Listerine / 1920s
How Listerine turned bad breath into a social fear
1:23 / A short film by Chirag SpeaksWatch on YouTube
A mouthwash ad asks you to worry about your breath. Then it asks you to worry about what your breath might cost you. Listerine's advertising connected a physical condition with rejection, embarrassment and marriage. This film follows the story a brand told to make its product feel necessary.
The question to take with you
When a brand names a problem, how much power does it gain over the way people see themselves?
A closer look at the history
Bad breath was real. The social story was constructed.
Listerine's campaign did not invent bad breath. The Smithsonian describes how its advertising medicalized the condition through the term halitosis and built social fears around it.
That distinction matters. We can study the power of a campaign while questioning the insecurity it helped create.
Where would you like to go next?
