What's the original source of this slogan?

September 29, 2005 1:47 PM

What actually did "whiten your teeth while you sleep"?

More exactly, what's the original source of this phrase? It's become shorthand in some circles for the extravagant promises made by advertisers, but it occurred to me recently that it had to start somewhere. Was there a product that claimed (accurately or not) to do this?

posted by Johnny Assay to Writing & Language (8 answers total)

Crest Night Effects? Colgate Simply White Night? I think both used that phrase in their marketing.
posted by zsazsa at 1:58 PM on September 29, 2005

fixed Colgate link
posted by zsazsa at 1:58 PM on September 29, 2005

What circles would those be? These products seem awfully recent to have already spawned such a shorthand reference.
posted by jjg at 2:07 PM on September 29, 2005

I'm not sure it's that old -- there are only four mentions of the phrase in 20 years of Usenet, and they're all from 1996 on.
posted by mendel at 2:23 PM on September 29, 2005

I want to know what really does whiten your teeth while you sleep, product wise.
posted by johngoren at 2:28 PM on September 29, 2005

Crest Night Effects did really well for me, when I did it every night to the end of the thing. A tip: rub off the stuff in the morning before you brush, or you'll ruin your toothbrush.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 2:51 PM on September 29, 2005 [1 favorite]

RIMMER: What are you talking about?
LISTER: I'm talking about playing your self-hypnosis tapes all through the night. "Learn Esperanto While You Sleep." "Learn Quantum Theory While You Sleep."
RIMMER: We both got the same benefit.
LISTER: Yeah, neither of us got any sleep.
posted by jozxyqk at 4:42 PM on September 29, 2005

Whatever it is, I'm sure it also beats as it sweeps as it cleans and does not turn pink in the tin.
posted by flabdablet at 8:51 AM on September 30, 2005