TRADEMARK OF THE WEEK – VASELINE

The multinational corporation Unilever owns the American brand Vaseline, which consists of items derived from petroleum jelly. Its products include a variety of skin creams, soaps, lotions, cleansers, and deodorants in addition to basic petroleum jelly.

In order to find out what new materials could be made from this new fuel, chemist Robert Chesebrough, who had previously purified kerosene from sperm whale oil, travelled to the oil fields in Titusville, Pennsylvania in 1859. There he discovered that oil rig pumps need a residue known as rod wax to be periodically cleaned off. The material was used by the oil workers as a burn and cut healer. After bringing samples of the rod wax back to Brooklyn, Chesebrough separated the petroleum jelly that could be used, and he started producing a medication he named Vaseline.

Before merging with Pond’s in 1955 and being acquired by Unilever in 1987, the Chesebrough Manufacturing Company produced Vaseline. Vaseline works well as a lubricant for plastic and metallic surfaces. It can also be applied as a moisture insulator for localized skin disorders including eczema and atopic dermatitis that are characterized by dry skin. Vaseline is only meant to be applied externally; it should not be applied to severe burns, animal bites, or deep skin injuries or punctures.