KC gets a hand lotion test because we’re home to working hands

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Kansas City often gets picked as a test market because it’s typical in so many ways. But the people behind a new hand lotion, On the Job, say they chose this market because “Kansas City is home to one of America’s largest populations of working hands, with 25 percent of adults employed in blue collar jobs.”

The product is pitched by Wharton Innovative Products of New Jersey for “men who work with their hands — not to mention athletes, weekend warriors and do-it-yourselfers of all kinds.” Its hook is that it disinfects, protects and moisturizes all in one product.

The company doesn’t say how it came up with its 25 percent blue collar figure, but the percentage of area workers in these categories does total about 25 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics: construction and extraction; farming, forestry and fishing; production; transportation and material moving; installation, maintenance and repair; and building and grounds cleaning and maintenance. The area’s percentages in those categories, however, are in line with national averages, not above.

Regardless, the hand stuff is selling well, the company says. The product is available at Westlake Ace Hardware, Hen House, Orscheln and Sutherlands stores.

| Greg Hack, ghack@kcstar.com

Posted on Mon, Nov. 09, 2009 10:15 PM

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