Listerine was invented in 1879 as a surgical antiseptic and later sold as a floor cleaner and a cure for gonorrhea.
The mouthwash Listerine is a great lesson in public health branding.
In homage to Joseph Lister, the British surgeon who pioneered antiseptic surgery by cleaning his instruments in carbolic acid, a St. Louis chemist named Joseph Lawrence invented Listerine. The alcohol-based formula was sold as a surgical antiseptic as well as a treatment for cleaning cuts, scrapes, and other wounds. It was also marketed to dentists for oral care. Later, it was pitched as a floor cleaner and a cure for gonorrhea.
But it wasn’t until the Listerine marketing team turned an old Latin word for bad breath — halitosis — into an embarrassing medical condition that Listerine became the blockbuster it is today. The company didn’t invent bad breath, but they certainly invented the cure.