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Handy (Jam) Organization / Premiere Productions, Manila, PhilippinesPearl of the Orient (1955)

Coca-Cola's presence in Philippine culture.


This movie is part of the collection: Prelinger Archives

Producer: Handy (Jam) Organization / Premiere Productions, Manila, Philippines
Sponsor: Coca-Cola Company
Audio/Visual: Sd, C
Keywords: Philippines; Coca-Cola Company; Consumerism

Creative Commons license: Public Domain

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Reviewer: XDelusion - - June 25, 2006
Subject: White Man's Burden in effect
There were many films like this back in the day...

...American had dreamed up the White Man's Burden where in they were the Christ upon the Cross, and the Cross or burden was liberating the brown people's of the world of there primitive cultures.

After we invaded and took over with our Corporate regime, we began to send over camera men with white people to show the advancements as they took place.

Obviously having Coke is an advancement to water.

Again history shows how little we've changed and how ugly the smiling American face can really be at times.

Reviewer: Spuzz - - February 2, 2004
Subject: Coke and Hemp!
Once again, I have to say that i've been watching waaaaay too many movies, as this is a better edited version of another film on here.. "Member Of The Family" which essentially tells the same thing, but what makes this one ("Pearl") is the better glimpse of Phillipine Culture. But again, this IS another shill for coke, you can drink it anywhere! At a pig roast, at the hospital (!) and most deliriously, while you're working the rice paddies! Pretty wild. Reccomended!

Reviewer: djen - - December 7, 2003
Subject: What the....
Watching this movie was a surreal experience. One of the most peculiar scenes is the one in which that oddly familiar narrator describes sugar as a highly nutritious food. Then there are all of those happy looking "natives"...

Although it's way too long, it's unintentionally funny and horrible at the same time. I wonder how accurately this illustrates how people thought about consumption in the fifties.

Shotlist

Astonishing film on Coca-Cola and the Philippines:

Stock shots:
dancing in costumes; dancing between sticks on the ground; cartoonish like map of the Phillipines; rice farming: workers with straw hats in rice paddies; manufacture of hemp; urban scenes with period vehicles; musicians playing stringed instruments;

Many outstanding shots of people gazing adoringly at bottles of Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola passed out to rice farmers; smiling Filipinos standing around drinking bottles of Coke. lounging people;
sugar cane cutting with machetes; sugar mill; people at various leisure activities (tennis, pool side lounging) sipping Coke. Coca-Cola factories in nine different locations are shown. Coca-Cola bottling plant; beautiful shots of glistening bottles being passed through shining machinery;

Coca-Cola delivery trucks and local horse-drawn vehicles and boats; bottlemaking plant in Manila; glass bottles being formed into the distinctive Coca-Cola shape;
central plains of Luzon; San Miguel brewery in Manila;

Shots of thousands of bottlecaps; giant oil refinery vats; sign-making (by screening) of Coca-Cola signs; beautiful neon sign Coca-Cola; Filipino flag waving in the breeze; Filipinos playing basketball at an outdoor court; Filipino children smiling, laughing and applauding (group shot); playing softball; sepa (sp?) game (looks like kind of an elegant hacky-sac game); playgrounds; hospital building exterior; fiesta, statue of Jesus being carried through the streets;

Filipinos eating a roasted whole pig; Woman in evening gown lip syncs very badly in a language other than English;

Voiceovers:
Workers: "take time out to enjoy the pause that refreshes with Coca-Cola a refreshing drink of highest quality."

"Made in the Philippines by the people of the Philippines for the people of the Philippines. "

"Long ago, long before the war, the taste and quality of Coca-Cola won its way into the heart of everyone and continues today to be an accepted desired refreshing custom of people from everywhere throughout the land."

"Pure cane sugar: one of nature's most nutritious and quick energy-building foods."

"This then is the story of refreshement, of Coca-Cola a quality product, pure and wholesome. A story of a friendly product, delicious and refreshing. A story of partners in progress with all Philippine industry providing employment for thousands of people in many industries, contributing to the progress of the country, and in the future as it always does, Coca-Cola will continue to bring more pleasure, more enjoyment to more people everywhere and Coca-Cola is everywhere in the Philippines."



COCA-COLA SOFT DRINKS BEVERAGES FOOD REFRESHMENTS LEISURE RECREATION DANCING ASIA ISLANDS FOREIGN COUNTRIES EXOTICISM Philippines Coca-Cola Company of the Philippines Coca-Cola Philippines (History and culture) Pacific Rim Soft drinks Beverages International business Corporations (multinational) Multinational corporations