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Teen Spirit (deodorant)

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An earlier Teen Spirit Stick deodorant, with an "Orchard Blossom" scent.

Teen Spirit is an anti-perspirant/deodorant, originally sold by Mennen until the company was acquired by Colgate-Palmolive in 1992.[1] The Teen Spirit line of products has been steadily losing popularity since its peak in the early 1990s. However, this peak was largely due to its inadvertently being featured in the 1991 legendary Nirvana song "Smells Like Teen Spirit." Before this, the Teen Spirit line was much as it is now, small and relatively unheard of.

Teen Spirit was first released by Mennen early in 1991, and with heavy advertising campaigns, it had soon "established a market niche" with teen girls.[2] However, one of its biggest boosts came from the grunge band Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit," a song that was inspired by a friend of lead singer Kurt Cobain, Kathleen Hanna (lead singer of the punk band Bikini Kill at the time), spray painting "Kurt smells like Teen Spirit" on his wall (because Tobi Vail, Hanna's band mate and Kurt's then-girlfriend, wore Teen Spirit). At the time the song was released, Cobain had no idea that the brand even existed; and when he did find out, he was rather upset.[3]

Nonetheless, Mennen wasted no time in taking advantage of the song's popularity. While legal resrictions limitted the use of the song and it lyrics in their advertisements, the company made sure to get the point across. With slogans such as "Do you smell like teen spirit?" and "Deodorant made for your generation" it was hard to miss the references to the song.

When Mennen was acquired by Colgate-Palmolive in 1992, the Teen Spirit brand was said to be the most popular product of its kind, and was the favorite off nearly 1/4 of all teenage girls. Because of its immense popularity, Colgate-Palmolive planned to begin a new hair care line with the Teen Spirit Name. The new hair care products were released in August and sold well, as they were expected to.[4]

Unfortunately for Colgate, the Teen Spirit name began to lose its share of the market, just as the song with the same name started to drop on the charts. Before long the company was forced to drop the hair care line, but kept the deodorants. Nowadays, all that's left of the Teen Spirit franchise is "Teen Spirit Stick." Teen Spirit Stick is offered in four fragrances: Sweet Strawberry, Cool Coconut, Berry Blossom, and Shower Fresh. These scents can be bought in either the 1.4 or 2.3 ounce sizes.[5] Both of which claim "all day extra effective protection" and a "long lasting fragrance."[6]

References

  1. ^ "Colgate History". Retrieved 2006-07-03.
  2. ^ "Mennen Innovation Key". Retrieved 2006-07-03.
  3. ^ "Smells Like Teen Spirit Song Facts". Retrieved 2006-07-03.
  4. ^ "Colgate Aims to Capture Teens". Retrieved 2006-07-03.
  5. ^ "Physlabs Store". Retrieved 2006-07-03.
  6. ^ "Teen Spirit Main Page". Retrieved 2006-07-03.
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