Prozac
Prozac is, in addition to being the most famous prescription drug on the planet, an excellent example of the new method of naming pharmaceutical products.
There was a time when a physician prescribing an antidepressant for a patient would simply have scrawled the drug’s technical name — in the case of Prozac, the tongue-twisting “fluoxetine” — on a prescription pad. In the unlikely event that the patient could actually read the name, it would probably be meaningless to them.
But that was before drugs became consumer products, advertised (ad nauseam, many would say) directly to prospective patients on television and in glossy magazine ads. To catch the eyes of customers, rather than those of their doctors, pharmaceutical companies in the early 1990s began to name their drugs using the same linguistic principles used to name cars, beers and laundry detergents. The new generation of drug names thus has absolutely nothing to do with the clinical properties of the drug itself and everything to do with the patient’s expectation of a quick and effective solution to a problem.
In the case of Prozac, the connotation is powerful action (from the strong “pro” beginning, invoking a “positive” image) coupled with speed (the “z” sound), ending with the solid, powerful “ac” suggesting “action” and providing a firm, punchy ending to the name. If Prozac weren’t a drug, it would be a good name for a gasoline.
Oil of Olay
So what’s in that “mysterious beauty fluid” advertised as “Oil of Olay”? And what’s an “olay,” anyway? A plant? A place? A small mammal? The cry of a bullfighter who spies wrinkles in the mirror?
None of the above, as far as anyone can tell. As a matter of fact, it seems that there is no such thing as an “Olay,” and that the name was just a clever marketing ploy by its inventors, especially since the mysterious moisturizer wasn’t even called “Oil of Olay” at first.
“Oil of Olay” was developed during World War II by a South African chemist named Graham Gordon Wulff to help military burn victims heal by preventing their skin from becoming dehydrated. Whether the original ingredients (glycerin, various vegetable oils, etc.) remain in Olay today is a trade secret, but at the end of the war it occurred to Wulff that the burn treatment he had invented might make a dandy beauty cream in the civilian market. He teamed up with a partner named Shaun Adams Lowe, and together they set out to market Wulff’s cream.
First, of course, they needed a name, and after some thought came up with “Oil of Ulay.” Ulay, not Olay. At first the two sold their cream door to door in South Africa. As more people bought it and asked what “Ulay” was, Wulff and Lowe realized that the mystery of their product’s name was one of its strongest selling points, and “the mysterious beauty fluid” cachet was born.
As “Oil of Ulay” sales caught on and the product was exported to Europe and the U.S., a curious adjustment of its name took place. In England it was still called “Oil of Ulay,” but in most of Europe it was sold under the name “Oil of Olaz.” Only in America was it called “Oil of Olay.” It wasn’t until 2000 that Ulay/Olay/Olaz owners Procter & Gamble decided to simplify life by changing it to “Olay” worldwide. Today Olay (they dropped the “Oil of” a few years ago) produces a wide range of beauty products.
Abercrombie & Fitch
Known today for selling upscale youth clothing (as well as for its catalog, which until recently was frequently denounced for its sexually suggestive photographs), Abercrombie & Fitch is actually one of the oldest retail chains in the US. Today’s A&F, however, is a far cry from your granddaddy’s favorite sporting goods store.
Abercrombie & Fitch was the creation of an odd, and ultimately unsustainable, partnership. David T. Abercrombie was, by the 1890s, a former miner, trapper and engineer who had established a small business in Manhattan manufacturing and selling camping, hunting and other outdoors equipment. Ezra Fitch was a successful lawyer and avid outdoor enthusiast, a passion that made him one of Abercrombie’s best customers. In 1900, after much cajoling, Fitch finally convinced Abercrombie to let him buy into the business, and in 1904 the name of the enterprise officially became Abercrombie & Fitch. By 1907, however, the honeymoon was definitely over, and irreconcilable differences over the future of the business led to the breakup of the partnership. Abercrombie resigned and went back to manufacturing camping equipment, but Fitch found new partners and A&F entered the period of its greatest success.
In 1917, Abercrombie & Fitch Co., which had been mailing out more than 50,000 catalogs per year, established a twelve-story sporting goods store in Manhattan, at that time the largest in the world. Abercrombie & Fitch sold equipment and clothing for every conceivable sport or outdoor pastime, from big game hunting (Teddy Roosevelt was a customer) to lawn tennis.
By the 1960s, however, many Americans were getting all the adventure they wanted from television, and Abercrombie & Fitch foundered, finally declaring bankruptcy in 1977. After an unsuccessful reopening, again as a sporting goods chain, under new ownership, Abercrombie & Fitch was bought in 1988 by The Limited, which revamped A&F’s image and inventory. Gone were the shotguns and fishing lures, replaced by trendy clothing and racy imagery.