he called it Pepsodent. Hopkins launched a marketing campaign that alerted people to a “film” on their teeth that, he claimed, caused decay and thus less beautiful teeth—a film that could only be cleaned off by brushing with toothpaste. Suddenly, when people ran their tongues over their teeth, they began to notice this film that had always been there, but to which they had never paid attention, much less thought of as a problem. Every time they noticed the film, this would become a trigger for them to practice a new behavior—brushing their teeth—to realize the reward of having beautiful teeth.
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