COLUMNIST – KATHY CLUGSTON

Kathy Clugston

Kathy Clugston is a freelance radio presenter. She chairs the long-running BBC Radio 4 programme ‘Gardeners’ Question Time’ and presents the weekly entertainment show ‘The Ticket’ on BBC Radio Ulster.

DON’T SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF

This month, Kathy Clugston discusses how advertising deodorant for women has changed throughout the years.

On a recent sunny day, as I sat glowing in my Mum’s back garden, complaining about the damp circles under my arms that appear no matter what product I use, she suddenly exclaimed:

“Odorono!”

I stared at her blankly.

“ODOUR? OH NO!”, she said, waggling a finger. “You know, Odorono!”

I thought perhaps she’d popped a sherry in her tea, but it turns out she was having a flashback to the deodorant of her early youth, which, despite the name and probably the smell, reeked of glamour and sophistication. She could picture a jar with red writing on the lid, she said, and sure enough a quick internet search revealed both the jar and a range of astonishing advertisements pouring scorn on “excessive perspiration” and extolling that most underrated trait, “daintiness”.

A few more clicks revealed an absorbing history. In 1888, the company Mum was the first on the market with a deodorant cream, followed by Everdry, which launched an antiperspirant in 1903. Neither had much impact at the time. Then, in 1909, a Cincinnati surgeon, Abraham D. Murphey invented a liquid to stop his hands from sweating. Abraham’s daughter Edna had the bright idea of using it on underarms and a few years later launched the Odorono brand and, more importantly, a new kind of marketing strategy to promote it.

In the early 20th century, body odour wasn’t really a thing. Men were expected to sweat and ‘ladies’ did not discuss such matters in public; there was no social stigma around personal hygiene. Most women thought antiperspirants were unnecessary, messy and possibly harmful. Cumbersome dress shields were worn on special occasions (my Mum remembers wearing them at her older sister’s wedding in the ‘50s and both them and the synthetic dress being soaked through.) Odorono, like its predecessors, was barely making a dent in the beauty market so Edna Murphey took on an advertising agent, who, after a few unsuccessful attempts to get the ball rolling, came up with an ingenious strategy: create a problem and then solve it.

In 1919 the first magazine advertisements appeared telling women that perspiration was an embarrassing affliction that would make other people gossip about them behind their back and, worst of all, put men off. Full page ads had breathless titles such as: ”The most humiliating moment of my life - when I overheard the cause of my unpopularity among men!”, and, “If you long for romance, don’t let your dress offend with ARMHOLE ODOR.”

The strategy worked. Sales that year increased by 112 percent.

By the mid-1930s, companies realised that they were missing a trick by not selling to the other half of the population. Manly sweating didn’t stop women swooning though, so the companies had to find a different insecurity to play on. This was around the time of the Great Depression when jobs were precious so advertisers targeted male consumers by focusing on the shame of being considered unprofessional - or even passed over for promotion - due to their whiffy armpits.

Gender stereotyping has (slowly) changed since then, but the strategy is much the same. An industry grows by creating new ‘needs’, presenting us with an itch that only a certain product can scratch. Do we really need neck cream, gel for our ‘intimate areas’, makeup that lasts for 24 hours or bottled water with added electrolytes? Of course we don’t. As for antiperspirants, there’s an embarrassment of choice. We’ve gone way beyond the masculine and feminine; you can buy them in stick, rollerball, aerosol, spray, gel and cream form. They come unperfumed, alcohol-free, quick-drying, hydrating, invisible, for sensitive skin and even for

Illustration by Elle McGreevy

‘stress sweat’, which is, apparently, not the same thing as regular sweat. I have bought a raft of ‘natural’ deodorants, ones that don’t contain aluminum chloride, but I know that I have been persuaded into thinking of them as a healthier and ‘cleaner’ choice by playing on unproven fears about the chemicals in traditional antiperspirants being potentially harmful to health.

The founder of the cosmetics company Revlon is credited with saying: “In our factory, we make lipstick. In our advertising, we sell hope.” I think my new mantra may have to be another well known saying: caveat emptor. Let the buyer beware.

THIS MONTH’S OBSESSIONS:

Halloumi – I find myself frying up a few slices of this salty, stretchy Cypriot cheese most days. It goes with anything, but is especially good in a fried egg sandwich or artfully popped on top of a plate of leftovers. Swindled - a US podcast about white-collar criminals, con artists and corporate greed. Our host is an anonymous “concerned citizen” who does an incredible amount of research and has a pleasingly soporific voice. Water flosser - a handheld electronic device that squirts a powerful jet of water between your teeth to dislodge any unwelcome idlers. Messier than dental floss but so much more exciting.