The Brand That Created Its Own problem 💀 (Genius Marketing Trick)
“What if I told you a multi-million dollar company was built on a problem… they invented?”
1920s: Listerine was a boring surgical antiseptic.
No sales. No hype. No problem to solve.
Then their marketers coined a scary new term: “Halitosis.”
Sounds medical, right? It just meant bad breath. 🤯
They ran ads saying —
📰 “Halitosis can bre@k your marriage.”
💔 “Halitosis can Kell your career.”
Fear spread like wildfire. And Listerine became the only cure.
💰 Sales exploded: from $115,000 → $8 Million in 7 years.
💡 Marketing lesson:
The most powerful campaigns don’t just meet demand —
They create it.
✅ Source Verification:
De Beers Consolidated Mines Campaign (N.W. Ayer & Son, 1947)
Frances Gerety, Copywriter of “A Diamond is Forever”
Historical archives: De Beers Group marketing reports, 1938–1950s
The Atlantic — “How an Ad Campaign Invented the Diamond Engagement Ring” (2013)
Euronews Culture Archive 2024: ‘A Diamond is Forever turns 75’