When the lenders wanted a large part of their money back quickly, Kelly had to put parts of Beatrice up for sale. International Playtex began its transition from being a subsidiary of a large, wealthy corporation to being a smaller, private company.
Jhirmack was also for sale during this time, and, according to an Advertising Age article, Smilow was hinting that Playtex Holdings would keep only its Playtex Apparel subsidiary. When the buyout was complete in December, Smilow became chairman and chief executive officer of the new company, with its wholly owned subsidiary, Playtex Family Group Corporation.
Throughout the buyout morass, Playtex management was making lots of money. Because of a stock option plan that "wasn't exactly stock-related," according to Smilow in a Chief Executive article, every hourly worker at Playtex got a small windfall when management sold the company and bought it back.
Smilow was named chairman and chief executive officer of Playtex Apparel Partnership, L. This gained the company an entry into that segment of the infant care market. Playtex FP's products operated in highly competitive markets, characterized by the frequent introduction of new products accompanied by major advertising and promotional campaigns.
During the early s, this was especially true of the hair care and tampon markets. By , lower-priced shampoos and conditioners with the same up-scale attraction had cut Jhirmack's share to 2. The company responded by reformulating the Jhirmack product line and positioning it as a fortifying product. Marketing did away with the outer carton, introduced a new bottle, and dropped Victoria Principal, Jhirmack's celebrity endorser, from its ad campaign. In late , a major advertising and promotion "war" between Playtex FP and Tambrands began over plastic versus cardboard tampon applicators.
Playtex FP had been a leader in the plastic applicator field, while Tambrands, Inc. That year, Tambrands introduced its first plastic applicator. Playtex FP responded with Ultimates, a new line of cardboard applicator tampons. Playtex FP's share of the tampon market increased from 29 to 30 percent for , and its introduction of Ultimates proved timely, as several states began proposing legislation to ban nondegradable plastic tampon applicators for environmental reasons.
Also during , Playtex FP's senior management approached the Sara Lee Corporation to discern whether that company might be interested in acquiring Playtex FP or in making a large equity investment. In December, Sara Lee acquired 25 percent of the company and an option to purchase all remaining outstanding share of common stock.
Playtex was not allowed to issue any common stock through the end of December , and all securities issued after that time were subject to the option. Furthermore, the company could not sell assets other than non-Playtex branded businesses. The Banana Boat line was started by Robert Bell who, at age 13, developed a suntan lotion of baby oil, oranges, and bananas, which he mixed in coconut shells. He sold his concoction to tourists in Miami and Miami Beach for 50 cents to one dollar, including the shell.
Playtex's investment allowed Sun, the wholly owned subsidiary of Banana Boat Holding, to acquire the assets of Sun Pharmaceuticals.
Since Playtex management had limited alternatives for reducing its debt, they approached Sara Lee during the summer about terminating the option early and recapitalizing the debt. Freed from the option restrictions and attempting to raise much-needed cash, the company changed its name to Playtex Products, Inc. The rest of was a busy year for Playtex. Smile Tote manufactured leak proof cups and bottles for infants and toddlers, using a patented snap top closure.
In less than three years it had won 20 percent of the market. In , its toddler juice cup was judged one of the most innovative new products launched that year, earning the Great Expectations award of the Juvenile Products Manufacturing Association.
During , Playtex also introduced several improvements in the Playtex disposable nurser line and updated colors, designs, and packaging. The Spill-Proof cup, introduced in October , was the fastest-growing cup in the toddler market category, gaining almost a seven percent dollar market share in its first year. Some new companies have reinvented tampon branding to be less vague or gendered e. None use pink as a primary part of the color palette—or feature imagery of a woman in action—even though they were all founded by women.
Graphic designer and YouTuber Kelly Lauren, who has previously redesigned well-known logos from major coffee brands such as Starbucks and Folgers, is taking on the period packaging of a big brand—and redesigning it to include those who might not self-identify as women but still get their period. The profile of a slender woman with her hair in a ponytail to create a look that she hopes is both a welcoming arm of inclusion to trans men and nonbinary people, and a challenge to designers to move beyond the use of overtly feminine cliches.
Women are going to buy the product anyway, she posits, so why are companies leaning so hard into advertising to them? Lauren frames the redesign as an effort to modernize and minimize.
She replaced the original Playtex logo typeface with Champion HTF heavyweight—a blocky font that dropped some of the feminine curvature of the original but maintained a sport sensibility, which she also thought would be a draw for first-time buyers.
The new color palette also gave Lauren the opportunity to convey other positive emotions about the product to consumers. Forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties or other factors beyond the Company's control, which may cause material differences in actual results, performance or other expectations.
Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. The Company assumes no obligation to update such information.
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