32 Super Interesting Facts About Colgate That You Should Know

When it comes to oral hygiene, the first name that comes to mind is Colgate. Since 1873, the company has been catering to the demands for oral hygiene products with its wide range of toothpaste, toothbrush, mouthwash, and dental floss.

Along with global recognition, this brand has been successful in building a relationship with its customers, which helped it sustain in the highly competitive market for such a long time. Here are present 32 super interesting facts about Colgate that you should know.

1. Foundation of Colgate laid in 1806: William Colgate, the founder of the company Colgate, laid the foundation of his company back in 1806 in Manhattan.
2. From apprentice to businessman: William Colgate started his career as an apprentice in a soap factory. He learned the tricks of the trade while being an apprentice and within 2 years, he started his own business of selling starch, soap and also candles through his shop on Dutch Street.
3. Entry in oral hygiene post the founder’s demise: Colgate forayed into oral hygiene 16 years post the demise of the founder William Colgate.
4. Toothpaste in glass jars: Colgate entered the oral hygiene market in 1873 and during the initial days, the toothpaste was sold in glass jars.
5. Introduction of the tubes: In 1896, Colgate introduced the new packaging for its toothpaste in New York. It also became the first brand to sell toothpaste in a collapsible tube.
6. The slogan on the tube: Colgate introduced the collapsible tubes as its new packaging along with the slogan “We could not improve the product, so we improved the tube.” This slogan was also embossed on the tubes.
7. Before toothpaste: Much before Colgate became recognized for its toothpaste worldwide, the company sold perfumes. And, for almost a decade the company had been selling perfumes before foraying into the oral hygiene segment.
8. The Colgate University: William Colgate gave major donations to the Madison University and Theological Seminary. His sons were also patrons of the university. To acknowledge the Colgate’s contribution, Madison University and Theological Seminary was renamed Colgate University in 1890.
9. Listing in New York stock exchange: After the crash of the stock markets in the previous year, the world economy was facing the “Great Depression” in 1930. It was during this time that the company listed itself in the New York stock exchange.
10. Official listing in just 2 countries: Apart from the New York stock exchange, Colgate is only listed in India’s stock exchange.
11. Global presence: Though Colgate is listed in the stock exchange of just 2 countries, but the company has its subsidiaries organizations across more than 200 countries!
12. Merger with Palmolive: The year 1928 saw the merger of Colgate and Palmolive-Peet, which is a soap manufacturing company. But it was not before 1953 that the name “Colgate-Palmolive” came into being.
13. Reformulation of the toothpaste: In 1968, Colgate reformulated its toothpaste with the addition of the inorganic compound, MFP Fluoride (monoflurophosphate). This step was taken as the compound is known to be the best safeguard against tooth decay.
14. Highest selling brand: In the year 1999, Colgate became the number one selling brand in the world. Notably, it was just 7 years after the company had set up its first factory in India.
15. Double meaning fueled success: The term “Colgate” means “go hang yourself” in Spanish. So, the company was expecting to face a challenging situation in Spain. But the reverse happened and the company succeeded in creating its market in Spain too.
16. Set a Guinness World Record in 2007: The Colgate Super Mega Brushing event held in 2007 saw 41038 students in the Philippines participating to create a Guinness World Record. The event saw the students located at 13 different locations, brushing their teeth at the same time.
17. Lawsuit for deceptive claims: The year 2007 also saw the company facing a lawsuit after the Advertising Standards Authority of the UK found the claims that 4 out of 5 scientists recommending the toothpaste to be false. Thereafter, Colgate was forbidden from making such a claim through its advertisements.
18. PETA certified: PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) recognized Colgate’s efforts in finding alternative testing methods in 2011. The organization also acknowledged that the company is one that conducts tests on animals as per government regulations.
19. Product inspired song: The deodorant stick, Mennen’s Teen Spirit was partly responsible for inspiring the song “Smells Like Teen Spirit.”
20. Colgate Women’s Games: In the United States, Colgate Women’s Games has the largest amateur track series for young girls.
21. Oral Health month: Since the year 2012, Colgate has been celebrating Oral Health month to spread awareness about oral hygiene and healthy habits.
22. Purchase of Tom’s of Maine: Colgate-Palmolive purchased a company named, Tom’s of Maine after its owner, Tom Chappel lost interest in business and pursued to join a Christian ministry.
23. Launchpad for many celebs: Colgate-Palmolive has acted as the launchpad for many celebrities. Actresses, who featured in the commercials saw their career taking off pretty soon.
24. The most-purchased global brand: In 2015, a study conducted by Kantar Worldpanel, a market research firm concluded that Colgate is the only brand that is bought by more than 50% of the households across the world.
25. Removing Triclosan from toothpaste: Colgate is the first company that volunteered to remove Triclosan from its toothpaste.
26. Triclosan in Colgate Total: Colgate Total still has Triclosan present, however, the company is working on ways of removing it.
27. Fined in France: France- Autorité de la concurrence, the national competition regulator in France levied fine on Colgate for price-fixing in 2016.
28. Philippine’s first anti-dandruff shampoo: The shampoo brand, Gard, launched by Colgate Palmolive is the first anti-dandruff shampoo to be introduced in the Philippines.
29. Best ad of 50 years: The commercial for a soap bar with the tagline “I can feel it” won the Pilak Award in 2002 and it is touted to be amongst the best ads in the last 50 years in the Philippines.
30. India’s biggest oral care brand: Colgate dominates the Indian oral care market and in 2017 studies found that the company holds a 55% market share in the country.
31. Market share: Colgate has acquired 45% of the global market share and its global market penetration at 67.7% while the second brand, Coca Cola stand at 43.3%.
32. Recyclable toothpaste tube: Considering today’s need for more and more recyclable packaging, Colgate is working towards the creation of a recyclable toothpaste tube, which is considered to be an extremely tough recycling challenge.