Mentadent#History
{{short description|Toothpaste brand of Unilever}}
{{Infobox brand
| name = Mentadent
| logo =
| image = Mentadent P Toothpaste 2017-07-15.jpg
| caption = Unilever's Mentadent P Toothpaste in the UK
| introduced = {{start date and age|1982}}
| type = Dental Products
| currentowner = Unilever (excluding North America)
Church & Dwight (North America only)
| website =
}}
Mentadent is a brand name for a line of dental products manufactured by Unilever for its home and international markets excluding the United States and Canada where the company sold its rights to the brand to Church & Dwight Company in 2003.{{cite web |title=Our brands Mentadent |url=https://www.unilever.com/brands/?brand=413680-410037 |publisher=Unilever |access-date=13 July 2017}}{{cite press release |title=Unilever agrees to sell its US and Canada oral care brands to Church & Dwight |url=https://www.unilever.com/news/Press-releases/2003/03-09-10-Unilever-agrees-to-sell-its-US-and-Canada-oral-care-brands-to-Church-Dwight.html |publisher=Unilever |date=10 September 2003 |access-date=6 November 2017}}
In 2016, Church & Dwight announced it would discontinue the Mentadent brand effective Spring 2017.{{cite web| title=Mentadent Discontinue Letter| url=http://www.armandhammer.com/pdf/Mentadent_Discontinue_Letter.pdf| publisher=Church & Dwight Co., Inc.| access-date=14 December 2016| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220120929/http://www.armandhammer.com/pdf/Mentadent_Discontinue_Letter.pdf| archive-date=2016-12-20| url-status=dead}} As it only involved the rights for US and Canadian sales, this did not affect Unilever which still markets and sells Mentadent branded products in other markets.{{cite web |title=Mentadent |url= https://pioti.unilever.com/pioti/en/p3.asp?selectCountry=UK&language=EN&brandid=MENTADENT |publisher=Unilever |access-date=13 July 2017}}
In 2018 it was thought that Unilever had quietly retired the Mentadent SR brand from the UK market, leaving only Mentadent P on sale. However, as of 2024, various Mentadent toothpastes were available to buy in Asda.{{cite web |url=https://groceries.asda.com/event/mentadent-toothpaste}}
History
{{Expand section|date=July 2017}}
Unilever first introduced the brand around 1982 with the launch of Mentadent P, Mentadent later became the key brand for Unilever toothpaste and Gibbs SR, a brand that dated back to the 1950s, was renamed Mentadent SR.
= First UK television advert =
Mentadent SR, formerly Gibbs SR, is one of three toothpaste products still marketed by Unilever worldwide. The product was originally named after its active ingredient, sodium ricinoleate.{{citation needed|date=November 2020}}
Gibbs SR was the first product to be promoted on UK television. The introduction of commercial television advertising was due to the Television Act 1954 which created the commercial broadcaster ITV. The advertisement was first shown on Associated-Rediffusion in London on 22 September 1955 at 8.12pm BST, with a voiceover by Alex Macintosh.{{cite news| url=http://www.newsandstar.co.uk/features/timeline/classic-tv-adverts-still-bring-back-happy-memories-1.857319?referrerPath=2.2951| newspaper=News & Star| location=Cumbria| title=Classic TV Adverts Still Bring Back Happy Memories| date=15 July 2011| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110715202622/http://www.newsandstar.co.uk/features/timeline/classic-tv-adverts-still-bring-back-happy-memories-1.857319?referrerPath=2.2951| archive-date=15 July 2011}}{{cite journal|date=6 January 2005|title=The end of a golden age|url=https://www.marketingweek.com/the-end-of-a-golden-age/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200828233823/https://www.marketingweek.com/the-end-of-a-golden-age/|archive-date=28 August 2020|access-date=15 July 2017|journal=Marketing Week}} The advertisement was written and produced by Brian Palmer.{{cite web|last=Palmer|first=Alasdair|date=11 September 2005|title=How my dad invented the ad|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1498112/How-my-dad-invented-the-ad.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200223151210/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1498112/How-my-dad-invented-the-ad.html|archive-date=23 February 2020|access-date=15 July 2017|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph}}
Toothpaste
Post-2003 brand in the United States and Canada
In 2003, Church & Dwight Company acquired the United States and Canadian rights to the Mentadent brand from Unilever and then operated it as a subsidiary brand of Arm & Hammer until it discontinued sales of the brand in 2016.
Mentadent is most notable for its unique toothpaste dispenser: a dual chamber pump. This design is intended to keep two ingredients separated until they are dispensed. Upon brushing, the ingredients will react with each other in the user's mouth. Both the toothpaste (formula) and the design of the pump were invented and then patented by Hans Schaeffer - who later sold the patent.{{citation needed|date=October 2014}}
In the majority of its toothpaste lines, the two separate ingredients are baking soda and peroxide. Upon brushing, baking soda and peroxide combine to release oxygen bubbles. It is claimed that these bubbles will clean, whiten, and freshen the mouth.{{citation needed|date=October 2014}}
;Varieties
{{More citations needed|list|date=October 2014}}
- Mentadent Replenishing White
- Mentadent Advanced Whitening
- Mentadent Advanced Cleaning with Breath Freshening
- Mentadent Advanced Care
- Mentadent White System
See also
{{Portal|Companies}}