Calgon, take me Away!

A few years ago, my mother and her good friend were having an argument about an ad campaign that they both remembered vaguely. The thing was, they couldn’t remember the product or the exact words in the commercials.

So they called me and asked, “do you remember ads where a woman is feeling overwhelmed and says something like ‘take me away’ or something like that?” I used to use this phrase often as a kid, and still do now. So, Confidently I said, “It is Calgon” and the catchphrase was “Calgon, take me away!”

They both paused and after too long a silence both agreed that I was completely wrong. I was beside myself and started to pull up proof. I sent print ads and commercials their way, but it was no use.

They thought that, yes, these ads were similar, but they had a different ad in mind. I was never able to convince them otherwise and to this day, when I think about it, I get so frustrated. It makes me want to take a nice long quiet relaxing bath.

Calgon, take me Away!

Calgon is a brand of water softener and bath products. The Calgon water softener was first introduced to the market in 1933 by Calgon, Inc. of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Calgon, Inc. was acquired by Merck in 1968 and later broken up and sold off. Today, the brand is owned by Reckitt Benckiser for use in Europe as a water softener, and in the United States by Ilex Consumer Products Group as a bath and beauty product. 

While “Calgon, Take Me Away!” is a well known catchphrase, the brand was more well-known for another ad campaign, “Ancient Chinese secret, huh?”