Ultimate Skincare Scam: The Pepsodent Effect of Skincare

In the early 1900s, Claude Hopkins, a marketing executive created a brilliant strategy to promote Pepsodent Toothpaste. Reading through dentistry textbooks, Hopkins found his cue in in the form of "mucinous plaque coating teeth." He called the phenomenon “film,” problematized it, dubbing it “a dangerous coating that robs teeth of their whiteness” and offered a solution (despite no evidence of utility) in the toothpaste he promoted: Pepsodent Toothpaste. Pepsodent had another ace up its sleeve, adding mint oil and citric acid to their tooth cleaning products, creating a tingly feeling inside the mouth. While having no health benefit, this sensation made customers feel good about brushing their teeth, leading to an explosion in Pepsodent product sales, transforming the oral care industry forever. Within a decade of the campaign launch, the market share of Pepsodent Toothpaste among Americans went from 7 percent to over 65 percent. This scheme had several notable elements.

 

First, it focused on a natural widespread phenomenon and created a need to fix it by problematizing it, i.e., “the dangerous film making teeth yellow.” Second, it offered a solution and attached an immediate “reward” to its use, toothpaste infused with irritants creating a physical sensation, reinforcing perceived product value. The physical effect did not need to have any direct benefit, as in the case of Pepsodent.

 

Many skincare products use a similar marketing strategy designed to create an experience-based narrative. The most common problematization of naturally occurring skin phenomena is dubbing the upper layers of the skin as dirt or oil. Products such as soaps, cleansers, scrubs, exfoliants, masks, brushes, or rollers induce irritation either physically and/or chemically by disrupting the skin’s upper layers. The effect in many cases feels like “tightening” of the skin, which has become synonymous with buzzwords or phrases such as fresh and “wake up call.” Like the Pepsodent Effect, the resulting sensation serves to reinforce the regular use of the product, thereby forming a habit. Consequently, many skincare companies uses the "fresh and cleansing" effects much like the toothpaste industry used the Pepsodent Effect. Unlike the toothpaste and oral care industry, the benefit of "cleansing" and "refreshing" skincare products is dubious with little to no evidence to support their use.

 

Developing an awareness to this marketing and promotion ploy is a powerful tool to help us avoid products and practices which are useless or even harmful, realizing that the game being played. You are being sold a dubious possibly harmful product (despite its very promising name), and its so-called "proof of benefit" is your experience of using it which in reality is a sign of skin damage the product induces. The irritating effect of the product is magically transformed through word games into a nebulous benefit hence: The Skincare Pepsodent Effect.

Thanks for reading and God bless.

 

Yuval Bibi, MD/PhD - Board Certified Dermatologist