Listeriniana

From the New York Times article on Listerine:

The [stink] lab is kept between 91 and 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit to resemble a real human mouth where bacteria can flourish. Linger inside, and the smell can stay on one’s clothes for hours.

“At this point, I don’t consider it gross anymore,” said Tara Fourre, Listerine’s principal scientist, who has worked at the lab for more than a decade. “But when I go home, my family thinks it’s gross because they can smell it on me.”

…

Early ads suggested customers apply Listerine to their scalp to clear up dandruff, or to put the antiseptic in their “cuts, scratches and small wounds.”

…

If Listerine has more recently localized its uses, so, too, has it widened its audience. No longer do its ads try to scare women into buying mouthwash, lest their bad breath ward off potential suitors (“always a bridesmaid” was a popular early ad slogan) or even their families (“It makes you unpopular with your own children”).

And some vintage ads, because there is a treasure trove of awful here:

Um...