Brylcreem () is a British brand of hair styling products for men. The first Brylcreem product was a hair cream created in 1928 by County Chemicals at the Chemico Works in Bradford Street, Birmingham, England,
Ownership
The British pharmaceutical firm Beecham was the longtime owner of Brylcreem. Sara Lee acquired the personal care unit of SmithKline Beecham in June 1993. In January 2012, the global rights to the Brylcreem brand were sold by Sara Lee Corporation to
Unilever.
Brylcreem is marketed in the United States by Combe Incorporated, in Europe by Unilever and in India by Hindustan Unilever Limited. Before Godrej Group acquired a 51% stake of Sara Lee, in their joint venture Godrej Sara Lee in May 2010, the brand was distributed by Godrej in India.
Jingle
It was first advertised on television with the
jingle "Brylcreem — A Little Dab'll Do Ya! Brylcreem — You'll look so debonair. Brylcreem — The gals'll all pursue ya; they'll love to run their fingers through your hair!".
[ Del Ponte, Jimmy, "And now a word from our sponsor", The Somerville Times, Somerville, Massachusetts, 27 August 2011. Retrieved 18 September 2014.] Another version was "Brylcreem—a little dab will do ya! Use more only if you dare; but watch out! The gals will all pursue ya! They'll love to run their fingers through your hair!"
The jingle was created by Hanley M. Norins of the Young & Rubicam advertising agency.[ Los Angeles Times, 17 July 1992, "Hanley M. Norins; Young & Rubicam Executive, Author" Retrieved 22 May 2017.] The television advertisement for Brylcreem included a cartoon animation of a man with (initially) shaggy hair, who happily has a little dab applied, and, miraculously, the hair combs and smooths itself.
When the dry look became popular, partly inspired by the unoiled moptops of the Beatles, the last line was changed from "They'll love to run their fingers through your hair", to "They'll love the natural look it gives your hair". Subsequent television advertisements used the mottoes "Grooms without gumming" and later, in the 1970s, in the United Kingdom and Canada, "A little dab of Brylcreem on your hair gives you the Brylcreem bounce".
Notable users and popular culture
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During the Second World War, members of the RAF became known as "Brylcreem boys". While there is a popular belief that it was intended as an insult by other branches of the forces due to the RAF's perceived safe and comfortable job back in Britain, in fact the truth is more prosaic: Brylcreem used an image of an RAF airman in their print ads from 1939.
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Denis Compton, the Middlesex and England batsman and Arsenal footballer, was one of the earliest British sportsmen to make serious money from product endorsement when he advertised Brylcreem in the 1940s and 1950s.
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In 1955 Fazal Mahmood was the first Pakistani cricketer to model for Brylcreem. It was the first time a commercial brand had hired a Pakistani cricketer as a model.
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The Brylcreem Boys is a film from 1998, directed and co-written by Terence Ryan, about the internment of Axis powers and Allied combatants during World War II.
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In the HBO American Mafia drama series The Sopranos, mobster Junior Soprano is being investigated for racketeering. He laments, "Federal marshals are so far up my ass I can taste Brylcreem".
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In Mad Men (Season 1, Episode 7), Roger Sterling says to Don Draper regarding their upcoming meeting with members of the Nixon campaign, "It's the G.O.P. They'll never smell it over the stench of Brylcreem."
Slogans
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Dipakai Pria, Disukai Wanita (Used by Men, Liked by Women)
See also
External links
