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After its invention, Cadum soap was sold in all pharmacies, perfumeries, grocery stores… A vast advertising campaign propelled it to the first place of the podium at the end of the First World War. Aimed at adults until 2006, the brand bounced back by targeting babies. Back on a beautiful story that has adapted over time.
At the origin of (baby) Cadum, the repairing balm
A baby with an angelic face, rosy, chubby cheeks, a broad smile and curly hair. That’s it, Cadum! A chance encounter is at the origin of this beautiful story. On the one hand, there is Mickaël Winburn, a rich New York advertising and industrialist. The other, Louis Nathan, a Parisian pharmacist. The first, passing through the capital at the Hotel Scribe, goes to the second for a stubborn eczema. The ingenious pharmacist delivers him a balm of his own making, based on cade oil. A plant from the South called juniper. And miracle, Mickaël heals immediately! No way to let such a windfall pass. The American immediately decides to join forces with Louis Nathan to market this magic potion. They set up their workshop in a pavilion in Courbevoie and quickly put three products on the market: the famous repairing balm, a toothpaste and a moisturizing ointment. Pharmaceutical sales are at the top! And it is thus, that in 1907 the Cadum brand is born… Mickaël and Louis think about it. They want to revolutionize the hygiene of the French. At the beginning of the 1912th century, soap was a luxury product reserved for an elite. The objective: to sell a quality bar of soap accessible to all. The dream becomes reality: Cadum pink soap, with the intoxicating scent of sweet almond, appears in XNUMX. Pharmacies, perfumeries, drugstores, grocery stores… it is everywhere, it is a huge success.
An advertising campaign largely inspired by the United States
Huge posters, painted by the eminent Arsène-Marie Lefeuvre, are plastered on all the walls of France. We see a beautiful baby very happy next to his bathtub. He sits on a towel with Cadum soap at his feet. This image will remain the strong symbol of the brand, yet Cadum products have always been intended for adults, until recently (2006). Indeed the baby is an emblem of softness, cleanliness and health at a time when the infant mortality rate is high. At the same time, popular actresses like Mistinguett or Huguette Duflos praise the merits of the product in the press. At the end of the First World War, it is THE number 1 soap. To establish its notoriety, in 1925 the brand organized a contest for the most beautiful baby in France. Little faces are flocking from all over France. It is Maurice Obréjan, little plump Parisian at will, who wins the election. Since then, the baby Cadum has been elected every year.
The thirties or the golden age of Cadum
New products are appearing: talc, cold-cream, shampoo … But the French shun the baby in the pub version. The poster is reviewed and corrected. This time the child appears in a bathtub with the soap in the foreground. Finally, this image was abandoned at the end of the sixties to remain only on the packaging. The brand merged with the American companies Palmolive in 1952, then Colgate in 1964. Nothing is going well, the soap is dethroned by the shower gels sold in the hypermarkets.
Small victory despite everything: the expression “Baby Cadum”, still used as a joke in the playgrounds, enters the dictionary to designate a pink and round child. It was not until 2003 to see the new Cadum effect. Spurred on by two young entrepreneurs, the brand is back in France. On the program, new products such as a range for washing babies, deodorants… without parabens of course. The whole family is now Cadum. The couple Laure Manaudou, Frédérick Bousquet with their granddaughter, Manon, also embody this idea to perfection.