Ipana
Encyclopedia
Ipana was a very popular toothpaste
in the 20th century with its famous Disney-created mascot named Bucky Beaver joining the Ipana marketing efforts in the 1950s.
Ipana was first introduced in 1901 by the Bristol-Myers Company of New York. Ipana was an early and large sponsor on radio starting in 1923 with the program The Ipana Troubadors
. Ipana toothpaste achieved its greatest popularity from the 1920s until the early 1970s. With its renowned wintergreen
flavor, the active ingredient was sodium fluoride
(0.243%). Bristol-Myers's Ipana was the most popular U.S. toothpaste or powder from approximately 1920 to the late 1950s.
Sales of Ipana waned by the early 1970s due to increased marketing efforts from Procter & Gamble
, Colgate
, and others. Colour television was increasing in popularity, and Bristol-Myers was uninterested in investing in new colour television programming material. Bristol-Myers was making far more money in pharmaceuticals so Ipana and other brands were given up by the sales and marketing teams.
By the late 1970s, Ipana was discontinued entirely in the United States
, but was sold elsewhere in the world. In 1986, a new gel version of Ipana containing two fluorides was introduced in Turkey
. In 2005, River West Brands, a Chicago-based brand revitalization company, re-introduced Ipana into the U.S. marketplace. At present, the Ipana brand is a leading toothpaste in Turkey
.
River West Brands divested itself of Ipana in October 2009. River West sold the Ipana brand and related IP to maxill inc. of Canada. Maxill, one of the top three selling toothbrush makers in Canada, formed plans to bring Ipana back to life in early 2011 as a "retro brand" in the professional dental market, where maxill had come to dominate the oral hygiene category by that time.
Bucky Beaver (voiced by Jimmie Dodd
) was the marketing
icon and mascot
of Ipana commercials from the 1950s. Bucky Beaver's slogan was "Brusha... Brusha... Brusha. Get the New Ipana - it's dandy for your teeth!"
Grease
features the character Jan (Jamie Donnelly
) singing the jingle
along with Bucky Beaver during a television commercial: "Brusha, brusha, brusha! Get the new Ipana! With the brand new flavor - it's dandy for your teeth! Brusha, brusha, brusha! New Ipana toothpaste! Brusha, brusha, brusha - knock out, decay germs fast! Fast! Fast - you're sure all right!"
Under the name Frances Westcott, Frances Bergen
, wife of the famed ventriloquist Edgar Bergen
and mother of actress Candice Bergen
, worked for the influential Powers Modelling Agency and her face appeared as 'the Ipana Girl' in toothpaste ads in magazines.
Actress Phyllis Brooks
was known as the Ipana Toothpaste Girl because of her association modelling for the product.
The 1991 Looney Tunes
special Lunar Tunes showed a brief snippet of an Ipana commercial during a segment where Marvin the Martian
is showing supposed evidence of the mistreatment of extraterrestrials by the media as justification to blow up Earth.
Allen Ginsberg
, before becoming a revolutionary beat poet and counterculture icon, worked on the "Brusha, brusha, brusha" campaign as a market researcher.
The brand was also featured in the film Blast From The Past
when the main character, played by Brendan Fraser
, leaves belongings behind in his hotel room, including a tube of Ipana toothpaste.
Toothpaste
Toothpaste is a paste or gel dentifrice used with a toothbrush as an accessory to clean and maintain the aesthetics and health of teeth. Toothpaste is used to promote oral hygiene: it serves as an abrasive that aids in removing the dental plaque and food from the teeth, assists in suppressing...
in the 20th century with its famous Disney-created mascot named Bucky Beaver joining the Ipana marketing efforts in the 1950s.
Ipana was first introduced in 1901 by the Bristol-Myers Company of New York. Ipana was an early and large sponsor on radio starting in 1923 with the program The Ipana Troubadors
The Ipana Troubadors
The Ipana Troubadors was a musical variety radio program which began in New York on WEAF in 1923. In actuality, the Troubadors were the Sam Lanin Orchestra...
. Ipana toothpaste achieved its greatest popularity from the 1920s until the early 1970s. With its renowned wintergreen
Wintergreen
Wintergreen is a group of plants. Wintergreen once commonly referred to plants that continue photosynthesis throughout the winter...
flavor, the active ingredient was sodium fluoride
Sodium fluoride
Sodium fluoride is an inorganic chemical compound with the formula NaF. A colorless solid, it is a source of the fluoride ion in diverse applications. Sodium fluoride is less expensive and less hygroscopic than the related salt potassium fluoride....
(0.243%). Bristol-Myers's Ipana was the most popular U.S. toothpaste or powder from approximately 1920 to the late 1950s.
Sales of Ipana waned by the early 1970s due to increased marketing efforts from Procter & Gamble
Procter & Gamble
Procter & Gamble is a Fortune 500 American multinational corporation headquartered in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio and manufactures a wide range of consumer goods....
, Colgate
Colgate-Palmolive
Colgate-Palmolive Company is an American diversified multinational corporation focused on the production, distribution and provision of household, health care and personal products, such as soaps, detergents, and oral hygiene products . Under its "Hill's" brand, it is also a manufacturer of...
, and others. Colour television was increasing in popularity, and Bristol-Myers was uninterested in investing in new colour television programming material. Bristol-Myers was making far more money in pharmaceuticals so Ipana and other brands were given up by the sales and marketing teams.
By the late 1970s, Ipana was discontinued entirely in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, but was sold elsewhere in the world. In 1986, a new gel version of Ipana containing two fluorides was introduced in Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
. In 2005, River West Brands, a Chicago-based brand revitalization company, re-introduced Ipana into the U.S. marketplace. At present, the Ipana brand is a leading toothpaste in Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
.
River West Brands divested itself of Ipana in October 2009. River West sold the Ipana brand and related IP to maxill inc. of Canada. Maxill, one of the top three selling toothbrush makers in Canada, formed plans to bring Ipana back to life in early 2011 as a "retro brand" in the professional dental market, where maxill had come to dominate the oral hygiene category by that time.
Bucky Beaver (voiced by Jimmie Dodd
Jimmie Dodd
James Wesley Dodd was best known as the MC of the popular 1950s Disney TV show The Mickey Mouse Club, as well as the writer of its well-known theme song, "The Mickey Mouse Club March"...
) was the marketing
Marketing
Marketing is the process used to determine what products or services may be of interest to customers, and the strategy to use in sales, communications and business development. It generates the strategy that underlies sales techniques, business communication, and business developments...
icon and mascot
Mascot
The term mascot – defined as a term for any person, animal, or object thought to bring luck – colloquially includes anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name...
of Ipana commercials from the 1950s. Bucky Beaver's slogan was "Brusha... Brusha... Brusha. Get the New Ipana - it's dandy for your teeth!"
In popular culture
A well-known scene in the movie-musicalMusical film
The musical film is a film genre in which songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, though in some cases they serve merely as breaks in the storyline, often as elaborate...
Grease
Grease (film)
Grease is a 1978 American musical film directed by Randal Kleiser and based on Warren Casey's and Jim Jacobs's 1971 musical of the same name about two lovers in a 1950s high school. The film stars John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John, Stockard Channing, and Jeff Conaway...
features the character Jan (Jamie Donnelly
Jamie Donnelly
Jamie Donnelly is an American actress.Born in Teaneck, New Jersey, Donnelly is best known as Jan, one of the Pink Ladies from the film version of Grease, a role she got at the age of 30...
) singing the jingle
Jingle
A jingle is a short tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. The jingle contains one or more hooks and lyrics that explicitly promote the product being advertised, usually through the use of one or more advertising slogans. Ad buyers use jingles in radio and television...
along with Bucky Beaver during a television commercial: "Brusha, brusha, brusha! Get the new Ipana! With the brand new flavor - it's dandy for your teeth! Brusha, brusha, brusha! New Ipana toothpaste! Brusha, brusha, brusha - knock out, decay germs fast! Fast! Fast - you're sure all right!"
Under the name Frances Westcott, Frances Bergen
Frances Bergen
Frances Bergen was an American actress and fashion model. She was the wife of ventriloquist Edgar Bergen and the mother of actress Candice and film & television editor Kris Bergen....
, wife of the famed ventriloquist Edgar Bergen
Edgar Bergen
Edgar John Bergen was an American actor and radio performer, best known as a ventriloquist.-Early life:...
and mother of actress Candice Bergen
Candice Bergen
Candice Patricia Bergen is an American actress and former fashion model.She is known for starring in two TV series, as the title character on the situation comedy Murphy Brown , for which she won five Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards; and as Shirley Schmidt on the comedy-drama Boston Legal...
, worked for the influential Powers Modelling Agency and her face appeared as 'the Ipana Girl' in toothpaste ads in magazines.
Actress Phyllis Brooks
Phyllis Brooks
Phyllis Brooks was an American actress and model. Brooks was born Phyllis Seiler in Boise, Idaho on July 18, 1915. She began her career in films at age 20, and had been known as the "Ipana Toothpaste Girl" due to her work as a model...
was known as the Ipana Toothpaste Girl because of her association modelling for the product.
The 1991 Looney Tunes
Looney Tunes
Looney Tunes is a Warner Bros. animated cartoon series. It preceded the Merrie Melodies series and was Warner Bros.'s first animated theatrical series. Since its first official release, 1930's Sinkin' in the Bathtub, the series has become a worldwide media franchise, spawning several television...
special Lunar Tunes showed a brief snippet of an Ipana commercial during a segment where Marvin the Martian
Marvin the Martian
Marvin the Martian is a fictional character appearing in the Looney Tunes cartoons. Marvin's likeness appears in miniature on the Spirit rover on Mars.-Conception and creation:...
is showing supposed evidence of the mistreatment of extraterrestrials by the media as justification to blow up Earth.
Allen Ginsberg
Allen Ginsberg
Irwin Allen Ginsberg was an American poet and one of the leading figures of the Beat Generation in the 1950s. He vigorously opposed militarism, materialism and sexual repression...
, before becoming a revolutionary beat poet and counterculture icon, worked on the "Brusha, brusha, brusha" campaign as a market researcher.
The brand was also featured in the film Blast From The Past
Blast From the Past (film)
Blast from the Past is a 1999 romantic comedy film based on a story and directed by Hugh Wilson and starring Brendan Fraser, Alicia Silverstone, Christopher Walken, Sissy Spacek, and Dave Foley.-Plot:...
when the main character, played by Brendan Fraser
Brendan Fraser
Brendan James Fraser is a Canadian-American film and stage actor. Fraser portrayed Rick O'Connell in the three-part Mummy film series , and is known for his comedic and fantasy film leading roles in major Hollywood films, including Encino Man , George of the Jungle , Dudley Do-Right , Monkeybone ,...
, leaves belongings behind in his hotel room, including a tube of Ipana toothpaste.