CorpComms Magazine

A Facebook campaign has forced the manufacturers of Pears Traditional Soap, the world's oldest brand, to abandon its new recipe and reintroduce the 221 year old formula from March.

The soap, which is now manufactured by Bombay based Hindustan Unilever, recently changed its formula from its original recipe of eight ingredients to a new one comprising 24 separate ingredients.

The original formula, which was developed by Andrew Pears in 1789, included rosemary and thyme extracts and Pears Fragrance Essence. These ingredients were ditched in the new recipe which included wetting agent Sodium Lauryl Sulfate and sugar substitute Sorbitol. Janice Halliwell, who set up the Facebook group 'Bring Back The Original Pears Soap', has used Pears for 50 years, but complained that the formula 'has changed considerably'.

Neil Rutty, divisional director for Cert Brands, which markets Pears in the UK, told The Daily Telegraph that 'Unilever India have listened to their customers and are revising the product again and it will be much closer to the original by March this year'. He conceded that Unilever India had received 'numerous complaints' about the new formula which was 'not quite right at the moment', but added that 1.6 million bars of the soap had been sold since October.

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