Clorox

The beginnings of Clorox bleach and the company date back to May 3, 1913, when five entrepreneurs, Archibald Taft, a banker; Edward Hughes, a purveyor of wood and coal; Charles Husband, a bookkeeper; Rufus Myers, a lawyer; and William Hussey, a miner, invested $100 each to set up the first commercial-scale liquid bleach factory in the United States, on the east side of San Francisco Bay.[21] The firm was first called Electro-Alkaline Company.[21] The name of its original bleach product, Clorox, was coined as a portmanteau of chlorine and sodium hydroxide, the two main ingredients. The original Clorox packaging featured a diamond-shaped logo, and the diamond logo has been used in one form or another in Clorox branding to the present.

Bottle of Clorox bleach from a 1922 newspaper ad

The public, however, did not know very much about liquid bleach when Clorox bleach debuted. Although the Electro-Alkaline Company started slowly and was about to collapse quickly, it would not be until 1916 when investor William Murray took over the company as general manager. His wife, Annie Murray, prompted the creation of a less-concentrated liquid bleach for home use and built customer demand by giving away 15-ounce sample bottles at the family's grocery store in downtown Oakland.[22] Not long after, word began to spread and, in 1917, the Electro-Alkaline Company began shipping Clorox bleach to the East Coast via the Panama Canal.

On May 28, 1928, the company went public on the San Francisco stock exchange and changed its name to Clorox Chemical Company. Butch, an animated Clorox liquid bleach bottle, was used in its advertising and became well known, even surviving the 1941 transition from rubber-stoppered bottles to screw-off caps.[23]

Clorox was strong enough to survive the Great Depression throughout the 1930s, achieving national distribution of Clorox bleach in the process, but during World War II, even though Clorox bleach proved useful as a first aid product for American armed forces, one of the bleach's ingredients was being rationed, as, under U.S. government orders, chlorine gas shortages forced many bleach manufacturers to reduce the concentration of sodium hypochlorite in their products, thus diluting them with water. Clorox, however, declined and elected to sell fewer units of a full-strength product, establishing a reputation for quality.[23]

In 1957, Clorox was purchased by Procter & Gamble, which renamed its new subsidiary The Clorox Company. Almost immediately, a rival company objected to the purchase, and it was challenged by the Federal Trade Commission, which feared it would stifle competition in the household products market. The FTC won in 1967 after a 10-year battle, in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that P&G must divest Clorox,[24] and on January 1, 1969, Clorox became independent again.

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Clorox pursued an aggressive expansion program in which it attempted to establish itself as a major diversified consumer products conglomerate, like Procter & Gamble. In 1970, Clorox introduced Clorox 2 all-fabric bleach. Later on, in that period, it acquired a number of brands that remain a part of their portfolio today, including Formula 409, Liquid-Plumr, and Kingsford charcoal. The company also developed new cleaning products such as Tilex instant mildew remover.[25] It also acquired a rather novel product, a brand of ranch dressing known as "Hidden Valley."

In 1988, Clorox struck a licensing-and-distribution agreement that brought Brita water filters to the U.S.[25] The company acquired sole control of the brand for the U.S. and Canada in 1995 when it acquired Brita International Holdings (Canada). In 2000 it secured the remaining Americas market from Brita.[26]

In 1990, Clorox purchased Pine-Sol.[25]

In 1999, Clorox acquired First Brands, the former consumer products division of Union Carbide, in the largest transaction in its history. Such brands as Glad, Handi-Wipes (which First Brands acquired from Colgate-Palmolive several months before the Clorox acquisition) and STP became part of the Clorox portfolio. The First Brands acquisition doubled the size of the company and helped it land on the Fortune 500 for the first time the following year.[25]

During the next decade, the company focused on consumer megatrends that included sustainability, health and wellness, multicultural, and affordability/value.[27] In 2002, Clorox entered into a joint venture with Procter & Gamble to create food and trash bags, food wraps, and containers under the names Glad, GladWare and related trademarks.[28] As part of this agreement, Clorox sold a 10% stake in the Glad products to P&G, which increased to 20% in 2005.[29]

In 2007, the company acquired Burt's Bees.[30] In 2010, Clorox shed businesses that were no longer a good strategic fit for the company, announcing that it was selling the Armor All and STP brands to Avista Capital Partners.[31] In 2011, Clorox acquired the Aplicare and HealthLink brands, bolstering its presence in the healthcare industry.[32]

In 2008, The Clorox Company became the first major consumer packaged goods company to develop and nationally launch a green cleaning line, Green Works, into the mainstream cleaning aisle.[33] In 2011, the Clorox Company integrated corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting with financial reporting. The company's annual report for the fiscal year ending in June 2011 shared data on financial performance as well as advances in environmental, social and governance performance.[34]

The company ranked No. 453 on the Fortune 500 in 2017.[14][15][35][36] In 2018 Clorox purchased Nutranext Business, LLC for approximately $700 million. Florida-based Nutranext makes natural multivitamins, specialty minerals used as health aids, and supplements for hair, skin and nails.[37] Operating income in 2018 was US$1.1 billion.[38] With approximately 8,700 employees worldwide as of 2018, yearly revenue for the period ending June 30, 2018, equaled $6.1 billion.[11] Yearly revenue equaled $6.2 in 2019.[8] In 2019, Clorox ranked 7th in Barron's "100 Most Sustainable U.S. Companies" list.[39]

In August 2020, The Clorox Company announced that Linda Rendle will be promoted to CEO and elected to the company's board of directors, effective September 14, 2020.[40]

The company was listed at Advertising Age's 2015 Marketer A-List.[49][50]

During 2006 and 2007, a Clorox commercial that aired nationally showed several generations of women doing laundry. The commercial included the words "Your mother, your grandmother, her mother, they all did the laundry, maybe even a man or two." Feminists criticized the commercial for insinuating that doing laundry is a job for women only.[51][52]

The Clorox slogan, "Mama's got the magic of Clorox", was criticized on similar grounds.[53] The slogan first appeared in a Clorox commercial in 1986.[54] A modified version of the commercial ran from 2002 to 2004.[55]

In 2009, Clorox received complaints of sexism for an advertisement that featured a man's white, lipstick-stained dress shirt with the caption, "Clorox. Getting ad guys out of hot water for generations."[56] The ad, and others, were produced expressly for the television program Mad Men, capitalizing on "the show's unique vintage style to [create] a link between classic and modern consumer behaviors."[57]

In 2008, the Sierra Club endorsed the Clorox Green Works line. Sierra Club Executive Director Carl Pope stated that one of non-profit organization's "primary goals is to foster vibrant, healthy communities with clean water and air that are free from pollution. Products like Green Works help to achieve this goal in the home." The Sierra Club also partnered with Clorox "to promote a line of natural cleaning products for consumers who are moving toward a greener lifestyle."[58] The partnership "caused schisms" in the club, which contributed in part to Pope's decision to resign.[59]

Also in 2008, the National Advertising Division told Clorox to either discontinue or modify its advertisements for Green Works on the grounds the cleaners actually do not work as well as traditional cleaners, as Clorox had claimed.[60]

In 2009, Clorox received further criticism for its Clorox Green Works line, regarding claims the products are environmentally friendly.[61] Several Clorox Green Works products contain ethanol, which environmental groups state is neither cost-effective nor eco-friendly.[61] Many Green Works products also contain sodium lauryl sulfate, a known skin irritant.[61] Women's Voices for the Earth have questioned whether or not the Clorox Green Works line is greenwashing, as Clorox's "green" products are far outnumbered by their traditional products, asking "Why sell one set of products that have hazardous ingredients and others that don't?"[62]