User:Teague Sloane/Lux (soap)

Lux Soap was introduced to America in 1925 by the Lever Brothers. It was a white soap packaged in pastel colors designed to be comparable to the finer French soaps, but more affordable. The Lever Brothers used a marketing company named the Thompson Agency to create a marketing scheme for Lux Soap's release, and first found success by stressing the different attributes of the soap to meet consumer needs. Some of the attributes pointed out were fragrance, lather, and how long the bar lasts. Lux Soap was often advertised with exotic drawings and associated with sophistication and luxury primarily aimed towards women. Once Lux Soap began its national campaign in 1926, it was also advertised for men and children. The Thompson agency then began a campaign to make in 1928 to get endorsements from Hollywood actresses, by sending 425 actresses cases of Lux Soap. It received 414 endorsements in return, leading them to claim that 9 out of 10 stars in Hollywood use Lux Soap. The use of endorsements by Hollywood starlets was a tremendous success for both Lux Soap, the actresses, and the studios. In 1933, advertisements claimed that Lux Soap was used by 686 out of 694 more well known actresses. Lux Soap's Hollywood campaign along with its many other advertising efforts, would assist Lux Soap in becoming a worldwide leader in soap sales. As the focus of advertising shifted from the use of Hollywood starlets to a focus on everyday women, Lux Soap declined in sales and was removed from the shelves in the 1990s. Lever Brothers shifted their focus to another soap, Dove.

Lux Soap followed Colonial Great Britain to Zimbabwe, Africa in the 1920s, but it took until the mid 20th century before Africans became familiar with toilet soap and few used it. In the 1940s Lever Brothers began mass advertising for Lux, introducing their product as a soap associated with glamour and intelligence, and began using existing advertisements of international celebrities endorsing their products. The advertising shifted in the 1950s emphasizing intelligence rather than beauty. Lever Brothers began to offer different colored bars other than white and used depictions of African people with slogans that insinuated intelligent people used only Lux Soap. Finally, in the 1960s and 1970s Lux Soap advertising shifted back to emphasizing glamour but this time used local models and singers instead of white international stars. Lux soap is still sold as a beauty product in Africa today.