Coast is an American brand of

deodorant A deodorant is a substance applied to the body to prevent or mask body odor caused by bacterial breakdown of perspiration, for example in the armpits, groin, or feet. A subclass of deodorants, called antiperspirants, prevents sweating itself, t ...

soap Soap is a salt (chemistry), salt of a fatty acid (sometimes other carboxylic acids) used for cleaning and lubricating products as well as other applications. In a domestic setting, soaps, specifically "toilet soaps", are surfactants usually u ...

and body wash owned by Soldalis USA (formerly High Ridge Brands Company). It was originally introduced by

Procter & Gamble The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. It specializes in a wide range of personal health/con ...

in 1976. Its marketing catchphrase is "The Eye Opener!" Originally a bar soap, the company also began to produce body wash in 2003. In 1977 Procter & Gamble launched the Coast formula under the Zest brand name in France, followed by Italy and the UK in 1982. Like US Coast, the European version had the same perfume and was marbled, but colored yellow not blue. The brand was eventually withdrawn from Europe. In 2000, the Coast brand was sold by Procter & Gamble to

The Dial Corporation Henkel Corporation, doing business as Henkel North American Consumer Goods and formerly The Dial Corporation, is an American company based in Stamford, Connecticut. It is a manufacturer of personal care and household cleaning products and is a su ...

, an

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

-based company that became a

subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company, or daughter company is a company (law), company completely or partially owned or controlled by another company, called the parent company or holding company, which has legal and financial control over the subsidia ...

Henkel Henkel AG & Co. KGaA, commonly known as Henkel, is a German multinational chemical and consumer goods company headquartered in Düsseldorf, Germany. Founded in 1876, the DAX company is organized into two globally operating business units (Cons ...

in 2004. In 2012, the Coast brand was sold by Henkel to

Brynwood Partners Brynwood Partners is an American private equity investment firm focused on leveraged buyout and other control investments. Since its founding in 1984, the firm, headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut, has raised five private equity fund, invest ...

VI LP, a

Stamford, Connecticut Stamford () is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, outside of New York City. It is the sixth-most populous city in New England. Stamford is also the largest city in the Western Connecticut Planning Region, Connecticut, Weste ...

-based firm, through its subsidiary, High Ridge Brands Company (HRB), which owns a variety of personal care products, including Zest,

Alberto VO5 Alberto-Culver was an American corporation with international sales whose principal business was manufacturing hair and skin beauty care products under such brands as Alberto VO5, Andrew Collnge, St. Ives (skin care products), TRESemmé, FDS, ...

, and Rave. HRB was acquired by Italian company Sodalis Group in October 2024.

Marketing

The target market for Coast soap has always been men. In 2006, the company won a "Top 100 Rebrand award" for a packaging redesign that was credited with doubling sales of the body wash product and maintaining a market presence that had been declining for the bar soaps. To recognize the 35th anniversary of Coast soap, it was marketed in limited-edition "throwback" packaging from the late 1970s, and an online gallery featured several decades of advertisements for the product. The company has sponsored a car in the

Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly shortened to Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indian ...

and the rest of the

Indy Racing League IndyCar, LLC (stylized as INDYCAR), is an auto racing Governing body, sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. The organization sanctions two Auto racing, racing series: the premier IndyCar Serie ...

schedule.

References

External links

* {{Henkel Soap brands Former Procter & Gamble brands Products introduced in 1976