An article in this month's Poets
& Writers magazine
entitled “The Art of Brand Naming” by Margaret Wolfson
tells the story of Ivory soap. (The article is only available to
subscribers of the magazine.) Originally, it was called “White
Soap” by Procter and Gamble's James Gamble. His partner, Harley
Procter, felt they needed a better name for the new soap. Procter
found inspiration for a new name at his church while he was listening
to a recitation of Psalm 45:
All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad (Psalm 45:8).
White Soap or Ivory? Sometimes a name
can make all the difference!