diamond shaped headquarters in oakland type public traded as nyse clx s & p 500 component industry consumer household products healthcare food founded oakland california u.s. may 3 1913 ; 103 years ago 1913 05 03 founders archibald taft edward hughes charles husband rufus myers william hussey headquarters clorox building oakland california u.s. area served worldwide key people benno dorer ceo 1 2 george harad independent chair of the board nick vlahos exec . vice president 3 dawn willoughby exec . vice president 3 products cleaning food storage trash bags food cat litter charcoal personal care healthcare water filtration revenue us 5.7 billion 4 2015 operating income us 1.0 billion 4 2015 net income us 606 million 4 2015 total assets us 4.2 billion 4 2015 total equity us 118 million 4 2015 number of employees 7 700 5 website thecloroxcompany.com the clorox company based in oakland california is an american worldwide manufacturer and marketer of consumer and professional products 6 with approximately 7 700 employees worldwide as of june 30 2015 . 5 the company s fiscal year 2015 net sales were 5.7 billion 4 which ranked the company at 469 on fortune s 2015 fortune 500 list . 7 clorox products are sold primarily through mass merchandisers retail outlets e commerce channels distributors and medical supply providers . 8 clorox brands include its namesake bleach and cleaning products as well as brita burt s bees formula 409 glad hidden valley kitchen bouquet kc masterpiece soy vay kingsford liquid plumr mistolin pine sol poett tilex s.o.s. and fresh step scoop away and ever clean cat litters . 9 in 2008 the clorox company became the first major consumer packaged goods company to develop and nationally launch a green cleaning line green works into the mainstream cleaning aisle . 10 in 2011 the clorox company integrated corporate social responsibility csr reporting with financial reporting . the company s annual report for the fiscal year ending in june 2011 shared data on financial performance as well as advances in environmental social and governance performance . 11 contents 1 history 1.1 1913 1927 1.2 1928 1960s 1.3 1970s 1990s 1.4 2000s present 2 brands 3 corporate responsibility 4 marketing 4.1 advertising awards 4.2 allegations of sexist marketing 4.3 reactions to product claims 5 see also 6 references 7 external links history edit 1913 1927 edit the product and the company date back to may 3 1913 when five entrepreneurs archibald taft a banker ; edward hughes a purveyor of wood and coal ; charles husband a bookkeeper ; rufus myers a lawyer ; and william hussey a miner invested 100 each to set up the first commercial scale liquid bleach factory in the united states on the east side of san francisco bay . 12 the firm was first called the electro alkaline company . 12 the name of its original bleach product clorox was coined as a portmanteau of chlorine and sodium hydroxide the two main ingredients . the original clorox packaging featured a diamond shaped logo and the diamond shape has persisted in one form or another in clorox branding to the present . bottle of clorox bleach from a 1922 newspaper ad . the public however didn t know very much about liquid bleach when clorox bleach debuted . although the electro alkaline company started slowly and was about to collapse quickly it would not be until 1916 when investor william murray took over the company as general manager . his wife annie murray prompted the creation of a less concentrated liquid bleach for home use . she built customer demand by giving away 15 ounce sample bottles at the family s grocery store in downtown oakland . 13 not long after word began to spread and in 1917 the electro alkaline company began shipping clorox bleach to the east coast via the panama canal . 1928 1960s edit in 1928 the company went public on the san francisco stock exchange and changed its name to the clorox chemical company . butch an animated clorox liquid bleach bottle was used in advertising and became well known even surviving the 1941 transition from rubber stoppered bottles to ones with screw off caps . 14 the clorox chemical company was strong enough to survive the great depression throughout the 1930s achieving national distribution of clorox bleach in the process but during world war ii even though clorox bleach proved useful as a first aid product for american armed forces one of the bleach s ingredients was being rationed as under u.s. government orders chlorine gas shortages forced many bleach manufacturers to reduce the concentration of sodium hypochlorite in their products thus diluting them with water . clorox however declined and elected to sell fewer units of a full strength product establishing a reputation for quality . 14 in 1957 clorox was purchased by procter & gamble which renamed its new subsidiary the clorox company . almost immediately a rival company objected to the purchase and it was challenged by the federal trade commission which feared it would stifle competition in the household products market . the ftc won in 1967 after a 10 year battle in which the u.s. supreme court ruled that p & g must divest the clorox company and on january 1 1969 clorox became independent again . 1970s 1990s edit throughout the 1970s and 1980s clorox pursued an aggressive expansion program in which it attempted to establish itself as a major diversified consumer products conglomerate like p & g. in 1970 clorox introduced clorox 2 all fabric bleach . later on in that period it acquired a number of brands that remain a part of their portfolio today including formula 409 liquid plumr kingsford charcoal and developed cleaning products such as tilex instant mildew remover . 15 it even acquired a ranch dressing that was still new to the market which was known as hidden valley . in 1988 clorox struck a licensing and distribution agreement that brought brita water filters to the u.s. ; the company acquired sole control of the brand in 1995 when it acquired brita international holdings . 15 in 1990 clorox purchased pine sol . 15 in 1999 clorox acquired first brands the former consumer products division of union carbide in the largest transaction in its history . such brands as glad handi wipes which first brands acquired from colgate palmolive several months before the clorox acquisition and stp became part of the clorox portfolio . the first brands acquisition doubled the size of the company and helped it land on the fortune 500 for the first time the following year . 15 2000s present edit during the next decade the company focused on consumer megatrends that included sustainability health and wellness multicultural and affordability value . 16 in 2002 clorox entered into a joint venture with procter & gamble to create food and trash bags food wraps and containers under the names glad gladware and related trademarks . 17 as part of this agreement clorox sold a 10 % stake in the glad products to p & g which increased to 20 % in 2005 . 18 in 2007 the company acquired burt s bees . 19 the next year it became the first u.s. marketer to develop and nationally launch a natural cleaning line green works into the mainstream cleaning aisle . 10 in 2010 clorox shed businesses that were no longer a good strategic fit for the company announcing that it was selling the armor all and stp brands to avista capital partners . 20 in 2011 clorox acquired the applicare and healthlink brands bolstering its presence in the healthcare industry . 21 with approximately 7 700 employees worldwide as of june 30 2015 5 yearly revenue for the period ending june 30 2015 equaled 5.655 billion 4 which ranked the company at 469 on the fortune 500 . 7 brands edit the stylized clorox logo used on clorox bleach and other clorox consumer products . clorox products the clorox company currently owns a number of well known household and professional brands across a wide variety of products among them brita water filtration systems 9 22 burt s bees natural cosmetics and personal care products 9 fresh step scoop away and ever clean cat litters 9 formula 409 hard surface cleaners 9 glad storage bags trash bags press n seal gladware containers joint venture with p & g as 20 % minority shareholder 9 hidden valley dressings sandwich spreads and condiments dips and dressing mixes croutons and salad toppins side dishes and appetizers 9 green works natural cleaners 9 kitchen bouquet kc masterpiece and soy vay sauces 9 kingsford charcoal 9 lestoil heavyduty laundry multipurpose cleaner 9 liquid plumr drain cleaner 9 pine sol tilex and s.o.s cleaning products 9 for historical reasons and in certain markets the company s bleach products are sold under regional brands . in 2006 clorox acquired the javex line of bleach products in canada and similar product lines in parts of latin and south america from colgate palmolive . 23 clorox s net sales 2013 2015 dollars in millions fy 2015 fy 2014 fy 2013 us dollars 5 655 4 5 514 6 5 533 6 sometimes confused with chlorine bleach household bleach has a completely different chemistry . household bleach is a chemically combined oxidizing agent that is used to remove or lighten color . clorox bleach is derived from sodium chloride common table salt . clorox produces household bleach by bubbling chlorine into a solution of water and sodium hydroxide . during this process the chlorine is converted to a sodium hypochlorite solution . 24 the ingredients in clorox bleach are water sodium hypochlorite used to whiten and kill bacteria sodium chloride sodium carbonate removes alcohol and grease stains sodium chlorate sodium hydroxide removes soils that are fatty oily or acidic and sodium polyacrylate . 25 corporate responsibility edit in 2011 the clorox company became an early adopter of a corporate trend to integrate corporate social responsibility csr reporting with financial reporting . better source needed the company s annual report for the fiscal year ending in june 2011 shared data on financial performance as well as advances in environmental social and governance performance . 11 in 2015 the company became a signatory of the united nations global compact a large corporate responsibility initiative . 26 marketing edit advertising awards edit in 2012 clorox bleachable moments a national television ad campaign targeted to young adults garnered silver and bronze clio awards for ddb san francisco the agency that produced the ads . 27 another ad produced by ddb in 2012 a suggestive liquid plumr spot titled double impact was named advertising age s viral video of the year in the 60 spot category . 28 allegations of sexist marketing edit during 2006 and 2007 a clorox commercial that aired nationally showed several generations of women doing laundry . the commercial included the words your mother your grandmother her mother they all did the laundry maybe even a man or two . feminists criticized the commercial for insinuating that doing laundry is a job for women only . 29 30 the clorox slogan mama s got the magic of clorox was criticized on similar grounds . 31 the slogan first appeared in a clorox commercial in 1986 . 32 a modified version of the commercial ran from 2002 to 2004 . 33 in 2009 clorox received complaints of sexism for an advertisement that featured a man s white lipstick stained dress shirt with the caption clorox . getting ad guys out of hot water for generations . 34 the ad and others were produced expressly for the television program mad men capitalizing on the show s unique vintage style to create a link between classic and modern consumer behaviors . 35 reactions to product claims edit in 2008 the sierra club endorsed the clorox green works line . sierra club executive director