Origins and history

Lux Print ads – Early 20s

The brand was founded by the firm Lever Brothers, now known as Unilever, in 1899.^[5]

Lux beginnings

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]