In corporate America, there's a movement afoot to buy old, tired brands of the s and relaunch them. Already, Vitalis, the hair tonic popular in the s and s, has come out with a new line of products, including shampoo and mousses.
And the same company that bought Vitalis, Helen of Troy, recently acquired Brut, a cologne whose popularity peaked in the '70s. Similarly, Old Spice has created a successful line of deodorants. And now another company is planning to give Aqua Velva and Brylcreem a makeover.
But with no plans to reformulate Aqua Velva, can there be a future for what a wag once described as "the toiletry of choice for used-car salesmen"? The makers of Aqua Velva hope so. They've even sponsored a search for "Today's Aqua Velva Man. Aqua Velva "has been on the market forever, plus years," says Michael Wendroff, vice president of personal-care marketing for Combe Inc. It just hadn't been marketed in years. Numbers aside, Wendroff acknowledges that his greatest challenge is education: Many young men don't know what an after-shave is.
Today's products go by such soothing monikers as "balm" and "lotion. But times have changed again, Wendroff says, and if men who use hair gel would try a little dab of Brylcreem, they might like it.
You could get that look if you used more than a dab," Wendroff says. It doesn't give you the sticky hard hold of a hair gel or spray. Erik Gordon, a marketing professor at Johns Hopkins University, says that if the company can find hip celebrities to promote its '60s products, it might stand a chance of reviving them.
But with Brylcreem, he has his doubts. At Hometown Favorites, a mail-order company that stocks hard-to-find items, owner Colleen Chapin rarely gets orders for Aqua Velva, but she keeps a few bottles in stock.
Subscribe Manage my subscription Activate my subscription Log in Log out. Regions Tampa St. Letters to the Editor Submit a Letter. Investigations Narratives Pulitzer Winners. Don't you worry, never fear, ClubmanRob will soon be here.. From Wikipedia, I was suprised how little I found on the web. Aqua Velva is a line of men's grooming products, including a widely advertised aftershave originally introduced as an alcohol-based mouthwash for men in by the JB Williams Company later acquired by GlaxoSmithKline.
As of , it is marketed worldwide by Combe Incorporated. The alcohol content of original Aqua Velva was high enough to actually inspire US sailors in World War II to use it as a substitute for alcoholic beverages. DaveAri said:. There seems to be a lot out there about the history of Pinaud Clubman one of my all time favorites. Thanks, Rob.
I love finding out that sort of stuff. Rob is a wealth of info. Thanks Rob! HoratioCaine said:. BradF said:. Straight Arrow. Here is a bottle I picked up at an antique shop. Last edited: Aug 20, Straight Arrow said:. I too was convinced AV was not for me until I became a member here. I've used half a big bottle since March, and it is quickly becoming a favorite.
It just plain works, and works very well. OK, I'm confused. I though Ice Blue was a 'special' version, ie not the 'original scent'. Thanks guys! Nick D. ClubmanRob said:. In a nutshell Because it was the only form of alcohol readily available to most of the boys in the trenches, it was pretty popular as a spirit. To discourage this behavior, Uncle Sam pressured Williams into mixing the formula into something a little less desirable as a drink, so Williams added a bittering agent and changed the color to something similar to the Blue we have now.
Rumors that the new batch was poisonous were spread in order to discourage drinking by our armed forces. In the mid 50's Williams tired of manufacturing two different blends of AV- one for civilians and one for soldiers- so it was decided that they would trim their production to the "blue" AV.
Instead of explaining this to the consumers of the day, cue Don Draper it was decided that a new ad campaign triumphing the Ice Blue as a new product would make more sense. So, in '55 or '56 the Ice Blue was in and the Brown was out. Soon AV was available in all types of different flavors, including Sport and Musk which are still manufactured today. It's stayed pretty remarkably true to its roots for the most part. In the late eighties, amid slagging sales, Williams decided to stop making the original formula Ice Blue and to try marketing their Euro blend which was cheaper to make and it damn near put them into bankruptcy.
The Original came back with a warm welcome. Thanks ClubmanRob, very interesting. Specially the part about the Euro version, is there out there any direct comparison American vs European AV? You must log in or register to reply here. Similar threads. Aqua Velva Ice Blue in glass bottles. AnimalCatcher Aug 28, Aftershaves 2.
Replies 21 Views 1K. Sep 8, bigjeffb. Floid The Genuine vs Pinaud Clubman - clash of titans.
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