One of the longest-running campaigns the world over, Lux, an international venture of Levers
Brothers, featured Hollywood stars in most parts of the world. Lux entered
India in 1929 and while its early advertisements would feature Hollywood
actresses, they would eventually be replaced almost completely by local stars.
The very fact that
right from Devika Rani onwards every film star from Indian film industry has
been starring in the advertisement, has perhaps made it a “must-do” thing.
Every aspiring starlet has been making it her career goal to appear in the Lux
ad. In that sense it has become a kind of a benchmark for success and a way of
announcing her arrival in the industry.
Devika Rani may have
been one of the foremost stars of early talkies cinema, but in 1941, the
distinction of being the first Lux model went to her contemporary, Leela
Chitnis.
Lux can be seen as one
of the earliest forms of celebrity endorsements. The vast majority of actresses
who appeared in the Lux advertisements were drawn from the Bombay film
industry. As a product, however, that reached the entire country, regional
advertising was critical to the success of Lux. Thus, known stars of
Bengali, Tamil, and Telegu cinema also regularly found a place in Lux
advertisements in Filmfare.
A Lux appearance would
be predicated not just on a lead appearance but on glamorous and iconic
performances of different kinds. All the leading "vamps" of the
Bombay film industry appeared in the advertisement as well.
In this sense the
campaign highlighted and awarded female performance of all kinds. Diverse stars
jostled for attention in the world of Lux, featuring known and bankable
actresses but also those who appeared in fleeting iconic roles or remained on
the margins of success.
The Lux campaign was a product of complex negotiations between
advertisers and the industry, between stars, their publicists or agents,
secretaries, and producers. Its success was predicated on the fact that it was
mutually beneficial to all these players.
Stars
actively solicited the Lux campaign. At a time when film journalism was not as
prolific as it became later, Lux was probably one of the best ways for the
stars to get publicity outside of big urban cities and towns. Levers advertised
throughout the year, and its adverts traveled all over the country, printed not
just in magazines but on soap wrappers, boxes, posters and on billboards.
Like autographed postcards, Lux, with its signed endorsement, could be seen as a
form of circulating star portraiture but with a much wider reach.
Moreover, the stars
looked their best in these pictures as their portraits were taken by skilled
photographers. Worked on by equally skilled artists, in later years, they
involved stylists and makeup artistes to create the glamorous star persona of
Lux. Lux campaign was the company acknowledging that the actress had become a
star and the star saying thank you.
This prolific campaign
was possible because stars were not paid for an appearance in the initial
years. For the film producers, the campaign worked as free publicity for their
new productions. By the late fifties, the advertisements would feature information
about the name, production credits, and costume of the current film that the
actress endorsed.
By the 1970s Lux
seemed to have lost its exclusive edge with competition from various other brands.
Photographic advertising would eventually turn other kinds of faces into
celebrities, but Lux toilet sap continued to remain faithful to its cinematic
subjects.
The cultural life of
the soap would, however, be constantly updated. Finding a space outside the pages
of magazines to a presence in cinema trailers and television, Lux had become a
key brand sponsoring beauty and fashion contests by the 1990s. One thing has
not changed, however: The Lux campaign continues to be predicated on the aura of
the female star, and its one-time attempt to change this using Shahrukh Khan in
a bathtub of petals was unsuccessful.Keywords: Lux soap brand legacy, Lux India advertisement, Famous Lux soap models, Bollywood beauty icons, Lux soap celebrity endorsements, Lux brand evolution, Lux soap commercials, Vintage Lux advertisements, Lux advertising success, Iconic Lux endorsements
Why do Bollywood actresses endorse Lux soap? the history of Lux soap advertisements in India, the most famous Lux soap ambassadors in Bollywood, and how Lux soap became the choice of Bollywood film stars. Evolution of Lux advertisements from Hollywood to Bollywood, Marketing lessons from Lux soap's long-running ad campaign"
