CATCH-UP: PEPSODENT

Catch-Up at this time focuses on Pepsodent, a toothpaste widely distributed by Church & Dwight in the United States and Canada, and in other parts of the world by Unilever. In this write-up, you would get to know more about the product, its oral health programmes, free dental check-ups, and its brushing tools help eradicate oral disease.

Pepsodent is an American brand of toothpaste with the minty flavor derived from sassafras. The brand was purchased by Unilever in 1942 and is still owned by the company outside of the United States and Canada. In 2003, Unilever sold the rights to the brand in those countries to Church & Dwight.

Historically, Pepsodent toothpaste was introduced in the United States in 1915 by the Pepsodent Company of Chicago. The original formula for the paste contained pepsin, a digestive agent designed to break down and digest food deposits on the teeth, hence the brand and company name.

From 1930 to late 1933 a massive animated neon advertising sign, featuring a young girl on a swing, hung on West 47th Street in Times Square in New York City. This ad was re-created for the climax of the 2005 film King Kong and was featured in the original film in an establishing shot of Times Square itself.

Following the acquisition of the Pepsodent Company by Unilever in 1944, sales of Pepsodent in the UK increased rapidly, more than doubling between 1944 and 1950. The company outgrew its original factory in Park Royal, and the manufacture of the product was moved to the factory of another Unilever-owned toiletry manufacturer, Joseph Watson and Sons of Whitehall Road, Leeds, in 1951.

Pepsodent was a very popular brand before the mid-1950s, but its makers were slow to add fluoride to its formula to counter the rise of other highly promoted brands such as Crest and Gleem toothpaste by Procter & Gamble, and Colgate's eponymous product; sales of Pepsodent subsequently plummeted. Today Pepsodent is a "value brand" marketed primarily in discount stores and retails for roughly half the price of similarly sized tubes of Crest or of Colgate. Its best-known slogan was "You'll wonder where the yellow went / when you brush your teeth with Pepsodent!".

The product was discontinued in South Africa in 1974 but was revived in 1976 with a new ad slogan "Gets Your Teeth Their Whitest" featuring celebrity endorsers Rita Moreno, Steve Lawrence, and others. The popular slogan was also changed in South Africa to "You'll wonder where the dullness went / when you brush your teeth with Pepsodent".

Pepsodent is still sold as a Unilever property in all markets except the United States and Canada. In Vietnam, Pepsodent is called P/S. In 2013, Pepsodent was ranked 201st among India's most trusted brands according to the Brand Trust Report 2013 India study, research conducted by Trust Research Advisory. According to the Brand trust Report 2014, Pepsodent moved up to 71st position among India's most trusted brands. Pepsodent's parent company Hindustan Unilever was ranked 47th in the Trust Report 2014.

In its earlier marketing mix, Pepsodent was advertised for its purported properties for fighting tooth decay, attributed in advertisements to the supposed ingredient Irium. In a 1994 speech, the chairman of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, Reed Hundt, claimed that the "Irium" mentioned in Pepsodent advertisements "didn't exist". "Irium" was being used as another name for sodium lauryl sulfate, an ionic surfactant.

Claude C. Hopkins realized teeth had a yellow film on them and he focused his advertisements for Pepsodent on removing that film. Another ingredient, "I.M.P.", which stood for "Insoluble Meta-Phosphate", was purported to whiten teeth.

Sponsor card from Pepsodent featuring characters from Calvin and the Colonel (1961).

In its media impact, Pepsodent sponsored a radio program, The Pepsodent Show Starring Bob Hope that began airing in 1938 and ran for approximately 10 years on NBC. The show featured Bob Hope and his cast of regular characters such as Jerry Colonna, Barbara Jo Allen as Vera Vague, Frances Langford, singer Dennis Day, and Skinnay Ennis.

Famous Hollywood guest stars such as Cary Grant, Orson Welles, Judy Garland, Bette Davis, Humphrey Bogart, Paulette Goddard, Dorothy Lamour, Rita Hayworth, Penny Singleton, Arthur Lake, Basil Rathbone, Gary Cooper, Veronica Lake, Ginger Rogers, Edward G. Robinson, Hedda Hopper, and many more would be on hand to trade comedic barbs with Hope. The show was the first radio program to broadcast live from the Hollywood Canteen on October 13, 1942, and soon the show was playing live to U.S. troops during World War II, even including some of the soldiers in the show

All information provided and culled from source

Pepsodent Lavang & Salt

Lavang & Salt are well known for their benefits in oral care. Pepsodent's revolutionary germicheck formula now comes with the power of Lavang & Salt formula.

·         Lavang is know to prevent toothache and fight tooth decay.

·         Salt is know to help prevent gum problems and give you healthy gums.

Pepsodent Expert Protection Complete

Inspired by a regime of toothpaste, mouthwash and floss, Pepsodent Expert protection Complete has an advanced dental formula that protects your teeth and gums.

·         Protects your teeth from cavity-causing germs.

·         Contains zinc mouthwash, which protects your teeth from germs & plaque to give you an intense freshness.

·         Contains micro-granules to give you a floss-like inter-dental cleaning.

Pepsodent 2 in 1

Pepsodent 2 in 1 toothpaste is an unique combination of paste and gel in one toothpaste. It's white paste helps fight tooth cavities and decay.

·         Fights cavity-causing germs.

·         Freshens breath.

·         It has the benefits of 2 toothpastes in 1.

Pepsodent Expert Protection Gumcare

·         Pepsodent G Gumcare clinically proven to improve gum health. FDI recognises that twice daily brushing with a fluoride toothpaste is beneficial to oral health.

·         Clinically proven to improve gum health with Triclosan+Zinc citrate technology.

·         Strengthens gums.

·         Freshens breath.

·         Removes plaque.

·         Prevent gums problems.

·         Up to 18 hours anti germ protection.

·         Prevents acid attack ( ph drop) in the mouth by oral bacteria.

Pepsodent Whitening

Get white teeth with this Pepsodent Whitening Germ check toothpaste in 2 weeks. It helps fight tooth cavities and decay with a specially designed formula.

·         This toothpaste gives whiter teeth in 2 weeks.

·         Superior germ attack power that helps fight cavity-causing germs even hours after brushing.

·         Freshens breath.

Pepsodent Germicheck 8 Actions

Choose New Pepsodent Germicheck 8 Actions toothpaste for the family’s whole mouth protection. 

It contains an advanced anti-germ formula with CPC technology, clove and neem oil that fights germs not only on your teeth, but on other parts of the mouth as well – your tongue, cheeks, and gums, to give you 8 scientifically proven benefits for the whole mouth.

1. Cavity protection

2. Removal of plaque

3. Fights bad breath

4. Healthy gums

5. White Teeth

6. Gives Fresh breath

7. Protects the Enamel

8. Protects teeth from staining

Sensitive Expert by Pepsodent (Fresh)

Sensitive Expert by Pepsodent relieves pain from sensitivity in only 30 seconds and stops it from coming back. With its unique HAP formulation, Sensitive Expert helps fasten the remineralisation process on enamel decayed areas to stop the sensitivity from coming back.

Sensitive Expert by Pepsodent (Gumcare)

Sensitive Expert by Pepsodent relieves pain from sensitivity in only 30 seconds and stops it from coming back. With its unique HAP formulation, Sensitive Expert helps fasten the remineralisation process on enamel decayed areas to stop the sensitivity from coming back.

 Sensitive Expert by Pepsodent (Professional)

Sensitive Expert by Pepsodent relieves pain from sensitivity in only 30 seconds and stops it from coming back. With its unique HAP formulation, Sensitive Expert helps fasten the remineralisation process on enamel decayed areas to stop the sensitivity from coming back.

Pepsodent Kids Strawberry

Pepsodent Kids range is designed specifically for milk teeth and helps prevent tooth decay.

Pepsodent Kids Orange

Pepsodent Kids range is designed specifically for milk teeth and helps prevent tooth decay.

Pepsodent Germicheck

There is a proven link between oral health and a child's confidence and sense of self worth. Children with good oral health are more confident, more active at school and socialize more with other children. Pepsodent provides families with maximum cavity protection, protective layer to protect their teeth, and 10X stronger teeth.

Globally, Pepsodent and the Unilever Group are contributing $153 milion in the fight against the pandemic through donations of dental products, disinfectants, household, products and food.

Discover its response to Covid-19

1– Protecting Smiles of those at the frontline, through our products

Unilever Stands with Bangladesh.

Unilever Bangladesh pledges BDT 200 million to support the nation in its fight against coronavirus.

11 April 2020, Dhaka: Unilever Bangladesh Limited (UBL) has pledged BDT 200 million to help the nation in its fight against COVID – 19.

The commitment includes wide-ranging measures such as product donations, creating awareness, improving health infrastructure, protecting its people and livelihoods of those who work across the value chain such as extended Distribution and Supply Chain.

Ever since the outbreak, UBL has been donating hygiene and household products such as Lifebuoys soaps, Surf excel and Wheel detergents, Domex cleaners in order to protect the communities against Coronavirus. So far, UBL has donated products worth BDT 10 million and will continue its contribution by partnering several organisations in order to reach out to the people who are in need.

In January 2020, Lifebuoy became the first brand in Bangladesh to raise awareness on Novel Coronavirus and Unilever assigned BDT 50 million to create mass media content on prevention of the virus.

Unilever will also donate a sum of BDT 10 million to support and upgrade health care facilities.

Protecting Livelihoods of people involved in our Value Chain

UBL pledges to protect its Value Chain, consisting nearly 20,000 people, from sudden drops in pay, as a result of market disruption or being unable to perform their role, for up to three months. Apart from this Unilever is ensuring the safety and wellbeing of its employees and their families, Supply Chain and Sales safety protocols complying with World Health Organization (WHO) standards and incorporated the best practices in safety management for operations.

Unilever Bangladesh is collaborating with organisations such as BRAC, WaterAid, Unicef, Ek Takay Ahar to create awareness among the most-vulnerable people in far-flung areas and help them stay safe during this pandemic. The Company has already spent BDT 10 million in these efforts.

That’s not all, UBL employees have committed minimum one day of salary and company is matching the contribution equally to create a fund for people in need.

Kedar Lele, CEO and Managing Director of UBL said, “In this challenging time, we are committed to protect livelihoods of our people. It is our responsibility to reach out to as many people as possible and help them in their fight against the virus. Considering the scale of the challenge and in order to address it at multiple levels, we are collaborating with the government, health institutions, implementation partners and civil society.”

2 – Unlocking Smiles through online dental consultations

To support families with handling dental ailments while staying at home, and to connect Dentists and patients during this time, we are offering free dental consultations online. We have created a panel of dentists from the Sensitive Expert Dental Center to respond to patients via Facebook posts. Patients can easily comment their issues/problems on the specific Dentist post, and the respective Dentist would get provide consultation through his/her own FB account.

3 – Helping Build a Positive Brush Time Routine, at Home

To help parents have one less thing to worry about, we would like to enable building children’s brushing habits through fun ways such as The Adventures of Little Brush Big Brush and the Day and Night Brushing Calendar and other tools to make brush time, fun time. Access them here: https://www.pepsodent.com/bd/little-brush-big-brush.html

 

4 – Our company-wide efforts

Globally, Unilever - the owner of Smile, will contribute $153 million to help the fight against the pandemic through donations of soap, sanitiser, bleach and food. This includes:​

A product donation of at least $76 million to the COVID Action Platform of the World Economic Forum, which is supporting global health organisations and agencies with their response to the emergency. In addition to the supply of soap, Unilever will adapt its current manufacturing lines to produce sanitiser for use in hospitals, schools and other institutional settings.​

Product donations, partnerships and handwashing education programmes, delivered through national health authorities and NGOs, to support local communities most at need.