Good Teeth a Social Duty - Analysis of Colgate Toothpaste Advertisements in the 19th and 20th Century

“Good Teeth a Social Duty”:

Analysis of Colgate Toothpaste Advertisements in the 19th and 20th Century

Monica Choy

Media Studies 170

Spring 2016

Analysis of Colgate Toothpaste Advertisements in the 19th and 20th Century

Introduction

Colgate-Palmolive Company is one of the largest consumer products giants in the world today, with core products centering on oral care, personal care, home care, and pet nutrition. Founded in 1806 by William Colgate, the company has greatly evolved its practices and specifically its advertising along with the times, accounting for its massive success.

1900-1910 Colgate Advertisement

In the late 19th century and early 1900s, the United States was undergoing a massive transformation economically, culturally, and socially, much of which was reflected in the advertising created in that period. Fordism and the rapid advancements in technology paved the way for mass consumerism to boom, consequently shifting the American ethos from a protestant to a therapeutic one. Colgate was no exception in this transition as one of the pioneers in establishing international operations and expanding subsidiaries to further perpetuate mass consumerism. This began with its creation of a Canadian subsidiary in 1913, which went on through the 1920s. (Reference for Business, 8) Such expansion is evident of what Stuart Ewen was referring to in “Captains of Consciousness” when he mentioned that this era was a time in which the creation of national markets created new social consciousness as well as the fueling of mass production and demand. (Ewen)

One of the pervasive themes of this period is family, as seen in this advertisement. In the advertisement, created in 1910, a young girl is showing her brother how to brush his teeth, saying, “Mamma says we have something [Colgate toothpaste] nicer than she ever had.” Although simple, this advertisement has many implications about the views of the time. To begin with, it perpetuates the idea of two children, a boy and a girl, as part of the nuclear, idealistic family unit, and a mother, referred to in the advertisement, as the caretaker. There is no “Mamma and Dadda” or mention of any other involved parent mentioned. Additionally, the shift of the American ethos from a protestant to a therapeutic one involved a way for consumers to cope to modernity. By selling Colgate’s dental cream (toothpaste) as something that is “nicer than [they] ever had,” the advertisement