Boudreaux's Butt Paste

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Boudreaux's Butt Paste is a skin cream used to treat skin ailments such as diaper rash, minor burns, and insect bites, among many others. The product has gained notoriety mainly due to its unusual and humorous name. Boudreaux's is not advertised, relying on word of mouth to get to customers.

[edit] History

Boudreaux's Butt Paste was originally developed in the 1970s by Louisiana pediatrician "Pappy" Talbot, but the main formula was compounded by a local pharmacist, Dr. George Boudreaux, in the town of Covington.

The product became a local hit, and in 1994, Boudreaux sold his pharmacy to concentrate on marketing Butt Paste.

Upon selling the pharmacy, Boudreaux bought an RV, renamed it the "Butt Mobile" and traveled to regional trade shows and local pharmacies to market the product. At one of these shows, a regional manager at Wal-Mart took on the product for a trial. When the trial period was over, the manager found Doc Boudreaux's product outsold the leading brand by a large margin.

Since then, Butt Paste has appeared in many department stores, including Wal-Mart, Target, and Walgreens, as well as enjoying a strong cult following on the Internet.

In recent years, Boudreaux's Butt Paste has sponsored NASCAR Busch Series car #34, driven by numerous drivers for Frank Cicci Racing, increasing their national exposure.

[edit] Ingredients

The combination of ingredients is:

16 percent zinc oxide
a proprietary blend of Peruvian balsam
boric acid
castor oil
mineral oil

Boric acid is now considered an unsafe ingredient for many topical skin treatments, including diaper rash ointments, and should be avoided. The following articles mention this fact:
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/407595_print
http://rxinsider.com/monographs/diaper_rash.htm
http://familydoctor.org/051.xml

It is suggested that you use products which do not contain any ingredients not on the FDA GRAS List (Generally Regarded as Safe). Many ointments (such as Grandma El's Diaper Rash Remedy and also A&D Ointment) may contain only these ingredients.