American company WD-40 has reached a valuation of over $3 billion — thanks to a simple lubricating spray that isn't even protected by a patent.
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The friendly couple in the photo are inside a secure vault in Chicago.
According to the narrative, they're holding the brown notebook that contains, in handwriting, the company's most closely guarded secret — the exact formula of the famous WD-40 lubricant and rust-removal spray.
The chemical formula was originally developed more than 70 years ago by a chemist in California, with the primary goal of protecting U.S. Army Atlas missiles from corrosion.
The spray proved so effective that it became a commercial product, and a company was founded to manufacture and distribute it around the world — a company that continues to do so to this day.
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The company carefully cultivates the story of its secret formula, which lends the product an aura of uniqueness that goes a long way in driving sales.
According to the company, the formula was never patented in order to avoid disclosing it once the patent expired.
The company's CEO was only shown the notebook in which it is recorded after 30 years with the company, and the formula's ingredients are manufactured at separate facilities so that no single production team is ever exposed to the full process.
The real story is different.
The chemical compound can be identified fairly easily using standard laboratory analytical instruments.
The U.S. government safety agency has also published the spray's list of ingredients, and similar copies that deliver excellent results can be found on the market.
None of this has put a dent in sales, as customers have been conditioned to automatically reach for this particular brand on supermarket shelves — with its iconic canister design.
The company has registered a trademark on the spray's name, which is an essential part of its successful branding.
The spray also has a distinctive scent associated with the brand, but protecting a scent as a registered trademark is a process subject to regulatory requirements that are nearly impossible to meet — so there is no legal protection against replicating the smell.
If you've ever wondered about the decidedly un-glamorous name, it's simply short for Water Displacement – 40th Attempt. Before this successful compound, 39 other variations were tested and failed, and it was the 40th attempt that became the popular product.
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👋 Hi, I'm Shlomo Strauss — follow me for more interesting content on science and technology.