Taking care with personal care

I read Mary Lewis’ article “The personal touch” (MW September 22) on personal care products, the targeting, marketing and branding of which is far more complex than she depicts, and would like to set the record straight on a number of points.

Yes, Durex is a valued client of The Pea Green Boat and we have worked with LRC regularly for a number of years, on both their packaging design and corporate identity work.

We were not, however, responsible for all of the packaging design as she states but for only two of the packs featured in the article, both of which are highly successful condom brands, Gossamer and Fetherlite.

At the risk of falling into the same trap as Lewis, I shall not attempt to identify the company that designed Arouser. However, it was designed a long time ago – probably in the Seventies – and still remains a leading vending brand.

I am also extremely surprised that she has credited Elite and Extra Safe to our company because both were, in fact, designed by John Brimacombe Design – a design consultancy I believe Lewis worked for before starting her own company.

However, The Pea Green Boat was responsible for the redesign of both Durex Ultra Strong and Durex Jeans, both of which are important recent developments in the condom market. Strangely, neither of these were featured in her article. Why?

If Lewis is going to criticise packaging design and name companies so confidently, I suggest she does her homework a better first, both on the marketplace, recent developments and the design companies responsible for the work. It is extremely unprofessional and unethical not to do so.

Mike Leuty

Creative director

The Pea Green Boat