History of Household Brands Can be Disturbing.

Learning about the history of advertising has revealed some historical Facts about Famous Name Brand Products that are a little disturbing.

Most people know that Coke was developed as a medicine cure for Headaches and contained both Alcohol and leaves from the same plant that is harvested for it's drug properties - Cocaine.* The present concoction does not include these items because when the purpose of the drink transferred from being a medicine to a soft drink these items were removed. This change in market and usage occurred because the consumers demand for the soft drink version outstripped demand for a headache remedy. The makers of coke just adjusted to market demands. Coke isn't the only product to switch its use, the origins of other products we have around our house are very different from their present use.

Listerine was developed as a powerful surgical antiseptic, that may account for the original taste. It then was distilled and sold as floor cleaner and a cure for gonorrhea. It wasn't until 1920 that it became a mouthwash for halitosis. At this time mouthwash wasn't in high demand but as the advertisers promised fresh breath for your betrothed sales went from $115 000 to $8 Million.** Listerine became a popular mouthwash because advertisers created a market for it by promising fresh breath for kissing. In this case the market adjusted to the product.

Many products we use today have been around a long long time, their products have changed over the years to meet consumer demand. The longevity of these companies is due to their flexibility and awareness of consumers demands. How flexible is your business? Can you alter your product or service to meet the demands of consumers? Flexibility is an important key to longevity and success you never know where your product will end up. However, I don't see myself rinsing my mouth with Mr. Clean in the future but you never know!

Can you think of other brand name items that changed their use to become a successful product?

*From the Book The Real Thing
** From the book Freakonomics

The history of Johnson & Johnson