John Steven Barry (August 31, 1924 – July 3, 2009) was an American business executive who popularized

WD-40 WD-40 is an American brand and the trademark of a penetrating oil manufactured by the WD-40 Company based in San Diego, California. The formula for WD-40 was invented for the Rocket Chemical Company as early as 1953 before it evolved into ...

, a water-displacing spray and

solvent A solvent (s) (from the Latin '' solvō'', "loosen, untie, solve") is a substance that dissolves a solute, resulting in a solution. A solvent is usually a liquid but can also be a solid, a gas, or a supercritical fluid. Water is a solvent for ...

that had been created in the 1950s for use in the space program and spread its use in the consumer market.

Early life and education

Barry was born in

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

. He attended the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

, from which he received a bachelor's degree in

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science, to design, analyze, manufacture, and ...

. He was designated to participate in an officer's training program after enlisting in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

, as part of which he attended

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

and

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

. After his military service, he attended the

MIT Sloan School of Management The MIT Sloan School of Management (MIT Sloan or Sloan) is the business school of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT Sloan offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degree programs, ...

, earning a master's degree in business administration. He had been hired by 3M after graduation, but was called to active duty in the Navy during the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

.Martin, Douglas
"John S. Barry, Main Force Behind WD-40, Dies at 84"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', July 22, 2009. Accessed July 22, 2009.

WD-40 WD-40 is an American brand and the trademark of a penetrating oil manufactured by the WD-40 Company based in San Diego, California. The formula for WD-40 was invented for the Rocket Chemical Company as early as 1953 before it evolved into ...

The product had originally been created by

Rocket Chemical Company The WD-40 Company, originally the Rocket Chemical Company, is an American manufacturer of household and multi-use products, including its signature brand, WD-40, as well as 3-In-One Oil, Lava, Spot Shot, X-14, Carpet Fresh, GT85, 1001, Solvol, 2 ...

in 1953 as a degreasing and rust-preventing spray, with the name

coming from "water displacement, formulation successful in 40th attempt". One of its earliest users was

Convair Convair, previously Consolidated Vultee, was an American aircraft manufacturing company that later expanded into rockets and spacecraft. The company was formed in 1943 by the merger of Consolidated Aircraft and Vultee Aircraft. In 1953, i ...

, which used the liquid to protect the outside of its

SM-65 Atlas The SM-65 Atlas was the first operational intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) developed by the United States and the first member of the Atlas rocket family. It was built for the U.S. Air Force by the Convair Division of General Dy ...

missiles. Norm Larsen, one of WD-40's creators, saw that Convair employees had found uses in their homes and started marketing the product in stores starting in 1958. Barry had no involvement in the company until he was hired in 1969 to succeed his father-in-law, Cy Irving, as its chief executive office and president, with one of his first actions being to rename the company

WD-40 Company The WD-40 Company, originally the Rocket Chemical Company, is an American manufacturer of household and multi-use products, including its signature brand, WD-40, as well as 3-In-One Oil, Lava, Spot Shot, X-14, Carpet Fresh, GT85, 1001, Solvol, 2 ...

after its best-known product, reasoning that the company was not in the rocket business, after all. Through creative marketing, Barry was able to significantly increase the product's market through additional advertising spending, improving the design of the product and its distinctive blue and yellow aerosol can, expanding sales into supermarkets to tap into

impulse purchase In the field of consumer behavior, an impulse purchase or impulse buying is an unplanned decision by a consumer to buy a product or service, made just before a purchase. One who tends to make such purchases is referred to as an impulse purchase ...

s and growing distribution from 1,200 wholesalers when he was hired to 14,000 within a decade in the United States and internationally. Barry was fond of using free product samples as a promotional tool, including 10,000 that were sent monthly to soldiers fighting in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

to help maintain their weapons in the difficult climate. Barry steadfastly resisted the received wisdom that

diversification Diversification may refer to: Biology and agriculture * Genetic divergence, emergence of subpopulations that have accumulated independent genetic changes * Agricultural diversification involves the re-allocation of some of a farm's resources to ...

was the optimal

marketing strategy Marketing strategy allows organizations to focus limited resources on best opportunities to increase sales and achieve a competitive advantage in the market. Strategic marketing emerged in the 1970s/80s as a distinct field of study, further buil ...

, resolutely keeping the company a one-product firm. Though Barry acknowledged that other companies had products that were similar to his, he ensured that the firm jealously protected its trademark and that it never fully revealed the components used in its manufacture to the public. He refused to produce a

private label A private label, also called a private brand or private-label brand, is a brand owned by a company, offered by that company alongside and competing with brands from other businesses. A private-label brand is almost always offered exclusively by th ...

version of the product for

Sears, Roebuck and Company Sears, Roebuck and Co. ( ), commonly known as Sears, is an American chain of department stores founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosenwald, with what began ...

, emphasizing that at WD-40 "we are a marketing company" even if they "appear to be a manufacturing company". Company surveys showed that 80% of American households had the product, using it for the standard squeaky hinges and road tar removal, to ungluing tongues stuck to frozen metal and removing a python from under a bus. Barry stepped down as president and CEO in September 1990 and was succeeded by Gerald C. Schleif. Barry left his role as chairman of the board in September 2000, and was followed in the post by Daniel W. Derbes. Sales grew from $2 million in 1970, his first full year at the company, to $90 million in 1990 and $317 million in the year before his death.

Personal

Barry died at age 84 on July 3, 2009, due to

pulmonary fibrosis Pulmonary fibrosis is a condition in which the lungs become scarred over time. Symptoms include shortness of breath, a dry cough, feeling tired, weight loss, and nail clubbing. Complications may include pulmonary hypertension, respiratory failu ...

in a skilled nursing center in

La Jolla La Jolla ( , ) is a hilly, seaside neighborhood within the city of San Diego, California, United States, occupying of curving coastline along the Pacific Ocean. The population reported in the 2010 census was 46,781. La Jolla is surrounded on ...

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

.Perry, Tony
"John Barry dies at 84; former executive made WD-40 a household name"
''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'', July 22, 2009. Accessed September 7, 2010. He was survived by his wife, the former Marian A. Irving; a daughter, Deborah B. Faneros of

Camarillo Camarillo ( ) is a city in Ventura County in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 70,741, an increase of 5,540 from the 65,201 counted in the 2010 Census. Camarillo is named for brothers Juan an ...

, California, two sons, Stephen A. Barry of Escondido and Randy P. Barry of San Diego, and four grandsons.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barry, John Steven 1924 births 2009 deaths Columbia University alumni Deaths from pulmonary fibrosis Harvard University alumni MIT Sloan School of Management alumni Businesspeople from San Diego United States Navy sailors University of Minnesota College of Science and Engineering alumni American chief executives 20th-century American businesspeople