Deodorant gains wide appeal

In January, Bristol-Myers Products introduced new Ban® Clear Soft Solid in a unique package. Halfway between a solid and a roll-on, the gel-like deodorant is appropriately housed in a 2.25-oz container that combines the wide applicator of a solid with the more cylindrical shape of Ban's traditional roll-on package.

May 31st, 1997

"What we did was combine an easy-to-grab package with a wide-applicator top," says Ken Lang, senior project engineer manager at Morrisville, NC-based Bristol-Myers. He had a hand in designing the five-component high-density polyethylene package, most of which has a distinctive blue tint. Product sits in the round container "barrel." As the bottom dial or "knob" is rotated counter-clockwise, product is pushed upwards and squirted through six holes in the center of the wide container dome. This dome snaps onto widened container "hips" or shoulders to form the wide applicator top. A toothed overcap prevents leakage. Both hips and the overcap feature a textured finish. The package is injection-molded by Plastic Packaging and Components (Mississauga, Ontario, Canada). Sancoa (Mt. Laurel, NJ) provides the pressure-sensitive labels. Made of polypropylene, the wraparound body label is combination screen- and letterpress printed in five colors. The label on the cap is screen-printed in white. Both are applied with Quadrel (Mentor, OH) labelers. Four varieties of Ban Clear Soft Solid are available. They retail for about $3.19.