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Lux is a global brand developed by
Unilever
Unilever PLC () is a British multinational consumer packaged goods company headquartered in London, England. It was founded on 2 September 1929 following the merger of Dutch margarine producer Margarine Unie with British soap maker Lever B ...
.
Lux is marketed primarily in South Asian
South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...
countries such as India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
, Bangladesh
Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...
, Pakistan
Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...
, Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...
and Nepal
Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...
. It is also marketed in Malaysia
Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...
, Brazil
Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
, Thailand
Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...
, Middle East and South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
.
History
Origins and history
The brand was founded by the firmLever Brothers
Lever Brothers was a British manufacturing company founded in 1885 by two brothers: William Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme, William Hesketh Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme (1851–1925), and James Darcy Lever (1854–1916). They invested in and su ...
, now known as Unilever
Unilever PLC () is a British multinational consumer packaged goods company headquartered in London, England. It was founded on 2 September 1929 following the merger of Dutch margarine producer Margarine Unie with British soap maker Lever B ...
, in 1899.
Advertising history
LuxSoap
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 ...
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. Once Lux Soap began its national campaign in 1926, it was also advertised for men and children. The Thompson agency began a campaign 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. Among the actresses who participated in the campaign was Louise Brooks
Mary Louise Brooks (November 14, 1906 – August 8, 1985) was an American film actress during the 1920s and 1930s. She is regarded today as an cultural icon, icon of the flapper culture, in part due to the bob cut, bob hairstyle that she helped ...
, whose ads ran between 1928 and 1931.
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
Columbidae is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with small heads, relatively short necks and slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. ...
.
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 started using existing advertisements of international celebrities endorsing their products. 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. In the 1960s and 1970s Lux Soap advertising shifted back to emphasizing glamour but this time used local models and singers instead of international stars.
See also
*Lux Radio Theatre
''Lux Radio Theatre'', sometimes spelled ''Lux Radio Theater'', a old-time radio, classic radio anthology series, was broadcast on the Blue Network, NBC Blue Network (1934–35) (owned by the National Broadcasting Company, later predecessor of A ...
References
External links
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lux Orkla ASA British brands Soap brands Unilever brands Products introduced in 1899