Scenario 1: Almost every Indian city is facing some amount of water shortage during summers these days. Some of the cities, like Bengaluru (earlier this year) and Delhi (now) make more news than others.
Scenario 2: There are a LOT of shower gel brands in India now. Bar soaps are still in vogue, but shower gels have made pretty good inroads in India. And yet, every single shower gel, Indian or imported, has one mighty drawback. Unlike bar soaps, shower gels do not wash off that easily from the skin. They require more water. This is true even for the relatively hard water we get in our area in Bengaluru (tanker water). In soft water (like I have experienced, in Coimbatore) washing off shower gel requires more water. Meaning: an extra bucket or standing under the shower longer.
Now, mix both scenarios: why don’t we have quick wash shower gels?
Yes, we do. But just one, till now.
ITC’s Fiama Men Quick Wash shower gel used to be the only shower gel that proudly and prominently calls out the ‘quick wash’ USP. If you haven’t tried it yet, please do. It smells great and unlike any other shower gel you have tried, it really washes off quickly, with limited water!
I always used to wonder why no other brand copied this idea. Thankfully, Godrej steps up to the task and goes one step beyond ITC!
Cinthol’s new Foam Body Wash is not a shower gel. It’s foam! Like shaving foam! There is liquid inside the bottle, but the nozzle converts it into foam as you press it. The smell is that of the original red-pack Cinthol (with the green colored bar soap inside). The original red Cinthol is a particular favorite of mine, for many, many years. It’s probably the best soap for Indian summers. The best part is that the foam is not only easy to apply/use, but it washes off really quick, requiring limited water (or a shorter stay under the shower)!
It’s a pity Godrej doesn’t highlight the quick wash USP. There is a mention of the ‘Enjoy of a quick rinse’ on the back of the pack, though, I believe, Godrej could emulate ITC in this regard and mention ‘quick rinse’ on the front of the pack.
I believe this is a new product, and Godrej is yet to advertise it. But when they do, I hope they focus on the quick rinse element. With the water situation in India, it could work wonders.
I have my doubts, though. There is not mention of this product even on Godrej’s own social media handles (the Instagram handle’s last post is from January 2024!).
Godrej even used to have its own digital store, under a URL called ‘Awesomemen’ (dot cinthol dot com). I have bought quite a few times from it, specifically their deo. But the digital store is no more. It’s possible that the sales from their own digital store weren’t enough to justify contiuing with it when so many other digital avenues exist now (including multiple q-commerce avenues like Zepto, Blinkit, and Instamart). Related read: Welcome to our own online store!
I recall writing about the launch of Godrej’s Alive is Awesome campaign, back in 2012.
Godrej is perhaps the only FMCG brand that tries to innovate consistently in terms of form-factor. For example, their shave + facewash product. I wrote about it in 2019, and I believe it didn’t sell well enough because it is not available in the market anymore (Godrej has gone back to the basic ‘Godrej Shaving Cream’ without the Cinthol branding).
Then there is the deo stick. It’s the mighty unique deo stick in terms of product innovation and the fragrances were fantastic. But this too has been discontinued!
Now, we have this new innovation in terms of the foam shower gel with quick rinse.
I’d love to see them advertise this one using the water-saving feature (since ITC hasn’t done so for the Fiama Men Quick Wash shower gel; they still can, though!) given the water shortage in our cities currently!