Serutan
Encyclopedia

Serutan was an early fiber-type laxative
Laxative
Laxatives are foods, compounds, or drugs taken to induce bowel movements or to loosen the stool, most often taken to treat constipation. Certain stimulant, lubricant, and saline laxatives are used to evacuate the colon for rectal and/or bowel examinations, and may be supplemented by enemas under...

 product which was widely promoted on U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...

 and television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

 from the 1930s through the 1960s. It was manufactured by the J. B. Williams Co., which was founded in 1885 and bought out by Nabisco
Nabisco
Nabisco is an American brand of cookies and snacks. Headquartered in East Hanover, New Jersey, the company is a subsidiary of Illinois-based Kraft Foods. Nabisco's plant in Chicago, a production facility at 7300 S...

 in 1971.

The origin of the brand name was straightforward. The makers merely decided to spell "natures" backwards, and "Read it backwards" was the product's advertising
Advertising
Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...

 slogan
Slogan
A slogan is a memorable motto or phrase used in a political, commercial, religious and other context as a repetitive expression of an idea or purpose. The word slogan is derived from slogorn which was an Anglicisation of the Scottish Gaelic sluagh-ghairm . Slogans vary from the written and the...

. This was to differentiate it as being a "natural" product as opposed to laxative brands which stimulated the colon
Colon (anatomy)
The colon is the last part of the digestive system in most vertebrates; it extracts water and salt from solid wastes before they are eliminated from the body, and is the site in which flora-aided fermentation of unabsorbed material occurs. Unlike the small intestine, the colon does not play a...

 by chemical action rather than sheer bulk of contents.

The product was almost uniformly promoted on programs whose core audience as shown by demographics
Demographics
Demographics are the most recent statistical characteristics of a population. These types of data are used widely in sociology , public policy, and marketing. Commonly examined demographics include gender, race, age, disabilities, mobility, home ownership, employment status, and even location...

 was known to be considerably older than that of the typical television viewer. Serutan is especially associated with The Lawrence Welk Show
The Lawrence Welk Show
The Lawrence Welk Show is an American televised musical variety show hosted by big band leader Lawrence Welk. The series aired locally in Los Angeles for four years , then nationally for another 27 years via the ABC network and first-run syndication .In the years since first-run syndication...

and The Original Amateur Hour, both of which were also sponsored by J. B. Williams products Sominex
Sominex
Sominex is a trademarked name for two over the counter sleep aids. In the United States diphenhydramine is marketed under this name by GlaxoSmithKline. In the UK Actavis UK markets Promethazine hydrochloride under the Sominex brand....

, a sleeping pill and Geritol
Geritol
Geritol is a US trademarked name for various dietary supplements, past and present. Geritol is currently a brand name for several vitamin complexes plus iron or multimineral products in both liquid form and tablets, containing from 9.5 to 18 mg of iron per daily dose...

, a vitamin supplement. Serutan was the target of numerous jokes by Bob Hope
Bob Hope
Bob Hope, KBE, KCSG, KSS was a British-born American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in radio, television and movies. He was also noted for his work with the US Armed Forces and his numerous USO shows entertaining American military personnel...

 and other radio comedians during the 1930s and 1940s
.

Popular culture

A friend of the protagonist of J.P. Donleavy's The Ginger Man
The Ginger Man
The Ginger Man is a 1955 novel by J. P. Donleavy.First published in Paris, the novel is set in Dublin, Ireland, in post war 1947. Upon its publication, it was banned in the Republic of Ireland and the United States of America for obscenity....

refers to himself as "The Absentee Duke of Serutan." "Serutan Approach" is also a trend within the positivist definition of Science.

In Harvard Lampoon's Bored of the Rings
Bored of the Rings
Bored of the Rings is the title of a paperback parody of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. This short novel was written by Henry N. Beard and Douglas C. Kenney, who later founded National Lampoon...

, the parody version of Saruman
Saruman
Saruman the White is a fictional character and a major antagonist in J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings. He is leader of the Istari, wizards sent to Middle-earth in human form by the godlike Valar to challenge Sauron, the main antagonist of the tale, but later on aims at gaining...

 is named Serutan.

In National Lampoon's Doon, the parody version of Princess Irulan is named Princess Serutan.

Don De Lillo's Libra mentions the slogan in its first chapter.

In Exit The Body, a play by Fred Carmichael, Kate Bixley refers to the protagonist's husband, who writes a newspaper column under the alias "Dorothy Duckworth" and is attending a convention for lonely-hearts column writers, as "The only female at the convention who doesn't take Serutan."

A running gag in the 1944-1945 season of the Jack Benny Radio Show was a series of commercials by Frank Nelson for "Sympathy Soothing Cream", which used the slogan "Sympathy spelled backwards is Yhtapmys." Several variations were introduced, most notably the rival brand, Sdrawrof cream (Sdrawrof spelled backwards is forwards).
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