Paper Fish for 2006 March 21 (entry 0)

# Tue Mar 21 18:31:31
An Unlikely Post About Toothpaste
I used to work at Tom's of Maine. They make toothpaste (and other stuff, but they are mostly known for their toothpaste) with all-natural ingredients, no animal testing, etc. While I was there it was often stressed how different they were from companies such as, say, Colgate-Palmolive. Their innovative business practices would never work in such a corporation, it was claimed.

So I was greatly surprised to hear that Colgate is buying Tom's for 100 million. No doubt many of their customers who hate dealing with large corporations will be just as surprised. Of course everything will continue to be run the same way, and so on. For now.

I can't even imagine the force of spin in Kennebunk today. The press release has the language you'd expect:

"Just as importantly, we see Colgate as an excellent fit with our own cultural values. Colgate has a commitment to product excellence, to global efforts to promote oral health and has a 200-year history of caring for consumers and for giving back to the community. We are excited by Colgate's desire to continue Tom's of Maine leadership and heritage in natural care"

Of course they are so excited about this excellent fit that according to the Associated Press:

"Packaging of Tom's of Maine products will not identify the company as a Colgate subsidiary"

Tom Chappell once wrote:

"I wondered why all toothpastes were full of complex abrasives, dyes, artificial flavors, preservatives, binders, fluoride, and worst of all, saccharin, long suspected as a cause of cancer. Why were Americans consuming seven hundred million tubes of toothpaste every year and spending more than a billion dollars filling their mouths every day with chemicals?"

I guess he can ask them directly now.

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