I recently read this fantastic Smithsonian article about a female entrepreneur in 1912 and the antiperspirant product she named ‘Odorono’ that launched a billion dollar industry. This story is an example of how marketers have the power to shape behaviors and cultural norms, sometimes by convincing us we have a problem that never even existed.
At the turn of the 20th century, Americans didn’t give much thought to body odor. Sweat was considered a natural part of life, and deodorant was an obscure curiosity rather than a household staple. That all changed when advertisers got involved. They convinced the public that a pleasant personal smell was not just desirable, it was essential to societal survival.
…most people’s solution to body odor was to wash regularly and then to overwhelm any emerging stink with perfume.
This story begins when the daughter of a surgeon, Edna Murphey, turned her father’s aluminum chloride solution for excessive sweating into a product called Odorono (Odor, oh no). At first, it was very difficult to sell, until Edna turned to advertising.
She hired a young copywriter at big advertising firm J. Walter Thompson and, instead of simply explaining what Odorono did, he framed sweat and odor as social liabilities. A 1919 ad warned women that perspiration could cost them love and marriage! Sales shot up, and a cultural shift began: smelling bad was no longer just natural, it was shameful.
Advertising used medical claims, dramatic scenarios, and even subtle moral pressure to make people anxious about their own smell. Women were urged to protect their reputations by masking their sweat, while men were encouraged to maintain an image of refinement.
… improving sales was about convincing two-thirds of the target population that sweating was a serious embarrassment.
These ad campaigns relied on psychology rather than necessity. The fear of social embarrassment drove people to adopt products they hadn’t previously needed. They shaped cultural attitudes about cleanliness and personal responsibility that are still a part of daily routines over a hundred years later.
When marketing relies on exploiting insecurities and turning self-doubt into profit, it crosses a line. The most effective marketers know campaigns don’t need to manipulate to succeed. Decades of research show that honest, transparent marketing builds trust and trust is what keeps customers coming back (Kotler & Keller, Marketing Management). True persuasion is most powerful when it’s rooted in accuracy and ethics.
This sweat story is a reminder that marketers have the power to shape behaviors and cultural norms, sometimes even by creating problems that never existed. Each of us in marketing has a choice: we can lean on fear, or we can choose to build trust and connection.
“How Advertisers Convinced Americans They Smelled Bad: A schoolgirl and a former traveling Bible salesman helped turn deodorants and antiperspirants from niche toiletries into an $18 billion industry,” by Sarah Everts, The Joy of Sweat: The Strange Science of Perspiration, August 2, 2012.
