?
It was called “Oil of Ulay” in the UK (and probably elsewhere) for as long as I can remember, until a year or two ago when it became “Oil of Olay”. I’m informed by a half-French friend of mine that it was advertised as “Oil of Olaz” last time he was in France (a year or two ago), so my guess is that they’re trying to standardise the name around the globe, rather like the way the chocolate bar “Marathon” changed its name to “Snickers” in the early eighties.
Bryan.
It is called “Oil of Olaz” in the Netherlands. I think it used to be “Oil of Ulay”, but I’m not sure.
Here ya go. Basically it’s copyright issues in various countries, all of which have expired, and P&G is now standardizing for efficiency and synergy and all that Dilbert stuff.
It also happened here in the UK with Jif cleaning liquid being renamed Cif to bring it in line with the rest of the world. I’m still smarting over Marathon bars being renamed Snickers and Opal Fruits becoming Starbursts.
Everything is going according to the plan. The American brand names are taking over the world!! Bwaaaahahahahahaha!!!
Besides, “Oil of Ulan” sounds like some kind of yak-fat-based facial product from Outer Mongolia.
Ulan is the Mongolian word for ‘red’. No, really.
On another note, “Snickers”? Where the hell did they get such a ridiculous name? What’s wrong with “Marathon Bar”? Ugh, just one of those words that’s very annoying to me.
Oh come on.
What is easier to sell to a portly candy lover, a bar named after a long distance race or a bar named after suppressed laughter ?
From http://www.m-w.com
"Main Entry: 1snick·er
Pronunciation: 'sni-k&r
Function: intransitive verb
Inflected Form(s): snick·ered; snick·er·ing /-k(&-)ri[ng]/
Etymology: origin unknown
Date: 1694
: to laugh in a covert or partly suppressed manner : TITTER
- snick·er·er /-k&r-&r/ noun
- snick·ery /-k(&-)rE/ adjective "
Which leads me to an even more important question, what is the etymology of ‘snicker’ ?
From Oil of Olay to the etymology of snicker
How hijacked can you get?!
From the Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology:
“…possibly of imitative origin, similar to Dutch snikken to gasp, sob, Low German snucken to sob…”
Jif cleaning liquid? :eek:
Over here, Jif is a brand of peanut butter.
As for the OP, I’ve always known it as “Oil of Olay” - didn’t know it had different names in diferent countries. And ironically, TVLand (nostalgia tv channel) just ran a ‘retromercial’ for “Oil of Olay”.
Oil of Ulay… changed to Olay about 2 years ago over here.
Bring back opal fruits!!!
IIRC, they are changing the name to be just “Olay” - the feeling is that although women over age 30 or so know the product as “Oil of Olay”, “Oil” is unattractive to younger women, whom the manufacturer wishes to attract. They are therefore changing the name to “Olay”. Their website is http://www.olay.com, and this URL will take you to their “History of Olay” page.