Ingenuity - New Orleans City Business

Boudreaux’s Butt PasteQuirky name helps diaper rash remedy get national exposureIt’s not so bad being the butt of everyone’sjokes, said George Boudreaux, available in Boudreaux’s drugstore. InBy 1978, the packaged version wasespecially if you’re laughing all the way to 1994, Boudreaux and his wife beganthe bank. With 2004 projected earnings promoting the product at trade shows.of $4 million, Boudreaux’s Butt Paste has Thanks in large part to its name,capitalized on its unique, southern Boudreaux’s Butt Paste sales grew.Louisiana product name and entered the “But the proof, as we say, is in thenational spotlight.paste,” Boudreaux said. The balm is a“We wouldn’t be talking here if it was mixture of zinc oxide, castor oil, mineraloil, boric acid and Peruvian bal-called George’s diaper rash cream,”Boudreaux said.sam, which stimulates capillary activityA native of southand promotes healing. ItLouisiana, Boudreauxwas accustomed to beingthe butt of countlessCajun jokes. It’s only fittingthat he should turnthe joke on himself andcapitalize on skyrocketingname recognitionand sales.In the 1970s,Boudreaux had alreadygained a reputation among mothersacross the North Shore for the concoctionhe prepared in his Covington pharmacythat soothed babies’ bottoms.When a local physician sent a patient tothe pharmacist for “some of his buttpaste,” the name stuck.Name: Boudreaux’s Butt PasteLocation: CovingtonCEO: George BoudreauxProduct: A soothing ointmentinvented inBoudreaux’s pharmacy fordiaper rash plus a variety ofother irritations.is clinically approved asa diaper rash remedyand skin protectant andhelps a variety of skindisorders, from acne toshingles.In the late 1990s, Wal-Mart officials agreed tocarry Boudreaux’s ButtPaste, gradually increasingthe small company’srevenues until they approached the $2million mark last year. At an averageprice of $1.84 to $3.26 per tube, that’s alot of Butt Paste.Boudreaux’s product has been mentionedon The Tonight Show andESPN. In February, Oprah Winfrey fea-Founder George Boudreaux created the formula for his Butt Paste in his Covington pharmacy.tured Butt Paste on her show, sparking manufacturing the product.unprecedented demand. “We had Boudreaux increased production for70,000 hits on our Web site in a 24-hour period,” Boudreaux said.In addition to the Wal-Mart deal,Boudreaux has secured product positioning16 hours a day for almost sevenmonths in an effort to meet thedemand. “We bought a new machinethat will do about 100 tubes ain Target stores nationwide, minute,” Boudreaux said. “ThatWalgreen’s and California-based FredMeyers grocery stores.means we will be about to do about48,000 tubes a day.”In 2002, New Orleans-based Dr. G.H. Tichenor Antiseptic Co. began— By Angelle Bergeron2004 Innovator of the Year 9A