Simple Skincare is a British brand of soap and skincare products designed for sensitive skin. Simple has been owned by

Unilever Unilever plc is a British multinational consumer goods company with headquarters in London, England. Unilever products include food, condiments, bottled water, baby food, soft drink, ice cream, instant coffee, cleaning agents, energy drink, t ...

since 2010.

History

The brand was developed in 1960 by the Albion Group. In the late 1980s the business was acquired by

Smith and Nephew Smith may refer to: People * Metalsmith, or simply smith, a craftsman fashioning tools or works of art out of various metals * Smith (given name) * Smith (surname), a family name originating in England, Scotland and Ireland ** List of people w ...

. In June 2000,

divested its consumer products division; a management buyout, led by CEO Geoff Percy and Finance Director Peter Hatherly, for £140m resulted in the formation of Accantia, owner of the Simple brand. In January 2004, a secondary buyout was completed. Following an unsolicited approach, the board of Accantia sold the company to

Duke Street Capital Duke Street is a private equity firm focused on leveraged buyout and growth capital investments in middle-market companies in Western Europe, particularly the UK and France. The firm which is based in London was founded in 1988 as Hambro Europe ...

for £225m. Accantia's existing senior management team remained in place. In April 2009, Accantia changed its name to Simple Health & Beauty Group Limited. Simple Health & Beauty Group Limited was bought by the US company

Alberto-Culver Alberto-Culver was an American corporation with international sales whose principal business was manufacturing hair and skin beauty care products under such brands as Alberto VO5, Andrew Collnge, St. Ives (skin care products), TRESemmé, FDS, ...

for £240 million in December 2009. Alberto-Culver was bought by the Anglo–Dutch multinational consumer goods company

in September 2010, and Simple was formally taken over around six months later.

Advertising

In 1986, the company asked its advertising agency Deighton & Mullen to produce a TV commercial. Entitle
'Gilding the Lily'
this ran on the newly launched

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

and featured a pristine white lily being sprayed by robotic arms with colouring and perfume. It was created by Colin Underhay (art director) and Alex Pearl (copywriter) and directed by

Len Fulford Leonard Alfred Fulford (11 November 1928 – 27 November 2011) was a British commercial photographer and director, with a specialty for photography of still life. He was one of the founding members of BFCS. With studios in London, New York, L ...

, while

Lord David Dundas Lord David Paul Nicholas Dundas (born 2 June 1945) is an English musician and actor, best known for his chart success in the pop genre during the 1970s as well as his later career in film and television scores. Biography Dundas was born in Oxf ...

wrote the piano score in the style of Erik Satie, and

Joanna Lumley Dame Joanna Lamond Lumley (born 1 May 1946) is an English actress, presenter, former model, author, television producer, and activist. She has won two BAFTA TV Awards for her role as Patsy Stone in the BBC sitcom ''Absolutely Fabulous'' (1992 ...

provided the voice over.

References

External links

* * {{Unilever British brands Soap brands Personal care brands Companies based in the West Midlands (county) Unilever brands Products introduced in 1960