deluged with a flood of text messages that commended her timely airing of commercial jingles that have all but vanished from radio and television, and awakened a part of our hearts to younger carefree days.

The goal in advertising is to get us, the consumers, to buy a product. A strong, unique and, even better, musical statement on radio or TV can add much to the success of that campaign. That’s how important a jingle is. We all grew up with those inescapable tunes and ditties that have become part of our memories, jingles that we used to skip on our way to the fridge during commercial breaks and yet have remained indelible at the back of our minds.

“I’d like to buy the world a Coke and furnish it with love...”

“You’ve got a lot to like with a Marlboro. Filter, flavor, flip top box...”

“Magnolia the finest name in ice cream now presents the ice cream flavor of the month...”

These are some of the commercial jingles I, and I’m sure you, remember from my youth.

So as I watched Louie and Joe Mari having fun with Pia that afternoon, singing some of their jingles that they wrote individually, a flood of youthful memories made me forget the political storm raging in the streets.

And then I took out Joe Mari’s CD titled Strictly Commercial and played it one more time. Joe Mari called his jingles collection “74 minutes of uninterrupted commercials, featuring an all-star cast and 30 years in the making.” As we all know, Joe Mari has been making beautiful music since 1965. After making his first successful recording, Afterglow. In 1967, ad agencies began commissioning him to write those catchy jingles.

“Sa lasa’t lasa walang tatalo sa Alaska...”

“There are Chinese soups and there are Chinese soups but there is nothing like Knorr Real Chinese soup...”

“Sunquick...Over 20 glasses of juice...in every glass...”

“Instant Nido, when you want all the flavor and...the goodness of fresh milk..in four seconds flat...”

“..with Komatsu Machines we can move ahead together...”

“BBC...Welcome world to our Big, Beautiful Country...”

“BPI Express Teller...Tic tac tic tac tic tac..”

“Cafe Puro...Brewed, brewed...tastes like brewed...”

While a few of his jingles are still on air, like each time we board a PAL plane we hear strains of his now classic Love@30,000 Feet, most of them remained only as memories until Jose Mari compiled these musical remnants in a CD where you hear the likes of Celeste Legaspi, Basil Valdez, Fides Cuyugan-Asencio, Tillie Moreno, Richard Tann, the Apo Hiking Society, Subas Herrero, Mon David, Didith Reyes, Ayen Munji, Pat Castillo, Becca Godinez, Rene Martinez, Joey Albert, Noel Trinidad, Claire de la Fuente and many others singing his commercials of Chicklets, Coke, Nescafé, Hallmark Greeting Cards, Alpine, Comtrust, Dutch Boy Paints, McJim, Camay, Mr. Clean, Kleenex, Sunkist, Bankard and Dial Soap, to name only a few.

In Shop Talk, they mentioned names of other writers who have made notable jingles through the years, such as Joe “Jingle” Reyes, Pete Galvez, Eddie Gatchalian, Nonong Pedero, Charo Unite, Caloy Agawa, Willie Cruz, Juan Miguel Salvador and even George Canseco who wrote There’s a light of HOPE for that cigaret brand.

Joe Mari has now whetted our nostalgic appetite for those other jingles that we wish someone would likewise put together for us.

Was Star Cinema ahead of Hollywood?

Here’s an interesting letter from reader F.S. Santos:

I saw the movie 27 Dresses and I was hoping somebody else noticed it so I didn’t have to write you.  But I have not seen or heard it brought up, so I finally decided to break my silence.

Well, 27 Dresses is much like Got 2 Believe in Magic produced by Star Cinema seven or so years ago.  If Got 2 Believe was made after 27 Dresses, people would say it ripped the idea off the Holywood movie. But it seems to be the other way around.

The female characters in both movies play wedding planners, although Claudine Barretto’s character does it as a profession and business while in 27 Dresses it is unclear and somehow suggests that the female character does it to help friends and because she’s a wedding freak.

Both the male characters play journalists who want to write an article about the leading female character’s inability to hitch a groom; she’s forever a bridesmaid.

The plots of 27 Dresses and Got 2 Believe are almost the same. In 27 Dresses, the sister marries the wedding planner’s crush; in Got 2 Believe it’s the best friend who marries the crush, etc.

Now, in this case, wasn’t Star Cinema a step ahead of Hollywood?

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