Hungry Fella? There You Go...

you know what's gross? germs. you know what's even grosser? a cupcake made out of hamster. this ad for lifebuoy soap features an incredibly lifelike rodent dessert, to send the message "you eat what you touch." you can't deny it's an effective way to get the point across, although if you're anything like me, you get distracted from the picture trying to figure out what the hell "lifebuoy soap" is. well my dear readers, as the self-proclaimed king of useless knowledge, i feel obligated to give you the 411.

1.) lifebuoy is a brand of soap that was originally marketed by the lever brothers in england beginning in 1895. it was popular for over 100 years, and is still available in the united states through specialty shops. it is the leading brand of soap in india as well as in some other south east asian countries like pakistan, bangladesh and indonesia. (not to be rude, but that doesn't say much for the "leading soap" in curry country. i sure hope the word 'deodorant' does not appear anywhere on the packaging.)

2.) when the philadelphia phillies played at the baker bowl in the 1920s, an outfield wall advertisement for lifebuoy stated, "the phillies use lifebuoy." one night, after the phillies lost, a graffiti artist sneaked in and added to the ad, "and they still stink." variations of that joke have been employed by detractors of other losing teams for decades since. (just like the soap, i've never heard of that saying either.)

3.) the term "b.o.", short for "body odor", was coined by lifebuoy for an advertising campaign. (ironic, no? that the brand that coined the term 'b.o.' is the national soap brand of india. go figure.)

4.) lifebuoy soap was notably used in the lamest holiday film of all time, 'a christmas story', after ralphie said "fuck."

consider yourself in the know.

[via gawker]