Burt’s Bees To Launch Provocative Ad Campaign

Starting February 5, in magazines ranging from People to Oprah to Allure, Burt’s Bees will be launching its first major advertising campaign since its purchase by Clorox. The ads will compare the beeswax found in Burt’s beauty products to the petrolatum found in other conventional brands.

Mike Indursky, chief marketing and strategic officer at Burt’s, notes that these are not attack ads. “What we want to do is show one ingredient vs. another ingredient,” he said. The ads, according to Indursky, are geared to show that natural ingredients are as effective as chemical ingredients.

While this article comments that the personal care industry is likely to be provoked by the ads, it mentions that the Personal Care Products Council, which represents the industry on safety issues, has a Website noting that petrolatum has been approved by the FDA.

Last year, Burt’s Bees proposed its own definition of “natural” for the industry. A survey last summer found that 83 percent of American women think there should be one meaning for a personal care product labeled “natural.”