The combination product offers toothpaste and floss together in a single container. GSK also introduced AquaBlast toothbrush cleaner, and a similar effervescent tablet for cleaning retainers and mouth guards.
Unlike the unusual folding carton for Extreme Clean, the company isn't revealing much about the packaging for its other new products. The Aquafresh Floss 'N' Cap is a 6-oz tube of Aquafresh that's topped by a newly designed flip-top cap. That cap was developed so that the floss container could be snapped onto it, or snapped off for separate use. "We needed to develop a new cap design that would look attractive by itself, even if the floss container was removed," says Lori Lukus, corporate communications specialist at Glaxo.
When asked about the floss container, Lukus would only say its fabricator was "proprietary." Made of polypropylene, like the new flip-top cap, the floss dispenser is made of three pieces plus floss. Lukus did say it was assembled in the U.S., even though the floss is manufactured in the U.K. Despite the additional dispenser on top of the cap, Lukus says Glaxo was able to use an existing carton size for the new product. No more details were forthcoming.
Lukus did say that the new combo product was priced the same as its premium-priced Aquafresh Whitening toothpaste. "So, in essence, consumers are getting the floss for free," she says. The floss itself is unique in that it expands when exposed to saliva and is triple-coated and flavored with Aquafresh's mint. According to Lukus, GSK developed the process to make the floss.
In addition, Glaxo is also introducing new Aquafresh AquaBlast toothbrush cleaner and a retainer cleaner in effervescent tablets individually overwrapped in what's probably a foil lamination. The first product comes in both 16- and 36-ct folding cartons; the retainer cleaner in just the 16-ct carton.
Finally, the company says it has the first co-branded toothpaste for kids that employs celebrities, twins Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen. This kid's toothpaste is new to GSK and has a different flavor, Bubblecool, that the two child stars had a hand in choosing.
"Our company has done a lot of research in tooth care, and we're really proud of the new products we've brought to market," Lukus says. "They're not just line extensions. Each of these new products involves some dramatic innovation."
