Always a Bridesmaid, Never a Bride: How Listerine Sold a Disease

Always a bridesmaid, never a bride. The phrase sounds like it has been around forever, but it traces back to a 1925 Listerine ad built around a fictional woman named Edna and a manufactured condition called halitosis. This week I follow the phrase back to its real origin, a 1917 British music hall comedy song, and then into the hands of Gerard Lambert, the mouthwash heir who found an obscure word in a medical textbook and used it to make America afraid of its own breath. We cover Listerine's bizarre early years as a floor cleaner and surgical antiseptic, the fear formula behind the Edna campaign, the sales explosion that made Listerine the third largest print advertiser in the country, and what psychology research on social comparison and fear appeals says about why this same playbook still runs in advertising today. By the end you'll hear the phrase differently, and you'll know exactly why a mouthwash company wanted it in your head. 📱 Follow along on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/LiesWeBought/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lieswebought/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lieswebought LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lieswebought Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lieswebought/ https://www.lieswebought.com/