Macleans (toothpaste)
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 Packets in an Australian supermarket with the three-striped (red, white and blue) logo | |
| Product type | Oral hygiene |
|---|---|
| Owner | Haleon |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Introduced | 1919 |
| Tagline | Did you Maclean your teeth today Daisy? (ca. 1938)[1] |
Macleans is a brand of toothpaste manufactured by Haleon. Maclean's used to be produced by the British multinational company GlaxoSmithKline and is one of the oldest GSK brands produced.[2][3]
Popularity
Macleans was introduced by New Zealand-born businessman Alex C. Maclean in 1919 during the post-First World War era of consumerism in Great Britain under the family business name of Macleans Limited and Beecham (now GlaxoSmithKline), whose roots originate to the 19th century.[4]
Maclean moved to Australia after the gold rush, then moved to the United States in the early 1920s to become a corset salesman, before launching his own brand for chemists, where he invented a tube printing operation that allowed different chemists' names to be printed on own name toothpastes in small batches.[4]
In 1923, Maclean hired a flight chemist Walter McGeorge who helped the company developed a range of merchandise and set the foundation for Macleans' transition into scientific medicine. In 1927, Macleans Peroxide Toothpaste, a pink formula, was one of the first whitening products introduced to the British oral care market, which proved to be extremely popular among consumerists, where a white variety was later launched.[2]
The Macleans company scored a major takeover after Woolworths stocked it in the early 1930s (as the company only sold Colgate toothpaste previously). In 1938, Macleans was purchased by Beecham Group.[5] In 1987, GlaxoSmithKline introduced an antibacterial agent into the Macleans toothpaste, being the first to do so. In 1995, the brand launched a Whitening variety, the first mainstream toothpaste to whiten teeth. The brand was also the first to introduce bicarbonate of soda in its toothpaste products. In 1997, the brand launched a Macleans toothbrush, which has over 1800 bristles.[4] Macleans has over 40 years of heritage in Nigeria.[6]
