Lifebuoy (soap)

Lifebuoy is a brand of soap market ed by Unilever. Lifebuoy was originally, and

for much of it s hist ory, a carbolic soap cont aining phenol (carbolic acid, a
compound ext ract ed from coal t ar). The soaps manufact ured t oday under t he
Lifebuoy brand do not cont ain phenol. Current ly, t here are many variant s of
Lifebuoy.

Lifebuoy

Product type Soap

Owner Unilever[1]

Country England, UK

Introduced 1895

Markets Worldwide

History
 y

1902 ad for Lifebuoy Soap

Magazine insert advertising Lifebuoy soap

Lifebuoy Soap Packaging. Photographed at the Museum in den Halven Maen, The Netherlands

Advertising material for Lifebuoy Soap listing the product’s many uses. Includes the tag line "Makes
Health Infectious." The list includes the use of the product in the bath, with an endorsement by an
"eminent M.D.", around the house as a general purpose cleaner, and in the kitchen as a drain cleaner.

Lifebuoy was int roduced by Lever Brot hers in 1895 in t he Unit ed Kingdom.
Originally a carbolic soap cont aining phenol, different variet ies were lat er
int roduced wit hout t he medicinal carbolic smell, such as t he coral-coloured
Lifebuoy during t he lat e 1950s and Lifebuoy Mint y Refresher in 1966.[2]
Lifebuoy was one of t he most popular soaps in t he Unit ed St at es from
approximat ely 1923 t o t he mid-‘50s,[3] when perfumed soaps t ook over t he
market . It was t he best selling medicat ed/healt h soap in Nort h America unt il
roughly 1951. It was well known for it s red and yellow packaging, red color and
oct agonal shape, as well as it s carbolic aroma. Somet ime in 1951 or 1952, due
t o declining sales, Lever Bros. experiment ed wit h adding perfumes t o t he soap,
and made t he changes permanent in 1954. Earlier experiment s in 1936, 1938,
1939 and 1940 also added an art ificial scent t o t he soap, but generally last ed
only one bat ch. Sales, however, cont inued t o decline unt il 2006, when Lifebuoy
was officially complet ely pulled from t he American market . Lifebuoy's
popularit y reached it s peak bet ween 1932 and 1948. Aft er World War Two,
when more mat erials were available and rat ioning was over, ot her soaps began
t o t ake hold of t he market . It s popularit y waned st eadily t hrough t he 1950s. In
t he mid/lat e 1960s it saw a popularit y surge which would last t hrough 1973.
This was, in part , caused by t he int roduct ion and success of Lifebuoy White in
t he American market . Aft er t his decline, t he Lifebuoy brand was seen less and
less in t he American market . It was pulled from American shelves st art ing in
2003 and was complet ely phased out of t he American market by 2006.
Somet ime in 2008 or 2009, Unilever released Lifebuoy Classic, a modern soap
wit h ret ro packaging and a medicat ed scent int ended t o be similar t o t hat of
t he 1950s product , as a t ie-in novelt y product sold t hrough t he official A
Christmas Story websit e.

Alt hough Lifebuoy is no longer produced in t he US and UK, it is st ill being mass-
produced by Unilever in Cyprus for t he UK, EU (on hold and under invest igat ion)
and Brazilian market s, in Trinidad and Tobago for t he Caribbean market , and in
India for t he Asian market . Unilever in Cyprus and Trinidad and Tobago is
manufact uring t he Red Lifebuoy Soap wit h a carbolic fragrance, but as of 1976
it no longer cont ains phenol. The Lifebuoy soap manufact ured in India and
Indonesia for ot her market s including Sout h and Sout h East Asia has been
updat ed t o use red and ot her colours wit h ‘modern’ aromas.[4]
Advert for Lifebuoy Soap from Animal Life and the World of Nature; A magazine of Natural History

(1903).

References in popular culture

When t he Philadelphia Phillies played at t he Baker Bowl during t he 1930s, an

out field wall advert isement for Lifebuoy st at ed, "The Phillies use Lifebuoy".
One night in 1935, a vandal added, "And t hey st ill st ink".[5] Variat ions of t he joke
were also employed by det ract ors of ot her losing t eams.

The t erm "B.O.", short for "body odor", is oft en t hought t o have been invent ed by
Lifebuoy for an advert ising campaign. It was act ually coined by a company t hat
made deodorant for women called Odo-Ro-No in 1919, but Lifebuoy made t he
t erm famous. The Lifebuoy radio ad, parodied by several Warner Brot hers'
Looney Tunes cart oons and MGM Cart oons, used a foghorn followed by a "B.O."
sound creat ed using a Sonovox.[6][7][8]

During a 1969 Episode of The Tonight Show, while being bat hed by t wo
Japanese women, Johnny Carson joked, "This beat s Lifebuoy and a rubber duck,
doesn't it ?"
In t he 2016 novel Moonglow by Michael Chabon, Lifebuoy is used t o signify
wholesomeness and yout h: "He had deposit ed wit h his brot her for safekeeping
a girl who smelled of Lifebuoy and library past e and ret rieved a young woman
who smelled of cigaret t es and Ban.”

It is t he bar-soap used in t he 1983 movie A Christmas Story by t he main

charact er Ralphie and his family. Aft er his mot her uses it t o wash his mout h out
for swearing, Ralphie wishfully imagines a fut ure in which he has been blinded by
"soap poisoning" and reduced t o begging on t he st reet ; when his family sees
him, t hey collapse int o melodramat ic soap opera-like t ears and his fat her cries
out , "I t old you not t o use Lifebuoy!" In t he film, narrat or Jean Shepherd not ed
his disgust t oward it s t ast e, comparing it t o ot her brands t hat his mot her had
used for similar punishment s in t he past .

Sponsorships

Lifebuoy has been t he shirt sponsor of t he Bangladesh Nat ional Cricket Team
since 2018.[9] Lifebuoy sponsored McLaren from 2020 onwards. Lifebuoy is t he
main hygiene supplier for Mclaren Racing.[10]

References

1. "Lifebuoy" (https://www.unilever.com/brands/beauty-personal-care/lifebuoy/) .

2. A History of Health (http://www.lifebuoy.com/about-us/history-of-health/)

Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20141006155150/http://www.lifebuoy.com/a
bout-us/history-of-health/) 2014-10-06 at the Wayback Machine, lifebuoy.com

3. "Supreme Court, Appellate Division – First Department" (https://books.google.com/b

ooks?id=kFxb1KAwhN8C) – via Google Books.

4. "Unilever Lifebuoy brand information" (http://www.unilever.com/brands-in-action/det

ail/Lifebuoy/292086/?WT.contenttype=view%20brands) . Unilever. Retrieved
2013-03-21.

5. Baseball: Phillies near 10,000th loss (https://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/12/sports/

12iht-PHILADELPHIA.1.6106685.html) , New York Times, June 12, 2007
 6. Intimidation Sells Bath Soap (https://www.old-time.com/commercials/1940%27s/Life
buoy.html) , Old-Time.com. Retrieved 2017-07-04.

7. Who Invented B.O.? (http://chnm.gmu.edu/resources/sidelights/whoinventedbo.ph

p/) - Center for History and New Media at George Mason University

8. Lifebuoy Health Soap 1948 (http://www.oldtimeradiofans.com/old_radio_commercial

s/lifebouy_health_soap_1948.php:) (audio), another commercial mentioning B.O.,
Old Time Radio Fans. Retrieved 2017-07-04.

9. "Unilever becomes Bangladesh Cricket team's sponsor" (https://www.thedailystar.ne

t/sports/bangladesh-cricket/news/unilever-becomes-bangladesh-cricket-teams-spon
sor-1630069) . The Daily Star. September 6, 2018.

10. "Mclaren Racing announces Lifebuoy as side sponsor for the 2020 formula one
world championship" (https://www.mclaren.com/racing/partners/unilever/mclaren-ra
cing-announces-lifebuoy-official-hygiene-supplier/) . Mclaren. September 9, 2020.

External links

Official websit e (ht t ps://www.lifebuoy.com/)

Retrieved from
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