This article is about the Kleenex brand.
- For information about the musical band of the same name, see Kleenex (band).
- For information about the generic item, see Facial tissue.
Kleenex is a brand name of facial tissue and a registered trademark of the Kimberly-Clark Corporation. Because of the success of this brand, it has become a genericized trademark in American English and many people in North America today refer to any tissue as a "kleenex".
The material from which Kleenex is made was originally called "Cellucotton," and was designed by Kimberly-Clark during World War I. It came to be used in gas mask filters during the war, as a replacement for cotton, which was in high demand for use as a surgical dressing.
Kimberly-Clark created the first facial tissue in 1924, and later introduced paper towels, and paper napkins. These facial tissues were originally marketed as a cleaning tissue for such usages as removing cold cream. Later they were marketed as a disposable paper tissue. In the 1930s, the Kimberly-Clark Corporation received a large number of letters from customers suggesting its use for colds and hay fever. Kleenex were first advertised for use as a handkerchief replacement in 1926; this was to become the product's dominant use. Early advertising recommended using disposable Kleenex instead of a cotton handkerchief with the slogan "Don't Carry A Cold In Your Pocket".
Kleenex is now manufactured in 19 countries, and sold in 150 countries.
In 2005, Greenpeace launched the Kleercut campaign against Kimberly-Clark to protest its methods of tissue production and its alleged use of ancient forests to produce disposable products. (see Kimberly-Clark Corporation).
Kimberly-Clark consciously places the terminology "brand tissues" after "Kleenex" in all of their advertising so as to inform the general public that Kleenex is a brand of tissue, not the actual term for "tissue". See genericized trademark.