[spiek]

Well, they smelled like something (the article references men thinking that their smell was "manly" - I admit I still secretly think that), it's just that whatever they smelled like didn't have a negative connotation. Marketing convinced them that it was a bad thing and that they needed to fix it.

Anecdotally, deodorant was a rite of passage for me as a teenage boy. As an adult with an office job, I find a lot of the time I don't need it (just like it turns out to be not a great idea to wash my hair every day). Additionally, I feel increasingly leery about rubbing aluminum under my arms every day. Do I smell? I don't think so. Am I headed for an office intervention? God I hope not.

[fsck--off]

> Additionally, I feel increasingly leery about rubbing aluminum under my arms every day.

Then don't use antiperspirants. Regular deodorants don't have aluminum zirconium in them, and in the U.S (I'm not sure about non-U.S regulations) deodorants that do have aluminum in them must declare it as an "active ingredient".

http://www.fda.gov/Cosmetics/CosmeticLabelingLabelClaims/Cos...

[rayiner]

It's possible that my gag reflex to a strong whiff of body odor is entirely a creation of marketing. Or, maybe modern technology frees us from some of the baser indignities of life, and marketing offers a way to inform people that there is a better way.

[apalmer]

If you grew up without deodorant being available, you probably would not have a gag reflex to strong body odor. Now there are always exceptions, some people have excessive body odor, and probably anyone who hasnt bathed in a couple weeks would be smelly... but pretty sure if you were used to it then the smell of the average human who took a bath within the last 24 hours but has natural body odor probably would NOT (edit) cause gagging...