Coast Soap

This morning, as I was picking up some manly-smelling soap for my 14 year old, I caught sight of something I hadn't seen in a long time in my grocery store: Coast Soap.

As I lamented in Lympho Bob, way back in March 2009, the Dial Corp stopped making my favorite soap, the classic, original Coast, replacing it with something called "Coast Pacific Force" -- definitely not the eye-opening scent that I had enjoyed for so long. Even worse, they just stopped selling it anywhere near me (within 100 miles of me, according to their web site at the time). I had to rely on a sister-in-law, and on my mom, to keep me supplied with the new stuff, even if it wasn't as good as the original scent.

I wasn't alone in being so upset. Missy Ward, in a now classic YouTube video and blog post, expressed her disappointment in the changes to Coast's scent. [Obligatory cancer connection: Missy Ward raises funds for breast cancer research.]  This was followed up by Moe Picante's video rant  (be warned -- he's passionate, and he swears a lot) about the new Coast soap. There's a Facebook page called Bring Back Coast Original Soap. Clearly, I'm not the only sicko who misses The Eye-Opener.

So when I looked at the package in the grocery store this morning, I was even more thrilled than I was by its mere presence. It said, "Throwback -- Celebrating 35 years!" I mean, there's even an exclamation point! How much more exciting could this get!?"

But something...seemed...wrong....

I didn't buy the soap. I figured it would still be there the next time I was there, and I still have about 40 bars of Pacific Force from the last time my mother cleared out a store shelf for me.

Instead, I went home and did some research.

It turns out that the only thing that is "thrown back" is the packaging. It's not the old, original scent Coast. It's just the same, new Pacific Force scent, in 35 year old packaging.

That's sad. And I'm upset about it (though not as upset as this guy who is filing a false advertising claim against them).

I appreciate my grocery store carrying the new stuff, because it's still better than the alternatives. But that doesn't mean I'm happy.