Quick: which advertising agency can claim to have gathered in its fold within a half century, such stellar names as Antonio De Joya, Antonio Zorilla, Antonio Mercado, Minyong Ordonez, Peque Gallaga, Greg Garcia, Tessie Tomas, Jaime Santiago, Tong Puno, Danny Gozo, Mon & Abby Jimenez, Gryk Ortaleza, Amar Gambol, Q Pastrana …
Ace-Compton, natch!
Of course the above-mentioned luminaries from different generations (“some are dead and some are living,” as the Beatles song goes) have carved their names in the advertising industry by moving on to found or head their own eponymous agencies, or conquering entertaiment. If some of these names don’t ring a bell now, believe me, they once tolled clangorously during their heydays.
To today’s young stalwarts, the name Ace Compton may reek of moth balls. After all, it was founded way back in 1948 by Don Ramon Araneta – a good three years after J. Walter Thompson was founded in 1946 by David L. Brodt in the bombed-out Tribune-Vanguardia-Taliba building in downtown Manila. Remember the Japanese occupation from your Zaide history books? But the agency reinvented itself when, in 1986, a burgeoning maverick British shop bought out the American Compton, giving birth to Ace/Saatchi and Saatchi.
In an unprecedented event, reunited last December at Amar Gambol’s Electromedia were numerous Ace Compton alumni, roused from slumberous retirement as far away as the US and Europe by a flurry of e-mail and texts. Expectedly, the evening was a riot of reminiscence and nostalgia, abetted by a ceaseless rewinding of ancient Ace commercials, mostly from the vaunted client Procter & Gamble: Camay soap’s “Ang Lahat ay Napapalingon,” Safeguard’s “Konsiyensiya,” DariCreme’s “Pinipili ng mapiling Ina,” Tide’s “Mas Lilinis, Mas Puputi Kahit Hindi Ikula,”and Star Margarine’s “Iba na ang Matangkad.” In a way, that era was the Golden Age of P&G advertising.
Highlight of the entertainment was of course former copywriter Ms. Tessie Tomas, in her Imeldific persona. Elegant in her terno, she roasted various Compton characters to the hysterical delight of the audience. Advertising’s loss is entertainment’s gain.
Inevitably, someone had to ask: “When will the next grand reunion be?”
To which another responded: “In the afterlife!” Well, that evening there were certainly enough stars.
Such as …Antonio De Joya, Antonio Zorilla, Antonio Mercado, Minyong Ordonez, Peque Gallaga, Greg Garcia, Tessie Tomas, Jaime Santiago, Tong Puno, Danny Gozo, Mon & Abby Jimenez, Gryk Ortaleza (the first Filipino to be named Copy Chief – the title that later became ‘Creative Director’ — in a multinational agency), Amar Gambol, Q Pastrana, Tom Banguis, Ernie Hernandez, Julie Lingan, Mando Cosio, Tina Coscolluela, Leo Martinez, Dante Datu, Melvin Mangada, Mario Monteagudo, Robert Labayan, Eleanor San Jose Modesto, Nonoy Gallardo, Bobby Caballero, August Benitez, Vic San Pedro, Tessa Jasminez, Joy Buensalido, Charlene Cabaneo, Bing Baloy… whew!
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