Missing Ads

LEFT - Ford Escort Brenda, look-alike of my First Baby.


The last time I wrote an ad was....eons ago. I worked in the advertising industry for several years, then left Manila, and never tried writing again.

I had forgotten most of the accounts and people I worked with. Sometimes, images would just flash in my mind. Ayala, Buendia, Boni Avenue.

PCs were unknown then. For presentation purposes, secretaries (admin assistants) typed documents and materials on IBM ball- typewriters; extra copies were made with the aid of carbon papers and errors got corrected using rubber eraser or touch n go.

Most ad agencies didn't have copying machine; if you wanted "Xerox copies,' you had to go to a copying centre.

Then, typewriters with "memory" came along so duplicates could be made.

Account executives carried brown folders and big emery boards containing art work for presentation.

Artists were "cut and pasting." Fonts were limited. Typesetters were making big bucks.

Production people carried audio-visual equipment (tape decks) as huge as a car.

Account executives wore long sleeved shirts and tie, so did the artists.

Copywriters were doing more print and radio than TV and lots of promos; "roadshows" as promo vehicles were still being utilized, though on a downtrend already.

The receptionist was glued to a switchboard; international communication was via telex.

TGIF-evenings were spent at folk houses (Bodega) or discos.

Shakey's Pizza was novelty. Aristocrat at Roxas Boulevard was for late evening or early morning "fried rice with beef or tocino with pickled salad" treat before heading home and after a night of drinking bottles and more bottles of San Mig.

KFC, Magoo's Pizza, Dunkin Donuts, Margaritas, Tequilas, then white wines.

The first Fast Food Court was born in Quad, which was also the pioneer in multiplex movies.

Bold (bomba) movies starred Sarsi Emmanuel, Pepsi Paloma, and Myrna Castillo. Iskul Bukol was quite funny; Penthouse Live on Sundays was lovely - Pops Fernandez was/is sexy.

Halo-halo at the Manila Peninsula was a welcome treat after a hearty lunch. Kimpura, near Rustan's, was the only Japanese Resto around Makati.

Salad bars were starting to become sensational.

Eat-all-you-can was called smorgasboard; there was a Bahia Buffet at the InterCon.

There was a Playboy Club at the Silahis Hotel.

Kowloon was the best siopao in town. International Pancake House served spaghetti and pancakes for lunch.

Casino by the MIA (now NAIA) was a place to go on paydays but you had to have a special pass to get in.

Greenbelt was the only GreenBelt; there was an aviary there and a Via Mare.

The area around InterCon, Rustan's and Rizal Theatre was simply called Makati Commercial, as in " I am going to Makati Commercial."

Makati Supermart was the place for hamburger steak and spaghetti, glossy American magazines and comic books, and full-blast airconditioning.

The eight-seater Jeepneys still plied Ayala and Buendia alongside the stretched 18-seaters.

Then the Love Bus appeared and the Makati crowd was actually forming a line while waiting to board the bus.

There was a beige Ford Escort Brenda. Then a metallic blue Beetle.