Clean beauty company Soapbox unveiled the world's biggest bottle of soap in New York City's Times Square on July 15, marking the launch of a multi-city tour aimed at raising awareness for the importance of hand hygiene.
The stops included a July 20 visit to Chicago, as the company (and the giant bottle) stopped at the Walgreens at 5158 N. Lincoln Ave. There were a photo booth and giveaways, and people could help assemble hygiene kits for children in the foster-care system.
Soapbox, which operates on a buy-one-give-one modelevery product sold donates a bar of soap to someone in needwill donate pallets of soap and personal hygiene kits to local charities at every stop, including 144,000 bars of soap and 3,900 hygiene kits to Comfort Cases, an organization dedicated to providing hope and dignity to youth in foster care. During the tour, Soapbox will attempt to earn a world record for the most hygiene products donated within a week.
"The COVID pandemic has helped highlight the importance of handwashing, but as mask mandates go away, we can't let our guard down," said Soapbox co-founder/CEO David Simnick in a statement. "People around the world get sick and die every day because they can't properly wash their hands due to lack of access to soap and water.
"In the U.S., food stamps don't cover personal hygiene products like soap. We hope this tour brings attention to that important issue as well."
The 21-foot tall, 8.5-foot diameter, 2,500-pound metal and fiberglass bottle will now travel to such cities as Dallas (July 24); Virginia Beach, Virginia (July 31); and Philadelphia (Aug. 3).