PROCTER & GAMBLE TARTAR CONTROL CREST WITH BAKING SODA TO DEBUT

PROCTER & GAMBLE TARTAR CONTROL CREST WITH BAKING SODA TO DEBUT in September, the company said. The dentifrice, which contains the same amount of sodium fluoride as other Crest products, will be offered in both a mint paste and a mint gel. Advertising for Tartar Control Crest with Baking Soda will be handled by D'Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles, New York. Suggested retail pricing for the new item will be in line with other Crest products, in the $ 2 range, P&G said. Tartar Control Crest with Baking Soda is packaged in a silver box with green accents and a yellow flag stating "New with baking soda." Tartar Control Crest with Baking Soda will be offered in 4.6 oz., 6.4 oz. and 8.2 oz. tubes as well as a .85 oz. trial size. The launch marks an expansion of P&G's presence in the baking soda dentifrice market and follows the nationwide introduction last spring of the company's first entry, Crest with Baking Soda. Tartar Control Crest with Baking Soda will compete with Church & Dwight's Arm & Hammer Dental Care toothpaste and baking soda gel, both of which are offered in tartar control formulas. In the second quarter of 1993, the size of the baking soda dentifrice category in food and drug stores combined grew 48.3% over the same period in 1992 to $ 66.6 mil., according to recent data compiled by Information Resources, Inc. subsidiary Towne- Oller. The category held a 23% share of the total dentifrice market, which was $ 289.4 mil. for the second quarter of 1993. Baking soda dentifrices captured only a 15.7% share of the total market in the second quarter of 1992. Recent introductions into the baking soda dentifrice category include Dep's Topol Plus Whitening Toothpaste with Baking Soda, which debuted in June, and Carter-Wallace's Pearl Drops Baking Soda Whitening Toothpaste, which was launched in January.