Barbasol
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Barbasol is a brand of shaving cream, body wash, and aftershave, founded in 1921 in Indianapolis, Indiana. It is currently owned by Perio, Inc.
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[edit] The Invention of Barbasol
Fed up with mug shaving soap that couldn't compete with his tough beard and sensitive skin, MIT Professor Frank Shields set out to create a product that would give him a close shave without irritation. In 1919, he succeeded with the invention of Barbasol – a shaving cream that did not have to be worked into a lather. He named it Barbasol from the combination of two words: the Roman word barba (meaning beard) and “solution.”[citation needed] The original formula was a thick lotion, unlike the aerosol foams common today and is most closely related to the Barbasol Non-Aerosol Therapeutic Shave Cream.
Before long, the Barbasol Company, created in December 1920, was churning out 30-40 dozen tubes of shaving cream per day out of its small Indianapolis headquarters.
[edit] Brand History
[edit] Napco Corporation
Barbasol was first manufactured under the Napco Corporation name, a company Frank Shields started before inventing Barbasol. After the shaving cream sales increased, they outgrew Napco and The Barbasol Company was created.
[edit] The Barbasol Company
After it quickly outgrew Napco, Frank Shields established The Barbasol Company in 1920, which owned the brand for 42 years. In the mid-1950s, aerosol cans were introduced, and the Barbasol Company changed the formula from the thick cream in a tube to the soft, fluffy foam familiar in the aerosol cans today. The can design mimicked a barber's pole, and is still the trademark design used today.
[edit] Pfizer
From 1962 to 2001, Pfizer owned the Barbasol brand. During this time, they developed many additional versions of Barbasol to complement the original formulation, including Soothing Aloe, Skin Conditioner, Sensitive Skin, Extra Protection, Cool Menthol and Lemon Lime.
As gels became popular, Pfizer created gel versions of Barbasol in the Original, Soothing Aloe, Sensitive Skin, and Extra Protection varieties.
By the 1990s, Barbasol brand equity had diminished. Sales had slowed. Pfizer, primarily a pharmaceutical company, looked to sell the brand.
[edit] Perio, Inc.
Perio bought the Barbasol brand from Pfizer in 2001 and has since been revitalizing it.
Perio consolidated the Barbasol line to Original, Soothing Aloe, and Skin Conditioner, and added Pacific Rush. A sub-brand was then launched, called Barbasol Ultra. The Sensitive Skin and Extra Protection varieties that used to be in the classic line were reborn into this sub-brand and two additional varieties, Extra Moisturizing and Therapeutic, were introduced.
A non-aerosol cream that simulated the original product was created in 2003, but was reformulated to the Barbasol Non-Aerosol Therapeutic Shave Cream in 2006 (Pfizer also had a similar simulation of the original Barbasol cream, but discontinued it in 1999).
Several aftershave products have also been introduced under the Barbasol brand name.
[edit] Advertising
[edit] Early Advertising
Barbasol became a very popular shaving cream. Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, many print advertisements were used to support its growth. Many of the print ads featured men and women in situations that would be considered risqué for their time.
The company also used several famous spokesmen throughout the years, notably star baseball players Babe Ruth and Rogers Hornsby, as well as football legend Knute Rockne.[citation needed]
In 1936, Barbasol sponsored a car in the Indianapolis 500, and painted it to look like a tube of the cream. The car crashed in lap 119 of 200, but still managed to finish 21st.[citation needed]
The tagline throughout this time was “No brush, no lather, no rub in.”[citation needed]
[edit] Singin’ Sam, the Barbasol Man
One of the most nostalgic figures in Barbasol’s history was Singin’ Sam the Barbasol Man, whose real name Harry Frankel.[citation needed]
Frankel got his start as a vaudevillian, and eventually became the spokesperson for a lawnmower company and began broadcasting out of Cincinnati. The Barbasol Company soon heard him and, in 1931, signed him on as Singin’ Sam the Barbasol Man, where he made famous the old Barbasol jingle, “Barbasol, Barbasol ... No brush, no lather, no rub-in ... Wet your razor, then begin."
[edit] Recent Advertising
Barbasol’s recent advertising is hardly as suggestive as its 1920s counterparts. Many of the recent television ads have featured a close-call situation, followed by one person saying “Close shave” and another person responding with “Better buy Barbasol.”
The new Barbasol Ultra uses the tagline “Take your face to Ultra.”
[edit] American Icon
Barbasol's longevity in the American marketplace has made it an unmistakable icon for shaving. It is often the representative for a can of shaving cream, simply for its recognizable packaging, and can be seen in such movies as "Jurassic Park", "Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid", "Evan Almighty", and "Family Guy: The Stewie Griffin Story" (barber pole design was featured, but logo was absent and in "Mr. Saturday Knight, the black knight is shown using barbasol).
