Ivory (soap)

1898 advertising poster

Ivory soap ads in World War I show sailors bathing on deck

The name "Ivory" refers to a series of products created by the Procter & Gamble Company (P&G), including varieties of a white and mildly fragranced bar soap, that became famous for its pure content and for floating in water. Over the years, the bar soap has been altered into other varieties. P&G research revealed in 1992 indicated work in progress to create other varieties that do not float as the original and would sink due to the altered ingredients but avoid dissolving too fast. New varieties of Ivory soap contain glycerin, do not dry the skin as quickly, and do not float either. In October 2001, P&G tested the sinking bar soap as part of an advertising campaign to see if people would notice the sinking bars, even if given a cash reward.

History

Because Ivory is one of P&G's oldest products (first sold in 1879), P&G is sometimes called "Ivory Towers" and its factory and research center in St. Bernard, Ohio is called "Ivorydale".

Ivory bar soap is whipped with air in its production and floats in water. According to an apocryphal urban legend, later discounted by the company, a worker accidentally left the mixing machine on too long and the company chose to sell the "ruined" batch because mixing air longer did not change the basic ingredients of the soap. When appreciative letters about the new, floating soap inundated the company, P&G ordered the extended mix time as a standard setting. However, company records indicate that the design of Ivory was not the result of accident. In 2004, over 100 years later, the P&G company archivist Ed Rider found documentation that revealed that chemist James N. Gamble, son of the founder, had discovered how to make the soap float and noted the result in his writings.

Ivory's first slogan "It Floats!" was introduced in 1891. The product's other well-known slogan, "99 ⁴⁴/₁₀₀% Pure", was based on the results of an analysis by an independent laboratory the founder's son, Harley Procter, hired to demonstrate that Ivory was purer than the castile soap then available.

Ivory soap had been more caustic in comparison to some milder bars such as Dove, a non-soap synthetic detergent bar. Plus, some consumer investigations had found that Ivory's antimicrobial activity was better than that of other skin soaps, even those containing antibacterials such as triclosan. A postulate for this effectiveness is the ability of the soap to lyse bacteria efficiently, and to rinse cleanly. The drawback to the soap was its drying effect on the skin, as it had easily dissolved natural oils. Of all the commercial soaps, Ivory has been considered the best by holistic health people, but was criticized for what it did not contain, glycerin. One reason is that glycerin was expensive and would raise the cost of the bars, which had the value of being about the least expensive soap available for people of modest means.

Changing to sinking bars

Procter & Gamble product research, which was reported during October 1992, has involved creating other varieties of Ivory soap that do not float as the original, and would sink due to the altered ingredients, but also would avoid dissolving too fast when wet. New varieties of Ivory soap contain the ingredient glycerin inside the bar soap, and they do not float as well as the original formula. In October 2001, P&G tested the sinking bar soap as part of an advertising campaign in the United States, in a 6-month plan to release 1,051 soap bars that sink, among other bars that float, to see if people would notice the sinking bars, even if given a cash reward of up to $250,000. The D. L. Blair company, part of Draft Worldwide, a unit of the Interpublic Group of Companies, was assigned to administer the contest.

Ingredients

The Ivory soap bar (classic) had contained: sodium tallowate, sodium cocoate or sodium palm kernelate, water, sodium chloride, sodium silicate, magnesium sulfate, and fragrance. The soap bar had a determined pH value: 9.5.

New varieties of Ivory soap contain altered ingredients, such as in "Simply Ivory" (or "simplement ivory"): sodium tallowate and/or sodium palmate, water, sodium cocoate or sodium palm kernelate, glycerin, sodium chloride, fragrance, one or more of the following: coconut acid, palm kernel acid, tallow acid or palm acid, and tetrasodium EDTA. It is interesting to note however, that bars of Ivory now come without the words soap or float on the packaging, and that they are made with the latter formula. It is possible to feel a slight difference when holding the new bars, even through the package - they are slightly more malleable (try crushing it, it bends like a sponge).

Now

Ivory is a small brand by P&G standards. The Ivory brand includes the classic bar soap, liquid hand soap, body wash, dish liquid, and a mild laundry detergent (not a soap) product called Ivory Snow. Research in 2001 by Lehman Brothers revealed that the U.S. sales of all Ivory products, including the liquid soap and dish detergent, represented less than 1% of P&G's total worldwide sales in the 52 weeks ended September 9, 2001.

Cultural references

• Parodying Ivory's slogan, John Frankenheimer titled his 1974 film 99 and 44/100% Dead.
• "99 and 44/100% Pure" are the words spoken by Willy Wonka on opening the safe / factory door in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.
• Port Ivory, Staten Island, a New York City neighborhood, was renamed because of the P&G factory that was a landmark there from 1907-1991.
• Porn star Marilyn Chambers once appeared on Ivory Snow packaging. The producers of the hardcore Behind the Green Door used the Ivory Snow "99 and 44/100 percent pure" slogan to advertise Chambers' presence. The controversy helped to boost tickets sales for the film.
• Ivory soap exhibits a peculiar foaming phenomenon when exposed to microwave radiation. This experiment is commonly performed to demonstrate Ivory soap's unique properties.
• This soap powder was used by many people at Christmas time after World War II to create a fake snow to put on live Christmas trees. A box of Ivory Snow combined with boiling water, mixed and whipped up with an electric mixer, produced a "mock snow". It was applied by hand wearing rubber gloves and rubbing the mixture all over the tree. It dried to a firm consistency and dripped down, looking like real snow. Mica flakes or white glitter were then sprinkled on top of the snowy mixture. The tree sat for about an hour before the garland and ornaments were added. Commercial aerosol cans of fake faux snow replaced this method starting in the 1960s.
• An episode of Tales from the Crypt was titled "99 & 44/100% Pure Horror" and centered around the rich owner of a soap company and his wife.
• Country singer Ronnie Milsap referenced the Ivory soap slogan in his 1974 hit song "Pure Love" written by Eddie Rabbitt.
• Ice-T refers to Ivory Soap in his 1988 track "I'm Your Pusher", boasting that he doesn't sanitize the content of his records : "I don't clean'em up with no Ivory soap - I leave'em hard and pure, hope that you can cope".
• In Neal Shusterman's Unwind (novel), the law states that 99.44% of the organic material of 'unwinds' who are harvested for organs must be saved for transplant.

See also

• Sunlight, cleaning product

External links

• Ivory Products Home Page
• History of Ivory
• How to Expand Ivory Soap
• How to Expand Ivory Soap Video by Josh Leo
• The Australian equivalent, in production since 1900, Velvet Pure Soap's home page
• Ivory Project: Advertising Soap in America 1838-1998 by the Smithsonian Institution