Ipana

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Ipana (pronounced /aɪˈpænə/) was a popular toothpaste in the 20th century with Bucky Beaver as its mascot. It was first introduced in 1915 and became an early sponsor on radio in 1923 with the program The Ipana Troubadors. The product achieved its greatest popularity in the 1940s and 1950s. With a wintergreen flavor, the active ingredient was sodium fluoride (0.243%). Bristol-Myers's Ipana was the most popular U.S. toothpaste or powder from 1936 to 1945. However, demand declined by the late 1960s and early 1970s, and the brand was discontinued in the United States but was sold elsewhere. In 1986, a new gel version of Ipana containing two fluorides was introduced in Turkey.[1] In 2005, River West Brands, a Chicago based brand revitalization company, re-introduced Ipana into the U.S. marketplace. At present, the Ipana brand is a leading toothpaste in Turkey.

Bucky Beaver was the marketing icon and mascot of Ipana commercials from the 1950s. Bucky Beaver's slogan was "Brusha... Brusha... Brusha. Get the New Ipana - it's dandy for your teeth!"

[edit] In popular culture

A well-known scene in the movie-musical Grease features the character Jan singing the jingle along with Bucky Beaver during a television commercial: "Brusha, brusha, brusha! Get the new Ipana! With the brand new flavour - it's dandy for your teeth! Brusha... Brusha... Brusha. New Ipana toothpaste. Brusha... Brusha... Brusha - knock out, decay germs fast! Fast! Fast - you're sure alright!"

It is also referred to in the 1999 movie "Blast From The Past." The lead character, played by Brendan Fraser, after revealing that he had been raised in a fallout shelter since 1962, was found to have a tube of Ipana toothpaste in his hotel room.

Under the name Frances Westcott, Frances Bergen, wife of the famed ventriloquist Edgar Bergen and mother of actress Candice Bergen, worked for the influential Powers Modelling Agency and her face appeared as 'the Ipana Girl' in toothpaste ads in magazines.[2]

The 1991 Looney Tunes special Lunar Tunes showed a brief snippet of an Ipana commercial during a segment where Marvin the Martian is showing supposed evidence to the mistreatment of extraterrestials by the media as justification to blow up Earth.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ European New Product Report. (November 21, 1986) Gel formlation of Ipana toothpaste introduced in Turkey.
  2. ^ Globe and Mail (October 18, 2006) Frances Bergen, Actress and Homemaker: 1922-2006. Section: Obituaries; Page S9.
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