INSTAR BRANDS Revives Oxydol
Cincinnati, Ohio, June 28, 2023 - INSTAR BRANDS, a new brand management company and redistributor for growth brands, is proud to announce the launch of Oxydol, a classic laundry detergent from the 1940’s. Oxydol will now be sold in an iconic “bullseye” package that hasn’t been seen on laundry shelves for over almost 100 years.
Oxydol is featured in the iconic movie “A Christmas Story” (1983), where it is prominently displayed in the kitchen of the “Ralphie” (Parker) family. Oxydol is the only brand with free “legacy” product placement shown every year, repeatedly, during Christmas when the movie is aired on Cable TV.
Todd Wichmann, the President and Founder of Instar Brands, left Procter & Gamble to co-acquire Oxydol in the early 2000s, grew it and sold it. Today, he is excited to revive it through Instar Brands.
Oxydol will be sold in its iconic classic packaging, while also launching the product in laundry pod form, which has become very popular amongst consumers. Oxydol pods are ultra-concentrated and dissolve instantly, and contain the classic simple “just soap and nothin’ else” common household formulations easily recognizable in the 1940’s.
However, these basic ‘just soap’ formulations disappeared once synthetic detergents were invented with P&G’s new brand : TIDE. Synthetic detergents (using new ‘surfactants’ instead of basic soaps) quickly dominated the USA Laundry market with their superior technology to withstand very hard water conditions.
Very hard water, which causes “soap scum”, was very common and prevalent in households during the Great Depression, but much less common now due to the installation of water softeners in many USA households.
Todd Wichmann also once served as the North American Brand Manager for TIDE in the late 1990’s as well at P&G.
Instar Brands is raising capital with Wunderfund Ventures, a crowdfunding platform that connects investors with innovative startups, in order to bring Oxydol and other brands to life.
“Oxydol is a nostalgic brand that has a loyal fan base and a unique position in the market. We are excited to bring it back to its former glory and introduce it to a new generation of consumers who value quality, convenience and affordability. It’s a classic ‘100% Made in America’ Brand that you will be proud to display in your home once again, just like Ralphie’s family did” said Wichmann.
Oxydol will be manufactured 100% at locally sourced plants located in Ohio, Wisconsin, Missouri, and Illinois.
Instar Brands is a ‘market development organization’ that imports and manufactures consumer products sourced from around the world seeking to sell into the North American market. Instar Brands acts as the intermediary for international companies looking for a landing zone to get their operations and sales started in the USA. Instar Brands has access to a proprietary network of contract manufacturers and a distribution network that includes large retail stores such as Wal-Mart, Costco, Target, Kroger, Amazon and many more.
For more information about Instar Brands and Oxydol, please visit instar-brands.vercel.app
Todd Wichmann
CEO of Instar Brands