Magnolia is a Philippine ice-cream brand whose origins clearly go back to the 1920s. It has belonged to the San Miguel company for most of its history.
In the 1970s, a totally unaffiliated Filipino American family in California USA started marking their own ice-cream products with the “Magnolia” name in order to surf on the goodwill that the original Magnolia had developed among Filipinos from the old country.
The Filipino American family Quesada, operating as the Ramar Foods company, filed a trademark application claiming the Magnolia mark for their exclusive use in the United States. The fact that San Miguel had been using the Magnolia name and logo for much longer in the Philippines and was the originator of that name and logo was irrelevant under U.S. law.
Likewise… Ramar Foods filed a trademark application in the United States for the brand name “Pampanga’s Best” in the year 2000.
Pampanga’s Best is a well-known brand in the Philippines, having been in the business of making tocino and longanisa since 1967 until today.
There is no business relation between “Pampanga’s Best” of Ramar Foods USA and the original *Pampanga’s Best* of the Philippines.
Other brands produced by Ramar Foods: Orientex, Frescano, Manila Gold Frozen Calamansi, Baguio, So Naimas, Turo-Turo Gourmet, Kusina ni Maria, Magnolia Longanisa (sic), Magnolia Tocino, Magnolia Beef Tapa, Magnolia Frozen Hot Dogs, Bestaste Dimsum/Siopao/Shumai
BOYCOTT in effect for all products of this OMGpeke company.
Email or message the stores that carry these products and inform them of how this company has trampled upon the dignity of the Philippines.
http://help.samsclub.com/app/ask
http://www.safeway.com/contactus/#/contact-us-form/commentsAndQuestions/?bannerId=albertsons
Despite the fact that San Miguel Philippines created the Magnolia Ice Cream brand in the 1920s, SMC is prohibited from selling its Pinoy ice cream in the USA under the Magnolia name. Why? Because the Quesada family (Ramar company) trademarked the Magnolia logo for their own exclusive use!!
Photo by Angie Pastor.
Note that this brand is not the one of the OMGpeke company in the USA… This is the ORIGINAL Pampanga’s Best of the Philippines, in business since 1967.
Pindang Damulag is a Kapampangan delicacy… what the Tagalogs might refer to as Tosinong Kalabaw… Tocino is the Filipino term for any cured meat.
In a recent statement, Ramar Foods asserts that it owns the incontestable rights to the Magnolia brand for ice cream and meats in the United States.
Sure it’s legal, but it’s not ethical.
Any rational person who hears of the details of the OMGpeke scandal understands the situation clearly. “United States trademark law allows it, but it doesn’t mean it’s ethical.”
A company in the United States has been marking their own ice-cream products with the “Magnolia” name, using San Miguel’s iconic oval logo.
That company Ramar has no affiliation with San Miguel Philippines. Even today, many Filipino Americans assume that the Magnolia ice-cream they eat in the USA is related to the Magnolia in the Philippines. It is not.