View source for O.b. (brand)

{{lowercase title}}
{{Infobox Brand
|logo=[[Image:o.b. logo.jpg|250px]]
|name=o.b.
|image=File:o.b. tampons.jpg
|type=[[Tampon]]
|currentowner=[[Edgewell Personal Care]]
|origin=
|discontinued=
|related=
|markets=Worldwide
|introduced={{start date and age|1950|3}}
|previousowners={{plainlist|
* {{nowrap|Carl Hahn GmbH (1950–1974)}}
*{{nowrap|[[Johnson & Johnson]] (1974–2013)}} (US only)
}}
|trademarkregistrations=
|website= {{URL|ob-tampons.com}}
}}
'''o.b.'''  is a brand of [[tampon]], originally developed in Germany in 1950 and manufactured by Carl Hahn GmbH. It is now owned by Kenvue outside of the United States and Edgewell in the US. The product was named by the gynecologist [[Judith Esser-Mittag]] who also developed it. The initials ''o.b.'' are an abbreviation of the German phrase {{Lang|de|ohne Binde}} ('without [[Sanitary napkin|napkin]]').<ref>[http://www.ob-tampons.com/faq/about-ob-tampons The o.b. Tampon Story]. ob-tampons.com. Retrieved 11 December 2016.</ref>

==History==
The idea for a tampon which could be inserted without a separate applicator was initiated in 1947 by the German auto engineer [[Carl Hahn]] and the lawyer Heinz Mittag. They wanted to introduce tampons to the German market, but the cardboard used for the applicator in the American tampon product [[Tampax]], which at the time dominated the market, was unavailable in post-war Germany. Hahn and Mittag approached Karl Julius Anselmino, director of the Landesfrauenklinik women's hospital in [[Wuppertal]] for advice on its design and development. He told them that the job required a woman and recommended the young gynecologist [[Judith Esser-Mittag|Judith Esser]]. Esser's finished design went into production in Wuppertal in March 1950. By 2010 the Wuppertal plant had become the largest tampon factory in the world and was exporting to over 30 countries.<ref name = "Kraus">Kraus, Doris (7 March 2010). [http://diepresse.com/home/leben/gesundheit/578781/60-Jahre-ob_Ein-Job-fuer-eine-Frau "60 Jahre o.b.: 'Ein Job für eine Frau'"] ("o.b. 60th anniversary: 'A job for a woman'"). ''[[Die Presse]]''. Retrieved 11 December 2016 {{in lang|de}}.</ref><ref>[[Deutsche Presse-Agentur|DPA]] (7 April 2010). [http://www.n24.de/n24/Nachrichten/Panorama/d/955106/wuppertaler-watte--vor-60-jahren-kam-der-tampon.html "Wuppertaler Watte: Vor 60 Jahren kam der Tampon"] ("Wuppertal cotton: 60 years ago, the tampon arrived"). [[N24 (Germany)|N24]]. Retrieved 11 December 2016 {{in lang|de}}.</ref>
 
In 1974 [[Johnson & Johnson]] took over Hahn's company and two years later introduced o.b. tampons to the American market with an $8 million advertising campaign on television and radio.<ref name = "Kraus" /><ref>McDonough, John and Egolf, Karen (eds.) (2015). [https://books.google.com/books?id=HZLtCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA882 ''The Advertising Age Encyclopedia of Advertising''], p. 882. Routledge. {{ISBN|1135949069}}</ref> Esser herself appeared in some of the later American television commercials.<ref>Delaney, Janice; Lupton, Mary Jane; and Toth, Emily (1988). [https://books.google.com/books?id=njfQfrMr31EC&pg=PA134 ''The Curse: A Cultural History of Menstruation''], pp. 134–135. University of Illinois Press. {{ISBN|0252014529}}</ref> Johnson & Johnson introduced o.b. tampons in China in 1993, and as of 2016 they were still the only brand of tampon sold in Chinese stores.<ref>Yang, Yingzhi (18 March 2016). [http://www.latimes.com/world/asia/la-fg-china-tampons-20160318-story.html "China made 85 billion sanitary pads last year, and not one tampon. Here's why"]. ''[[Los Angeles Times]]''. Retrieved 11 December 2016.</ref> 

In 2013 the o.b. brand in the United States was acquired from Johnson & Johnson by Edgewell Personal Care. Kenvue (the former subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson Consumer Health) remains the brand owner internationally. <ref>Goodman. Andrew (29 June 2015). [https://www.forbes.com/sites/agoodman/2015/06/25/with-the-energizer-split-what-will-edgewell-look-like/#55a8bab65492 "With The Energizer Split, What Will Edgewell Look Like?"]. ''[[Forbes]]''. Retrieved 11 December 2016.</ref>

==Products==
[[File:Ob-Tampon-A139730.jpg|thumb|right|200px|O.B. tampon]]
* O.B. ProComfort
* O.B. ProComfort Night
* O.B. Original
* O.B. Compact Applicator

==See also==
*[[Aisle (company)]]
*[[Bella (brand)]]
*[[Feminine hygiene]]
*[[Hengan International]]
*[[Libresse]]
*[[Lil-lets]]
*[[Thinx]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{official website|http://www.ob-tampons.com/}}

{{Edgewell}}

[[Category:Feminine hygiene brands]]
[[Category:Products introduced in 1950]]
[[Category:Edgewell Personal Care]]