• Ad Age , Friday, February 1, 2008 11:45 AM

Burt's Bees criticizes the industrial-strength ingredients long found in conventional beauty brands in an ad that's among six scheduled to appear in issues of magazines such as People, Oprah, Allure, and Real Simple starting Feb. 5. The ad compares the beeswax in Burt's to the petrolatum found in other products. It's the first major national ad campaign under new owner Clorox.

Beeswax is a "naturally replenishing moisturizer made by bees," while petrolatum, Burt's says, is a "non-renewable hydrocarbon made from crude oil" that leaves a "greasy film that could contain contaminants."

Mike Indursky, chief marketing and strategic officer at Burt's Bees, says the brand is not attacking other brands but showing "one ingredient vs. another ingredient." The other half of the strategy, he says, is to build a reputation for efficacy by showing natural ingredients that do the same jobs as chemical additives and define the squishy notion of "natural" in the process.

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