Today we continue our look at Great American companies. Our topic today is Clorox. This mid-century advertiser was established in 1913 in Oakland, CA. The bleach item was popular with homemakers who used it for a variety of cleaning purposes.
In recent times, a bottle of Clorox was a prized possession during the early days of the COVID19 pandemic when extreme cleanliness was thought to slow the spread of the virus. Clorox was recommended as the ideal product to clean and disinfect surfaces.
The cleaning properties of Clorox were advertised in many mid-century magazines. The photo you see above is from a 1963 ad showing boys in dirty white t-shirts at play on a jungle gym. The ad below from 1964 shows equally dirty ruff and tumble boys posing for a team photo.
Clorox was owned by Procter and Gamble from 1957 to 1967. After a Supreme Court case, the company was ordered to divest Clorox due to concerns that P&G had too large of the market share of household products. It remains its own company today and is the parent company of diverse household brands such as Pine-sol, Kingsford, and Hidden Valley.
This ad from the Today’s Woman June 1951 issue shows a classic early mid-century advertising graphic where the product is presented as a friendly person with a head, arms, and feet.
The ad outlined 4 ways that the product can be used to brighten laundry, remove stains, deodorize, and disinfect.
Clorox was marketed to moms during the baby boom years with ads such as the one above from 1954.
Here is another mom and child ad from 1959.
Note the change to the packaging when the product was sold in a bottle instead of a jug.
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