Hai Karate aftershave to make a comeback

Seventies macho aftershave brand Hai Karate – famous for its ads starring a voluptuous woman and karate-chopping man – is being relaunched to cash in on the wave of nostalgia for an era that taste sidestepped.

The brand, originally owned by Unicliffe, was withdrawn a number of years ago but has been revived by cosmetics company Miners International.

A spokeswoman for Miners says: “We thought ‘we haven’t seen Hai Karate for years’ and decided to buy it. It was very popular in the Seventies as was its TV campaign. There is enough residual memory about the brand to make it popular again.”

The brand has been updated with new packaging and a new fragrance. The company says it may run an ad campaign “which will star a Nineties version of the woman and the karate imagery”.

Miners International was set up two years ago when managing director Stewart Chambers bought the Miners cosmetics brand from Procter & Gamble. Miners will also be relaunching Censored aftershave and Kiku and Xanadu for women.