Ew, yeah. Don’t want that, do we?
So yeah, if you’re spotting this going live on a Saturday, that’s because it did go live on a Saturday. I usually forego the weekends (save for a Retroist article here and there) to take time to work on the upcoming week’s articles, plus…I really like days off. No seriously, I do.
When I was putting together this week’s theme (featuring laundry detergent battles, and 1992 Mom pitting her twins shirts against each other, as well as a child stain magnet and his 1989 Mom’s solution), I found an extra commercial that I really liked. So, the sucker I am, I couldn’t resist a bonus episode. It happens once in a great while, so I felt this was the right time for a bonus episode!
When I was growing up, there was always this one commercial that mentioned “ring around the collar,” and it always sounded beyond gross. But it was only mentioned on this one commercial, because apparently there was only one laundry detergent in town that could take care of that problem!
It goes without saying that children aren’t the only cause of stains. Big kids have their issues too!
We have two college-aged men…and an alleged problem.
Trust me, girls aren’t part of that problem. At least for the one guy.
No, the problem is the unsightly “ring around the collar,” caused by perspiration.
Although if you ask me, being friends with Discount Burt Weems (1000 points if you know where that character is from!) might be a bigger problem.
However, he knows the solution to “ring around the collar,” so he may be necessary to keep around.
And when you click play, you’ll find out his solution!
That’s right! It turns out Discount Burt Weems’ secret to eliminating ring around the collar forever is Wisk!
He also has another secret…
Scaring off girls!
Cue Price is Right loser music!
But hey, his collars are clean!
So…Wisk…
Wisk laundry detergent was manufactured by Unilever from beginning in 1956 (the first liquid laundry detergent on the market!), and continuing until 2008, when Unilever divested its laundry detergent brands and combined with Huish Detergents, Inc. (itself owned by Vestar Capital Partners) to form Sun Products Corporation (they were mentioned in yesterday’s post!). Wisk was reformulated and repackaged in 2010, and retired in 2017 to make way for the similar Persil after Henkel acquired Sun Products.
So…it was just retired. At least its company didn’t go out of business or anything.
*Sigh of relief* Not a downer of a post!
The “ring around the collar” marketing campaign was introduced in 1968 (this commercial is from 1989), but took on significant criticism later on in its marketing life, due to being considered misogynistic, the fault of wives allowing the man to walk around with dirty shirt collars!
Probably why this commercial is a thing – the marketing campaign probably had to save face and show that laundry downfalls are not exclusive to women handling men’s clothes.
Oh, and I found this tribute to Wisk on YouTube. It is nine minutes of commercials you didn’t know you needed!
I know I needed it!
So, there you have it, clean clothes and three – count ’em, three! – episodes for your weekend of retro. We’ve learned about Bleach Alternative, the solution for stain magnet children, and ring around the collar. We also learned that laundry detergent advertising can come off as sexist. I’d say we laughed and cried, but we didn’t. We just loaded up the washing machine and got the laundry done.
It’s how we do things.
Well, I hope you enjoyed an extra round of memory lane for your weekend, and will enjoy the rest of it!
Have a fantastic weekend!
One comment