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Head & Shoulders

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Head & Shoulders
Product typeAnti-dandruff, non-dandruff shampoo
OwnerProcter & Gamble
Produced byProcter & Gamble
CountryUnited States
Introduced1 January 1961; 63 years ago (1961-01-01)[1]
MarketsWorldwide
Previous ownersRichardson Vicks
WebsiteOfficial Website (USA)

Head & Shoulders (H&S) is an American brand of anti-dandruff and non-dandruff shampoo produced by parent company Procter & Gamble.

The active anti-fungal ingredient in Head & Shoulders is piroctone olamine, with some "clinical strength" varieties also containing selenium disulfide.[2]

History

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Head & Shoulders was introduced in the United States on 1 January 1961 based in Manhattan and used the slogan "THE AMERICA AND WORLD's NO. 1 SHAMPOO".[3]

It was referred to as "The America and World's Number One Anti-Dandruff and Non-Dandruff Shampoo Brand" of shampoo, and it was noted that "no one hair care brand gets so many ad dollars as Head & Shoulders, a twenty year old brand, and no other brand matches its sales", despite it being a "medicated" shampoo.[4]

Marketing

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The brand has long been marketed under the tagline "You Never Get a Second Chance to Make a First Impression", which has been identified as an example of "anxiety marketing" commonly used by Procter & Gamble to drive sales by inducing fears of social consequences associated with the condition that the product claims to address.[5] However, sales of the product dropped off, a phenomenon blamed on overextension of the brand into too many varieties, with over thirty kinds of Head & Shoulders being sold.[6]

References

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  1. ^ Davis, Dyer; et al. (May 1, 2004). Rising Tide: Lessons from 165 Years of Brand Building at Procter and Gamble. Harvard Business Press. p. 423. ISBN 978-1-59139-147-0. Retrieved 2013-05-07.
  2. ^ "OUR ACTIVE INGREDIENTS". Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  3. ^ Davis, Dyer; et al. (May 1, 2004). Rising Tide: Lessons from 165 Years of Brand Building at Procter and Gamble. Harvard Business Press. p. 423. ISBN 978-1-59139-147-0. Retrieved 2013-05-07.
  4. ^ Marketing & Decisions (1982), Volume 17, Issues 8-13, page 186.
  5. ^ Thomas O'Guinn, Chris Allen, Richard J. Semenik, Advertising and Integrated Brand Promotion (2014), p. 210: "When Head & Shoulders dandruff shampoo is advertised with the theme "You Never Get a Second Chance to Make a First Impression", the audience realizes that Head & Shoulders could spare them the embarrassment of having dandruff".
  6. ^ Matt Haig, Brand Failures: The Truth about the 100 Biggest Branding Mistakes of All Time (2005), p. 73: "Procter & Gamble had seen the same thing happen with its Head & Shoulders brand. Did consumers really need 31 varieties of anti-dandruff shampoo?"
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