Lucky Fresh Toothpaste: You must be fresh all day!

Koreans have made a social habit out of brushing teeth following lunch. I have chewed Trident Brand Chewing Gum (Original Flavor) for years following meals. It never seemed practical to bring a toothbrush to work and all that. However, in Korea, they make it work.

I was "gifted" with a toothbrush and toothpaste along with my boxes of facial tissue about a month ago. There isn't anything special about the toothbrush, but the toothpaste--well, let me explain.

I noticed that the company that made the toothpaste, is LG. LG is one of these huge mega-conglomerates along the lines with Daewoo, Samsung, and Hyundai. They have their hands in everything. In my home, my windows, doors, refrigerator, and air conditioner all bear the LG logo. I wasn't sure how I felt brushing my teeth with a product made by the same company that made my front door. However, I gave it a shot.

The name "Lucky Fresh Enamel Toothpaste" only tells part of the story. This toothpaste not only makes your mouth fresh, it keeps it fresh. I brush my teeth with this stuff around noon or so, and it still ruins my dinner with the minty film that still covers the inside of my mouth.

These tricky people at LG perhaps went about designing their toothpaste with the same paradigm they used to design their other products: keep it simple. What's the simplest way to keep a mouth fresh? Well, make the toothpaste override any taste so the person doesn't want to eat anything that might mess with the mouth's "freshness." Hah, tricky. This toothpaste began to invoke a Pavlovian response where I didn't want to eat for at least six hours after brushing with this stuff.

I know that toothpaste may ruin the taste of orange juice right after brushing, but should it ruin the taste of a meal six hours later? These people at LG don't have a very friendly toothpaste on their hand, but maybe they can market it as a weight-loss product. Have the people brush with this three times daily, and they won't want to eat anything.

Lucky Fresh Toothpaste: I'd rather be unfresh thank you.