LUX is a global brand developed by Unilever.
![]() | |
Product type | Personal care |
---|---|
Owner | Unilever |
Produced by | Hindustan Unilever[1] Unilever Sri Lanka[2] Unilever Pakistan[3] |
Country | United Kingdom |
Introduced | 1925 |
Markets | Worldwide |
Website | lux.com |
Lux is marketed primarily in South Asian countries such as India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. It is also marketed in Brazil, Thailand, Middle East and South Africa.[4]
History
Origins and history
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/09/Printads_20s.jpg/200px-Printads_20s.jpg)
The brand was founded by the firm Lever Brothers, now known as Unilever, in 1899.[5]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9d/Early_beginnings.jpg/150px-Early_beginnings.jpg)
Advertising history
Lux Soap was introduced to America in 1925 by the Lever Brothers.[6] It was a white soap packaged in pastel colors designed to be comparable to the finer French soaps, but more affordable.[7] Once Lux Soap began its national campaign in 1926, it was also advertised for men and children.[7] The Thompson agency then began a campaign in 1928 to get endorsements from Hollywood actresses, by sending 425 actresses cases of Lux Soap. It received 414 endorsements in return, leading them to claim that 9 out of 10 stars in Hollywood use Lux Soap.[7][6]
In 1933, advertisements claimed that Lux Soap was used by 686 out of 694 more well known actresses.[8] Lux Soap's Hollywood campaign along with its many other advertising efforts, would assist Lux Soap in becoming a worldwide leader in soap sales.[6] As the focus of advertising shifted from the use of Hollywood starlets to a focus on everyday women, Lux Soap declined in sales and was removed from the shelves in the 1990s. Lever Brothers shifted their focus to another soap, Dove.[6]
Lux Soap followed Colonial Great Britain to Zimbabwe, Africa, in the 1920s, but it took until the mid-20th century before Africans became familiar with toilet soap and few used it.[9] In the 1940s Lever Brothers began mass advertising for Lux, introducing their product as a soap associated with glamour and intelligence, and began using existing advertisements of international celebrities endorsing their products.[9] Lever Brothers began to offer different colored bars other than white and used depictions of African people with slogans that insinuated intelligent people used only Lux Soap.[9] In the 1960s and 1970s Lux Soap advertising shifted back to emphasizing glamour but this time used local models and singers instead of international stars.[9]
References
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)