Hai Karate

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hai Karate was a budget aftershave on sale in the United States and the United Kingdom during the 1960s through the 1980s, and derives its notability from its position as an icon of nostalgia. It was famously used by teenagers as their first scent, competing with other market leaders Brut, British Sterling, English Leather and Old Spice as well as the "King" of the "Asian fragrances", JADE EAST. As a unique marketing ploy, in the early days each bottle of Hai Karate came with a small self-defense instruction booklet, to help wearers defend themselves against women.

The fragrance was developed by the Leeming division of Pfizer and launched in 1967. As well as the original Hai Karate fragrance, versions named Oriental Lime, Musk and Oriental Spice were soon introduced.

Hai Karate is also fondly remembered for its television adverts, which featured a stereotypical nerd covering himself in the substance and being seduced by a female passer-by played by Valerie Leon of Carry On films fame. The advertising catch phrase was "Be careful how you use it".

As evidence of its status as an iconic brand of the 1970s, it was featured in the BBC series I Love the '70s.

[edit] References

Tuckwood, Jan. "UNCORKED MACHISMO!" from The Palm Beach Post (Jun 2001)
Hai Karate in the Basenotes Fragrance Directory

[edit] Pop Culture References

Samuel L. Jackson's character "Frozone" in the The Incredibles splashes on Hai Karate [1]
William Bennett's morning political talk show "Morning in America" featured several segments where Seth, one of Bennett's assistants on the show, went in search of a bottle of the scent. Bennett gave Seth a bottle for Christmas of 2006 after finding it in a relative's old things. The bottle is considered part of the studio's shared collection and is occasionally referred to in great reverence.
In "A Night to Remember" episode 318 of Dharma & Greg, Dharma's dad uses a vial of Hai Karate to help jog his memory.
In the movie "Puff, Puff, Pass" staring Danny Masterson and Ronnie Warner, Masterson's character questions Warner about his aftershave, asking if it was Hai Karate. He then asks where Warner found Hai Karate, getting the response "Ebay".
In "Bubba Hyde", Diamond Rio's 1994 country hit, the lyrics mention Bubba Hyde, the song's protagonist, "slaps on his Hai Karate aftershave" before heading out to the Honky Tonk.