Dr. Bronner's grandson David Bronner is not only CEO (Cosmic Engagement Officer) of Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps, but also also a big contributor to and on the board of directors of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS).
>David Bronner is President of Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps. He is a grandson of company founder, Emanuel Bronner, and a fifth-generation soapmaker. Under David’s leadership, in 2003, Dr. Bronner’s was one of the first brands to certify their soaps, lotions and balms under the USDA National Organic Program. Today Dr. Bronner’s is coordinating certified Fair Trade projects for all major ingredients, including olive oil from the West Bank and Israel, coconut oil from Sri Lanka, and palm oil from Ghana. David pioneered the use of 100% post-consumer recycled PET bottles for the liquid soaps and a hemp/recycled paper blend to package the bars. David was the main coordinator of the Hemp Industries Association’s successful multi-year litigation against the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to protect sales of hemp foods and body care in the U.S. (2001-2004). He is an active supporter of both the Hemp Industries Association (HIA) and Vote Hemp, working to bring back hemp farming in the U.S. David was born in Los Angeles in 1973 and now lives in Encinitas, California with his wife Kris and daughter Maya. He enjoys coaching his daughter’s soccer team and dancing late into the night.
>David Bronner is Cosmic Engagement Officer (CEO) of Dr. Bronner’s, the top-selling brand of natural soaps in North America and producer of a range of organic body care and food products. He is a grandson of company founder, Emanuel Bronner, and a fifth-generation soapmaker. Under David and his brother Michael’s leadership, the brand has grown from $4 million in 1998 to over $111 million in annual revenue in 2017.
The same great advice that applies to Dr. Bronner's Pure Castile Soap also applies to Pure Liquid LSD: DILUTE! DILUTE! DILUTE! ALL-ONE!
This article kind of glosses over some of the tougher parts of their origin story. I saw a documentary about Dr. Bronner's on, I think, Netflix perhaps 7 years ago and it talked about how their dad, the company's founder, was essentially an absentee father because he was off preaching his self styled religion and making soap. Apparently he also spent some number of years in an insane asylum in IL before heading out to California as I recall.
Love the product, don't feel like this article does their origin story justice.
Edit: looks like it isn't on Netflix streaming any more but I think it was called, "Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap Box" [0]
That's kind of my take on it. I started wondering why we need so many specialty soaps and decided you could use it for showering, shampoo, shaving. It probably would make a bad toothpaste though.
I used to love it, then I tried other soaps. It's insanely drying on my skin and god forbid you use it on your hair. I actually prefer detergents over soaps now(acidic pH, better skin). I appreciate the company though. They're good people.
In style, absolutely. Time Cube was negative and overwhelmingly abrasive though. The stuff on Bronner's is fairly positive and agreeable. (RationalWiki has a good summary [1].)
Near the end of 2015 I joined a startup and was relocating from Victoria to SF. The startup was in a Haight Ashbury house converted into multiple units. So this made it extra convenient to sleep in the office until I found a place to rent. Also, my family didn’t plan to join me for a few months. There were a couple other non-local coworkers who regularly shared the space in the early days.
Dr Bronner’s Peppermint soap was in the shower. Not knowing any better, I did a good lather. When I started feeling a tingle in my critical region, I didn’t know what to do. Thankfully, rinsing off kept me from becoming uncomfortable.
This lead to some cautious conversations with the coworkers, and as we confirmed a similar experiences this contributed to a very different experience to bond over.
There is additional backstory, where the Peppermint was bought be accident to replace a previous blue bottle that had generously been left there. The purchaser of the replacement had been equally surprised by the effects.
Since then I’ve gotten to enjoy rotating to the peppermint or tea tree oil soap from time to time.
I think they did a fabulous job with the product label on their soap bottles. It looks like a super cramped newspaper / exam cheat sheet and is what caught my attention a few years ago at the grocery store amongst hundred of other soaps. I also love the peppermint smell and it lasts forever!
Every hippie on Dead or Phish lot (or in Humboldt county, etc) everywhere swears by this stuff lol. You can even use it to kill spider mites on your marijuana plants (true story.)
I've got a better tip for you. Only use soap in the shower, when you're actually dirty. Sweat washes off just fine with water only. Your skin will thank you.
I find this quite interesting, I'd never heard of this until a while ago (I'm in the EU) but apparently it seems really, really popular with American travelers and backpackers and even people who got in touch with it in the US.
I see the downvoted comment about mountain hiking, but I meant more the urban folks. Also while it's probably a small sample, there basically don't seem to be any alternatives if you look at a few subreddits on that topic :P
Originally he learned to make soap in Europe, so I wonder if there are any soap making artisans still around who learned the same techniques.
Dr. Bronner himself is a quintessentially American figure though. An immigrant fleeing Europe, he became a prophet of his own bizarre religious movement, and was persecuted by the authorities and fled West, where he became a wealthy California entrepreneur. All three of those are archetypal American stories.
David Bronner was my roommate my first semester of college. At least I think he was- he said he only had a room because he was required to pay for one - he was almost never there, preferred to crash on friends couches and I never got to know him at all. Missed opportunity, apparently.
Label is crazy ok ok but think your reading it will entertain while you brush teeth oh no not this Bronner use other bottle ok ok good stuff ok.. peppermint have good smell hands... Man the label jive drove me crazy.
I make my own bar soap, but I keep a bottle of Dr. Bronner's Peppermint around anyway. It's quite concentrated, so it can be used to clean around the house as well as a body soap.
I've loved their products for decades. Nothing beats their peppermint toothpaste. For taste, anyway. Dentists tell me that I need fluoride, so I alternate.
But damn, that's some odd theology on the packages. His "All-One-God-Faith". But see Chapman (2016) Dr. Bronner’s "Magic Soaps" Religion: A Tikkun Olam Response to the Holocaust, the Atom Bomb, and the Cold War.[0]
> Abstract: This essay explores the historical and cultural context in which the late Emanuel Bronner began marketing Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps, a natural brand known for its unusual labels that promote an "All-One-God-Faith" solution for saving "spaceship Earth." An amalgamation of Judaism and American pluralism, Dr. Bronner's plan for world peace was a response to the anxieties caused by the Holocaust, the advent of atomic weaponry, and the ongoing Cold War. Although Dr. Bronner was an escapee from an insane asylum and came to be regarded as a kook, it should be recognized that he conformed to the behaviour of a prophet or holy fool. His message corresponds with tikkun olam, the Jewish vision of "repairing the world." Dr. Bronner’s natural soaps and the accompanying call for global harmony served as a purification ritual for the American counterculture youth of the 1960s and 1970s.
The musings on the bottle are made from someone who’s really out there. Perhaps mentally ill. It’s expensive, I think $15 for a 32oz bottle. Lasted two weeks.
At first I was offput by the text on the bottles as well, but I've come to appreciate the uniqueness and it is mostly just about God and love. No more different than your typical Christian. Plus, they make really great soap.
I'm pretty sure you shouldn't be washing up with soap in mountain lakes. Biodegradable doesn't mean it can't harm something before degrading. I find a rinse to be more than sufficient for most of my trail needs. If I need soap for some kind of washing I take some water out of the source and wash elsewhere.
[+] [-] DonHopkins|6 years ago|reply
https://maps.org/about/board
>David Bronner is President of Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps. He is a grandson of company founder, Emanuel Bronner, and a fifth-generation soapmaker. Under David’s leadership, in 2003, Dr. Bronner’s was one of the first brands to certify their soaps, lotions and balms under the USDA National Organic Program. Today Dr. Bronner’s is coordinating certified Fair Trade projects for all major ingredients, including olive oil from the West Bank and Israel, coconut oil from Sri Lanka, and palm oil from Ghana. David pioneered the use of 100% post-consumer recycled PET bottles for the liquid soaps and a hemp/recycled paper blend to package the bars. David was the main coordinator of the Hemp Industries Association’s successful multi-year litigation against the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to protect sales of hemp foods and body care in the U.S. (2001-2004). He is an active supporter of both the Hemp Industries Association (HIA) and Vote Hemp, working to bring back hemp farming in the U.S. David was born in Los Angeles in 1973 and now lives in Encinitas, California with his wife Kris and daughter Maya. He enjoys coaching his daughter’s soccer team and dancing late into the night.
https://maps.org/news/bulletin/articles/420-bulletin-spring-...
>Why We’re Donating $5 Million to MAPS
>Written by David Bronner, CEO of Dr. Bronner’s, Board Member of MAPS
https://www.drbronner.com/media-center/executive-team/
>David Bronner is Cosmic Engagement Officer (CEO) of Dr. Bronner’s, the top-selling brand of natural soaps in North America and producer of a range of organic body care and food products. He is a grandson of company founder, Emanuel Bronner, and a fifth-generation soapmaker. Under David and his brother Michael’s leadership, the brand has grown from $4 million in 1998 to over $111 million in annual revenue in 2017.
The same great advice that applies to Dr. Bronner's Pure Castile Soap also applies to Pure Liquid LSD: DILUTE! DILUTE! DILUTE! ALL-ONE!
[+] [-] DaftDank|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] pmorici|6 years ago|reply
Love the product, don't feel like this article does their origin story justice.
Edit: looks like it isn't on Netflix streaming any more but I think it was called, "Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap Box" [0]
[0] https://dvd.netflix.com/Movie/Dr-Bronner-s-Magic-Soapbox/700...
[+] [-] lloydde|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rawrmaan|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] PorterDuff|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] 01100011|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] covercash|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] taneq|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] colanderman|6 years ago|reply
[1] https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Dr._Bronner%27s_Soap
[+] [-] lloydde|6 years ago|reply
Dr Bronner’s Peppermint soap was in the shower. Not knowing any better, I did a good lather. When I started feeling a tingle in my critical region, I didn’t know what to do. Thankfully, rinsing off kept me from becoming uncomfortable.
This lead to some cautious conversations with the coworkers, and as we confirmed a similar experiences this contributed to a very different experience to bond over.
There is additional backstory, where the Peppermint was bought be accident to replace a previous blue bottle that had generously been left there. The purchaser of the replacement had been equally surprised by the effects.
Since then I’ve gotten to enjoy rotating to the peppermint or tea tree oil soap from time to time.
[+] [-] bch|6 years ago|reply
“a breath mint for your balls.”[0]
[0] https://gizmodo.com/lessons-learned-from-a-year-living-in-a-...
[+] [-] bayareanative|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] meej|6 years ago|reply
Sounds like that might have been the baby unscented variety instead of the peppermint. Both have blue labels but the peppermint one is a darker shade.
[+] [-] busymom0|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] byproxy|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] DaftDank|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] wsdan|6 years ago|reply
As no-one wants their dishes to smell the same as their private parts.
[+] [-] KitDuncan|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dvtrn|6 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] wink|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] currymj|6 years ago|reply
Dr. Bronner himself is a quintessentially American figure though. An immigrant fleeing Europe, he became a prophet of his own bizarre religious movement, and was persecuted by the authorities and fled West, where he became a wealthy California entrepreneur. All three of those are archetypal American stories.
[+] [-] itsaidpens|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] currymj|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jrockway|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] citboin|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] bayareanative|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] andrewl|6 years ago|reply
https://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/904/why-the-weird-...
[+] [-] ggm|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] robgibbons|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] cowmix|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mirimir|6 years ago|reply
But damn, that's some odd theology on the packages. His "All-One-God-Faith". But see Chapman (2016) Dr. Bronner’s "Magic Soaps" Religion: A Tikkun Olam Response to the Holocaust, the Atom Bomb, and the Cold War.[0]
> Abstract: This essay explores the historical and cultural context in which the late Emanuel Bronner began marketing Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps, a natural brand known for its unusual labels that promote an "All-One-God-Faith" solution for saving "spaceship Earth." An amalgamation of Judaism and American pluralism, Dr. Bronner's plan for world peace was a response to the anxieties caused by the Holocaust, the advent of atomic weaponry, and the ongoing Cold War. Although Dr. Bronner was an escapee from an insane asylum and came to be regarded as a kook, it should be recognized that he conformed to the behaviour of a prophet or holy fool. His message corresponds with tikkun olam, the Jewish vision of "repairing the world." Dr. Bronner’s natural soaps and the accompanying call for global harmony served as a purification ritual for the American counterculture youth of the 1960s and 1970s.
0) https://sci-hub.tw/https://doi.org/10.3138/jrpc.25.2.287
[+] [-] xfitm3|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] prepend|6 years ago|reply
Were you diluting it? How did you use over two ounces of concentrated liquid soap every day? You must have been really fresh and tingly.
[+] [-] astura|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] techntoke|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] omosubi|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] c17r|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] entangledqubit|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] robgibbons|6 years ago|reply