Serutan was an early fiber-type laxative product which was widely promoted on U.S. radio and television from the 1930s through the 1960s. Serutan was folded into Pharmaceuticals Inc.'s 1957 acquisition of J. B. Williams Co., founded in 1885. J. B. Williams Co. was bought out by Nabisco in 1971. The origin of the brand name was straight forward. The makers merely decided to spell "natures" backwards, and "Read it backwards" was the product's advertising

slogan A slogan is a memorable motto or phrase used in a clan, political slogan, political, Advertising slogan, commercial, religious, and other context as a repetitive expression of an idea or purpose, with the goal of persuading members of the publi ...

. This was to differentiate it as being a "natural" product as opposed to laxative brands which stimulated the colon by chemical action. The product was almost uniformly promoted on programs whose core audience was known to be considerably older than the typical television viewer. Serutan is especially associated with '' The Lawrence Welk Show'' and ''

The Original Amateur Hour ''The Original Amateur Hour'' is an American radio and television program. The show was a continuation of '' Major Bowes Amateur Hour'' which had been a radio staple from 1934 to 1945. Major Edward Bowes, the originator of the program and its ...

'', both of which were also sponsored by J. B. Williams products Sominex, a sleeping pill, and Geritol, a vitamin supplement. Serutan was the target of numerous jokes by Bob Hope and other radio comedians during the 1930s and 1940s.

In popular culture

A friend of the protagonist of J. P. Donleavy's '' The Ginger Man'' refers to himself as the "Acting Duke of Serutan." In Harvard Lampoon's '' Bored of the Rings'', the parody version of

Saruman Saruman, also called Saruman the White, is a fictional character of J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy novel ''The Lord of the Rings''. He is leader of the Istari, wizards sent to Middle-earth in human form by the godlike Valar to challenge Sauron, t ...

is named Serutan. In '' National Lampoon's Doon'', the parody version of Princess Irulan is named Princess Serutan.

Don De Lillo Donald Richard DeLillo (born November 20, 1936) is an American novelist, short story writer, playwright, screenwriter and essayist. His works have covered subjects as diverse as television, nuclear war, sports, the complexities of language, perf ...

's ''Libra'' mentions the slogan in its first chapter. In ''Exit the Body'', a play by Fred Carmichael, Kate Bixley refers to the protagonist's husband, who writes a newspaper column under the alias "Dorothy Duckworth" and is attending a convention for lonely-hearts column writers, as "The only female at the convention who ''doesn't'' take Serutan." A running gag in the 1944-1945 season of the Jack Benny radio show was a series of commercials by Frank Nelson for "Sympathy Soothing Cream", which used the slogan "Sympathy spelled backwards is Yhtapmys." Several variations were introduced, most notably the rival brand, Sdrawrof cream. In the ''

Merrie Melodies ''Merrie Melodies'' is an American animation, animated series of comedy short films produced by Warner Bros. starting in 1931, during the golden age of American animation, and ending in 1969. Then some new cartoons were produced from the late 197 ...

'' cartoon " Rocket-Bye Baby," a telegram from the planet Mars is signed Sir U. Tan of Mars. Archaeologist Kent Flannery has used the term "Serutan" to describe systemic archaeologists. (Flannery 1973a:49-53) An '' Animaniacs'' stinger has the Warners say, "Yakko spelled backwards is Okkay!"

In popular culture

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