Owner Colgate-Palmolive Introduced 1991 | Country United States Markets Worldwide | |
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Product type Deodorant/antiperspirant Previous owners The Mennen Company (1991-1992) | ||
Teen Spirit is a deodorant, originally sold by Mennen, then Colgate-Palmolive (after Colgate-Palmolive acquired Mennen in 1992).
Teen Spirit was first released by Mennen early in 1991, and with heavy advertising campaigns, it had soon "established a market niche" with teen girls. Sales were boosted by the grunge band Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit," a song inspired by Kathleen Hanna (then lead singer of the punk band Bikini Kill) writing "Kurt Smells Like Teen Spirit" on Kurt Cobain's wall (because Tobi Vail, Hanna's band mate and Kurt's then-girlfriend, wore Teen Spirit).
When Mennen was acquired by Colgate-Palmolive in 1992, the Teen Spirit brand was said to be the most popular product of its kind, and was the favorite of nearly 1/4 of all teenage girls. Because of its immense popularity, Colgate-Palmolive planned to begin a new hair care line with the Teen Spirit name. The new hair care products were released in August and sold well, as expected. The Teen Spirit name began to lose its share of the market, just as the song with the same name started to drop off the charts. Before long, the company was forced to drop the hair care line, but kept the deodorants. Today, all that is left of the Teen Spirit franchise is "Teen-Spirit Stick." Teen Spirit Stick is now only offered in two fragrances, Pink Crush and Sweet Strawberry. It is available in either the 1.4 or 2.3 ounce (40 or 69 gram) sizes.