
How Advertisers Convinced Americans They Smelled Bad  - e1ven
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/How-Advertisers-Convinced-Americans-They-Smelled-Bad-164779646.html?c=y&story=fullstory
======
rauljara
The best[1] advertising is the kind that informs people that a solution to
their very real problems exists.

The worst[1] advertising is the kind that convinces you you have a problem you
don't really have. It aims to make unhappy with what you have or who are when
you would otherwise have been content.

Sometimes it seems to me like our society gets shaped more by the worst kinds
of advertising than the best.

[1] By best and worst, I mean most beneficial to the person/people viewing the
advertisement. An advertiser or deodorant executive would probably have a
different opinion on the matter.

~~~
clarky07
While I agree with your point, you seem to be suggesting that you'd put this
example on the worst side of things. I'd say that everyone smelling bad is a
problem and I'm really glad somebody solved that problem.

~~~
mbreese
Or do you think that way because you've always assumed it was a problem? It
isn't until our most insecure moments of adolescence that we really start
sweating enough to require deodorants. What better time to strike at
insecurities to sell a product for life? And after all these years, it
certainly is a reinforcing loop. for example, you don't see ads trying to
convince you that body odor is an issue - that's assumed.

Not that I disagree with you, I think that the mix of increased population
density in cities combined with chemistry made it all but inevitable. But the
cynic in me finds the idea of self propagating ad campaigns brilliant.

~~~
firemanx
People have been using scented fragrances to cover up both body odor and other
odors for thousands of years. I don't believe they had advertising convincing
them they smelled bad.

Certainly, the idea of what smells "good" and "bad" is subjective, but as
history proves out, I think our societal aversion to odors is 1. deeply seeded
and 2. probably practical - if you smell bad, you are likely dirty (and need
to wash up)

~~~
awakeasleep
After hearing the US abandoned chemical weapons based on the odor of feces and
rot because 'not all cultures share the same aversion to those smells" I was
surprised to read the following quote in Marcus Aurelius's Meditations:

Art thou angry with him whose armpits stink ? art thou angry with him whose
mouth smells foul ? What good will this anger do thee ? He has such a mouth,
he has such arm- pits: it is necessary that such an emanation must come from
such things: but the man has reason, it will be said, and he is able, if he
takes pains, to discover wherein he offends; I wish thee well of thy
discovery. Well then, and thou hast reason: by thy rational faculty stir up
his rational faculty; show him his error, admonish him. For if he listens,
thou wilt cure him, and there is no need of anger.

------
ankeshk
James Webb Young is a copywriting legend. You should read his ads to realize
how problem focused ads work better than benefit focused ads.

You first have to raise the problem before you list your solution and
benefits.

His full page ad: "Curve of a Woman’s Arm"

[http://books.google.co.in/books?id=YC6YKYyHVKwC&pg=PA30&...](http://books.google.co.in/books?id=YC6YKYyHVKwC&pg=PA30&lpg=PA30&dq=%22Curve+of+a+Woman%E2%80%99s+Arm%22&source=bl&ots=opNzDnfYLI&sig=M23Ep78klPn6fJDVWcKTNDeWqDQ&hl=en&sa=X&ei=tn0iUJmzG8jwrQe22oDwCw&ved=0CDkQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=%22Curve%20of%20a%20Woman%E2%80%99s%20Arm%22&f=false)

(If the above long link doesn't work, go to books.google.com and search for
the book "The 100 Greatest Advertisements: Who Wrote Them and what They Did" -
the ad is on page 30.)

~~~
6ren
Doesn't work (page limit exceeded), but this one does:
[http://books.google.co.in/books?id=YC6YKYyHVKwC&lpg=PA30...](http://books.google.co.in/books?id=YC6YKYyHVKwC&lpg=PA30&ots=opNzDnfYLI&dq=%22Curve%20of%20a%20Woman%E2%80%99s%20Arm%22&pg=PA30#v=onepage&q=%22Curve%20of%20a%20Woman%E2%80%99s%20Arm%22&f=false)

Google books has a link button (6th icon from the left, looks like a chain
link). It took me a while to spot it, even when looking for it.

------
powertower
Do you know what the bigger story is here?

You can purchase a mineral salt-rock crystal (it's a smooth solid peace of
salt, about as cheap as it gets) "de-odorant" that you wet and apply, it
leaves nothing behind except an undetectable amount of salt on the skin. That
is ... no chemicals, no fragrances, nothing but salt.

That salt kills-off the bacteria that are responsible for odor (through
various means, directly and indirectly).

After a week or two of this, you're done. Your sweat lessens, and becomes
clear and odorless.

No more deodorant is required after this. Just shower and apply some soap to
your skin.

The bigger story here is that advertisers have convinced you that their more
expensive "formulas" are required, and there are no good alternatives.

Their products are specifically designed not to kill-off the bacteria, and
hence to keep you purchasing the product.

They do this because you can't make money selling a $1 peace of salt-rock that
lasts the customer a life-time.

~~~
Roritharr
Is this true? Any references? Experiences?

~~~
powertower
The above is my personal experience, with absolute-zero story exaggeration.
Though how long you'll need to apply the salt may vary (and how frequent
you'll use it).

I don't have a preference for any brand (it's all the same) but here is what I
have now: <http://www.thecrystal.com/>

You should be able to buy these in any good organic food and health store.

~~~
dalke
What's the mineral in "the crystal?" It's almost certainly an aluminum salt,
but I can't find the active ingredient? The FAQ says "Do Crystal deodorants
contain aluminum chlorohydrate or aluminum zirconium? No." That's a bit
suspicious, as I think people would really want to know "does it contain
aluminum?" and the answer is likely "yes."

BTW, you wrote "Your sweat lessens" with this product, but it does not. The
FAQ stresses that it does not reduce sweat. "Crystal is not an antiperspirant.
It is a deodorant ... Deodorants are generally considered cosmetic product
because they simply control odor."

~~~
dpark
> _I think people would really want to know "does it contain aluminum?" and
> the answer is likely "yes."_

The answer is absolutely yes. They admit that it contains an alum, but don't
specify which one. The "it's all natural because it's a salt" angle is BS,
because aluminum chlorohydrate is also a salt.

------
danso
I hate to plug a book that I'm only 20% of the way in, but everyone here who
is designing/selling a product would get a real kick out of Charles Duhigg's
"The Power of Habit"

[http://www.amazon.com/The-Power-Habit-Business-
ebook/dp/B005...](http://www.amazon.com/The-Power-Habit-Business-
ebook/dp/B0055PGUYU/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1344438540&sr=8-2&keywords=duhigg+habit)

(Duhigg is a NYT writer and that piece about how Target knew that a girl was
pregnant before her father did was an excerpt from this book)

When I saw the HN headline I thought it might be referring to Febreze, a
product that Duhigg devotes a chapter to. The sales strategy wasn't about
convincing people that they stunk, but pitching Febreze as a product that you
used after you cleaned a room, to associate it with the "reward" of a clean
room.

Duhigg's book also touches on how Pepsodent became a breakthrough product
partly because an ad-man convinced Americans they needed to battle the film
that naturally covers their teeth.

------
TazeTSchnitzel
Quite a few markets were created overnight. This is just one of them.

Another that comes to mind is bottled water. When soft drink company profits
were declining, someone had the brilliant idea of just selling water. How
would they get people to be gullible enough to buy rebottled tap water,
though?

By telling people tap water was bad. It worked, very well.

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Se12y9hSOM0>

~~~
jcnnghm
Sometimes tap water is bad. I lived in a house with extremely hard water, and
it was basically undrinkable. Of course, I was generally buying water in
gallon or 2.2 gallon containers at the time.

When I buy bottled water today, I want an unflavored drink that is healthy. In
my view, what I am actually paying for is not water. I am paying for a
disposable bottle, convenience, and usually cold. That's why I pay extra for
the sport bottles with the better top. There was probably latent demand for
this, but people didn't know they actually wanted it. In general, at least in
the US, because of the abundance created over the last 30 years through the
production of cheap manufactured goods and innumerable process improvements,
people are more willing to pay for things they never would have before.

And also, I am glad they succeeded in selling deodorant. It is definitely a
quality of life improvement, as I notice when I visit places where deodorant
usage is not prevalent. I generally don't view marketing as adversarial like
many people though. If something exists that will improve my life, I want to
know about it.

~~~
darkarmani
A carbon filter will pretty much fix that for you and give you bottle water
quality.

~~~
mullingitover
Yeah, not so much. There's a huge difference between water from a brita
pitcher and reverse osmosis-purified water from the water dispenser at the
grocery store. The latter is basically indistinguishable from expensive Fiji
water, and the former is basically indistinguishable from tap water (in my
experience at least, and using LA tap water).

~~~
darkarmani
I think it might depend on your source of water, but most US tap water just
needs a good carbon filter.

------
_delirium
Imo this is a bigger cultural issue than solely deodorant, though it's quite
possible deodorant marketing had a role in creating it. I've noticed Americans
tend to be more worried about perspiration than others who live in similar
climates, to the extent of entirely avoiding outdoor activity in hot climates
during the work day, lest they return from lunch break sweaty. In Greece
people aren't really similarly worried about walking 5 blocks to grab lunch,
even if it's hot out.

------
learc83
I wonder how much our attitude towards body odor changed because of
advertising and how much was a direct result of indoor plumbing and
urbanization.

Around the same time as some of these advertisements started, indoor plumbing
was becoming popular. Until then it wasn't really practical to bathe every
day.

Additionally, odor didn't matter as much if you worked on a farm, but
urbanization meant Americans spent more time indoors in close proximity, where
smell was more of a problem.

~~~
colomon
Also body odor is going to be less noticeable if everyone around you is
smoking up a storm...

------
gbog
Very cultural thing. I'd rather sit beside someone with a slight body odor
than beside someone with a strong artificial deodorant perfume, especially
when eating. Hope one day all these irrational and costly behaviors will go
away. Another is shaving pubic hair, what a weird thing to do...

~~~
WiseWeasel
Well, it does make your cockstrom look bigger. But seriously, it's a jungle
down there otherwise.

I'd be more concerned about circumcision, if you want to question social
mores, since it's a much more permanent and painful cut than the surrounding
hair.

~~~
gbog
Circumcision is something people do for either religious or medical reason, it
has a long history behind it. It may be useless but at least it is not
invented yesterday by the chemical or porn industry.

For the "jungle down", I think shaving it make boys and girls look like
prepubescent kids, or some kid of caricature of kids. When I said weird I
meant it because presence of pubic hair has been for a long time the marker of
the beginning of sexual life.

~~~
WiseWeasel
I guess I didn't realize you were talking about scorched-earth-policy shaving
rather than regular trimming. I agree that shaving it completely is
unappealing, but I was not aware of that being common or trendy. Maybe some of
them are doing it for medical reasons as well... ; )

------
Sodaware
One thing that surprised me about American TV is just how many adverts were
for medical products. Every time I watch TV here I find out about another
dozen or so problems I didn't know I had that need to be cured.

~~~
jonhendry
It didn't used to be like that.

~~~
lsc
yeah, even in my lifetime. Personally, I find it pretty amusing, because
either they don't tell you what the drug does at all, just "ask your doctor
about wonderfulonium!" with you know, pictures of happy people, or they do
tell you what it does, the list off all the horrible things it can do to you.

It's funny; I moved out before Viagra came to market, and didn't watch much
any commercial TV. Of course, I was bombarded, like everyone else, with spam
and other online advertisements for viagra.

But yeah, the first time I saw a viagra ad on television, I was visiting my
parents, and I couldn't stop laughing. I mean, this was something advertised
in spam, and thus something linked in my mind to dubious 'penis enlargement'
pills, girls who "saw my profile online" and 419 scams. Not the sort of thing
you expect to see on broadcast television. (I'm not casting aspersions on
viagra the drug... just the marketing I had been exposed to associated it, in
my mind, with dramatically... less legitimate products.)

~~~
jonhendry
What's interesting is that there are probably whole categories of commercials
that don't air any more, crowded out by pharmaceuticals (and political ads).

~~~
lsc
I think a lot of it is the shifting demographics of TV watchers; in the '90s,
everyone watched TV. Now, I think it's mostly the old and the average-to-poor,
so it makes sense you want to advertise medical stuff, as that's probably the
most you can squeeze out of both of those groups.

But yeah; I'm looking at ridiculous meatspace advertising opportunities for my
own company (which targets technically skilled customers) and TV isn't even on
the radar.

Now, if Netflix could figure out how to advertise things other than movies
without pissing off their customer base? that'd be pretty great. I'd buy space
on the inside of the DVD envelopes where they push other movies, if I could
geographically target tightly enough, and if I could afford it.

The other interesting thing, I think, is that to a non-tv watcher, viagra, is
inexorably linked to poorly-done scams and obviously-fake drugs. Because of
how this product was marketed to me, I associate it with illegitimate and
dangerous products. It seems there is an advertising lesson in that, as well,
though I'm not sure what the lesson would be.

~~~
jonhendry
"I think a lot of it is the shifting demographics of TV watchers"

That's true, but I believe the pharma ads started because of a change in
regulatory restrictions that allowed them to advertise.

If the demographics were different, cash-rich pharma would probably still use
a ton of air time, it would just be ads for different target markets. Acne
medications, ADHD meds, anti-depressants, smoking cessation drugs, etc.

------
corin_
> _Instead, most people’s solution to body odor was to wash regularly and then
> to overwhelm any emerging stink with perfume._

Doesn't sound like they had to convince anyone they smelled bad, just that
there was a new, more effective way to prevent it.

edit: My bad, read on and actually to an extent the headline is correct, so I
withdraw my complaint.

~~~
mhurron
Unfortunately that is still most peoples solution to the problem and they
still stink to high heaven.

Lets see some marketers do some good in the world, get them to realize that BO
smells bad, a gallon of perfume/cologne smells bad and BO and a gallon of
perfume/cologne together makes you smell worse.

------
jschuur
I'm just amazed at the amount of ad copy that they thought people were willing
to read back then.

------
amtshrma
So successful advertising = playing on people's weaknesses?

~~~
HotKFreshSwag
In some cases, yes.

------
sp332
_it presented “excessive perspiration” as an embarrassing medical ailment in
need of a remedy._

I think the condition of "halitosis" was similarly invented.

~~~
Falling3
I take it you've never worked closely with someone who had it.

~~~
fusiongyro
Amen. Someone at my workplace has it--you can tell if they spoke in a room up
to twenty minutes after they leave just by the smell.

------
ericcholis
This reminds me of Gillette or Keurig. Make a common product or need
disposable. Why? Not to fill a need or create a new service/method for doing
something. Just, because, that's why. Nickle and dime the consumer by preying
on their laziness and putting a shiny package or vibrating handle on it...

~~~
evilduck
That specific market story is even worse since cartridge razors and canned
shaving creams or gels generally provide an inferior shave for the majority of
men. The only major benefit is that they can be used without any skill or
practice whatsoever and the modern version may shave a couple minutes off your
morning shave.

On the other hand, a safety razor will last you a lifetime, replacement blades
have been standardized for close to a century and even the "premium" brands
cost less than $0.15/blade. A nice quality safety razor and wetshaving set can
be had for about the price of 6 months of cartridge razor replacement blades,
and beyond that, you can probably buy a _lifetime_ supply of safety razor
blades for around $200. Shaving cream will cost you about the same either way,
so it's not a factor.

~~~
jff
I happily use a safety razor, but I won't pretend that it's any more
convenient or necessarily gives a better shave. I always found that my
disposable or cartridge razors worked quite well, and shaving cream is of
course a hell of a lot easier than whipping up the soap.

The convenience of a modern razor, including the fact that it's much easier to
learn, makes it worthwhile. Everybody on HN is always talking about how they
simplify their lives by throwing away everything except their macbook and a
few day's worth of clothes or whatever; I think for most people the simplicity
and ease of a disposable razor and a can of shaving cream beats saving a few
bucks a year.

~~~
nasmorn
But whipping up the soap makes for a radically better shave in my experience
even if you do use a modern razor (which I do).

------
siddMahen
This reminds me of a fantastic radio show I used to listen to in Canada called
the Age of Persuasion ([http://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/age-persuasion-
from-cbc-r...](http://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/age-persuasion-from-cbc-
radio/id411513638)). Great read.

------
nasmorn
Through self experiment I found out that soap does nothing to remove armpit
smell for me. It works just for 10 minutes and that is because most soap has
some amount of perfume in it masking smell. Anti-perspirant on the other hand
works very well. So I wonder who convinced us to wash parts of our body that
are not covered in hydrophobic substances with soap? Since I stopped using it
my skin is significantly less oily thus I don't need soap to remove it
anymore.

------
pitstik
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------
nutanc
Another product which does similar advertising, but convinces their color of
skin could be better is <http://www.fairandlovely.in/>

Guess even the name has a subtle meaning, be fair "and" you become lovely :)

------
dkrich
I sat next to a guy on the bus today who made me realize that if somebody can
invent a breath mint that lasts for 24 hours our society will be much better
off. And that picture alone in an advertisement could sell a couple million.

