Mennen is a brand owned in most parts of the world by the

Colgate-Palmolive The Colgate-Palmolive Company, commonly known as Colgate-Palmolive, is an American multinational corporation, multinational consumer products company headquartered on Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The company specializes in ...

Company. Its most notable product, Mennen Speed Stick, with its fougère

perfume Perfume (, ) is a mixture of fragrance, fragrant essential oils or aroma compounds (fragrances), Fixative (perfumery), fixatives and solvents, usually in liquid form, used to give the human body, animals, food, objects, and living-spaces an agre ...

and green wide stick, was the US market leader among

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 ...

s and

antiperspirant 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 ...

s for men for many years. It was also noted for its Lady Speed Stick deodorant and Teen Spirit deodorant, which was the leader in teenage girls' deodorants during the early 1990s. In

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, the Mennen branding is owned by

L'Oréal L'Oréal S.A. () is a French multinational personal care corporation registered in Paris

through its Mennen-LASCAD subsidiary, for a line of men's grooming products.

History

The Mennen Company was founded in 1878 by Gerhard Heinrich Mennen, an immigrant to America from

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. His first product was a

borate A borate is any of a range of boron oxyanions, anions containing boron and oxygen, such as orthoborate , metaborate , or tetraborate ; or any salt of such anions, such as sodium metaborate, and borax . The name also refers to esters of su ...

d talcum-based powder, an innovation at the time. The company was originally located in Newark, New Jersey, US, moving to

Morristown, New Jersey Morristown () is a Town (New Jersey), town in and the county seat of Morris County, New Jersey, Morris County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.

, in 1953, where it manufactured and sold

over-the-counter Over-the-counter (OTC) drugs are medicines sold directly to a consumer without a requirement for a prescription from a healthcare professional, as opposed to prescription drugs, which may be supplied only to consumers possessing a valid pres ...

pharmaceuticals Medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal product, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. Drug therapy ( pharmacotherapy) is an important part of the ...

and personal products such as the Skin Bracer, Speed Stick, and Baby Magic products. Lady Speed Stick was a foray into the women's market, and was a huge success due to its shape, which fit a woman's hand, and fragrances. Gerhard's grandson, G. Mennen Williams, served as

Governor of Michigan The governor of Michigan is the head of government of the U.S. state of Michigan. The current governor is Gretchen Whitmer, a member of the Democratic Party, who was inaugurated on January 1, 2019, as the state's 49th governor. She was re-ele ...

1949–1961 and as

Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs The assistant secretary of state for African affairs is the head of the Bureau of African Affairs, within the United States Department of State, who guides operation of the U.S. diplomatic establishment in the countries of sub-Saharan Africa and ...

under Presidents

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), also known as JFK, was the 35th president of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. He was the first Roman Catholic and youngest person elected p ...

and

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), also known as LBJ, was the 36th president of the United States, serving from 1963 to 1969. He became president after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, under whom he had served a ...

1961–1966. The company was led by several generations of the Mennen family before being sold to Colgate-Palmolive Company in 1992. Today none of the Mennen family is involved in the company or its current parent. The former headquarters and manufacturing plant in Morris Township, New Jersey, was demolished in spring 2018 and replaced with housing developments and retail space. Next to it remains the Mennen Arena, a multi-purpose sports facility often used for hockey and public ice skating. At

Harpers Ferry National Historical Park Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, originally Harpers Ferry National Monument, is located at the confluence of the Potomac River, Potomac and Shenandoah River, Shenandoah rivers in and around Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. The park includes ...

, there is a giant advertisement painted on the rock face of Maryland Heights. While faded and indistinct today, it reads "Mennen's Borated Talcum Toilet Powder" and was painted between 1903 and 1906.

Today

Today, the name ''Mennen'' is being phased out in some regions and products in many countries and products such as Speed Stick and Lady Speed Stick are becoming rebranded or (in each of those cases) regarded as their own separate brands. In North America, Skin Bracer and Afta are still available in 2024 and labeled as being "by Mennen", where the name is still well-known and holds positive connotations. Neither the brand Mennen nor Skin Bracer are listed at the Colgate-Palmolive website as of January 2024; However, both products are still available - labeled as produced by Mennen - online (at such established vendors as Amazon and Walmart) as of that date. The Baby Magic line was sold to

Playtex Playtex is an American brand name for undergarments, baby products, gloves, feminine hygiene products, and sunscreen. The brand began in 1947 when International Latex Corporation (ILC) created a division named Playtex to produce and sell latex p ...

, which has since sold the brand to Naterra; Colgate-Palmolive retained the Baby Magic branding (as ''Baby Magic Mennen'') for the Latin American market.Baby Magic Mennen

References

External links

Colgate-Palmolive

Mennen France
{{Authority control Colgate-Palmolive brands L'Oréal Companies established in 1878