Bon Ami - History

History

The original Bon Ami formula was developed in 1886 by the J.T. Robertson Soap Company, as a gentle alternative to the gritty quartz-based scouring powders on store shelves.

In those days, soap was made from tallow and finely ground quartz. When quartz was mined, it was entwined with a mineral called feldspar, and the two had to be separated by hand. The feldspar was discarded until Robertson discovered that this soft mineral could be combined with soap to create a less abrasive product that would clean without scratching. The Bon Ami formula was born.

By 1896, the 10-cent bar with a yellow chick on the label was in households all across the northeast. The chick and slogan "Hasn't Scratched Yet!" are textbook examples of an early American trademark. Consumers in the late 1800s understood that a newborn chick doesn't scratch the ground for three days - thus the correlation to the non-scratching benefits of Bon Ami.

In the early 1900s, A.W. Erickson, founder of McCann Erickson Advertising, brought the brand to life with beautiful full-color pages in leading women's magazines. Noted artist Ben Austrian gained worldwide appeal for his painting of chicks for Bon Ami, and Ben's wife served as the model for the ads.

In 1971, Bon Ami was purchased by the Faultless Starch Company, which later changed the corporation name to Faultless Starch/Bon Ami Company to help reintroduce Bon Ami to the market.

In 1980, the company reenergized the brand with a magazine campaign featuring the headline "Never underestimate the cleaning power of a 94-year-old chick with a French name." During the first 6 months of the campaign, Bon Ami sales rose 12%. It remains one of the top selling powdered cleansers in the United States today.