How 'Clean' Was Sold To America With Fake Science

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The average American's daily hygiene ritual would seem unusual - nay, obsessive - to our forebears a hundred years ago. From mouthwash to deodorant, most of our hygiene products were invented in the past century. To sell them, the advertising industry had to create pseudoscientific maladies like 'bad breath' and 'body odor.'

Americans had to be convinced their breath was rotten and theirs armpits stank. It did not happen by accident. As advertising exploded in the early 20th century, so did our obsession with personal hygiene.

(via Neatorama)