Bum Butter has had a lot of exposure this autumn with Amanda Holden in the papers, on the telly and on the radio. And then Paddy McGuiness talking about Bum Butter on his radio show and socials. Wow… Bum Butter is suddenly a household brand. Bloody brilliant.
But how did it happen?
Well… its sort of didn’t happen. Let me explain.
I spoke to Amanda Holden’s radio producer who had ordered some Bum Butter for her and I asked him “How did you come across Bum Butter”. He told me he was on a celebrity charity bike ride, complaining about his bum, and Mark Cavandish, the Tour De France legend told him to get some Bum Butter… so he ordered some from bumbutter.co.uk.
Paddy McGuiness was told by Sir Chris Hoy, the track cycling legend, that he needed some Bum Butter for his charity bike ride. So, Sir Chris sent Paddy some chamois cream. It certainly was not Bum Butter, I think it may have been from Mucoff. But paddy and Sir Chris were calling it Bum Butter.
Sir Chris Hoy and Paddy McGuinness, Children in Need 2024 (BBC)
I am pretty sure I don’t sponsor Mark Cavendish. It’s the sort of thing you would notice in a small business. “What’s this £100,000 invoice for?”. Yeah, I would notice that… and go bust. But Mark recommended “Bum Butter”.
Bum Butter is a registered and protected trademark, registered with the Intellectual Property Office. You do this so no one else can use the term “Bum Butter” within a few specific trade categories.
Done a Hoover.
So, what has happened is… people are using the generic term of “Bum Butter” to describe any anti chafing chamois creams. And that’s OK with me.
You know when you might say “Hey, I’m going to do the Hoovering”. But that is not a Hoover brand vacuum cleaner, so you are really vacuuming, or Dyson’ing, or Eletrolux’ing.
Bum Butter appears to now be the general term used for chamois cream.
How do I feel about this?
I’m disappointed Paddy didn’t use the real Bum Butter, but while he was talking about “Bum Butter” on instagram and on BBC radio… I am not complaining. It’s all damned good for much needed sales in a tiny business.
Where did “Bum Butter” come from?
I remember the moment when the brand name was chosen. Kevin (the Pirate) popped into the Bikemonger shop to ask how I got on with the sample he and Sharan had made for me to try out. I said, “it’s great, make me 100 tubs”. He then asked what I was going to call it?
“Well, what does it do?
Makes your bottom… happy?
What is it?
It’s a Butter for your bum…. I know…
IT’S BUM BUTTER.
NO IT'S…. HAPPY BOTTOM BUM BUTTER.”
Kevin Said, you can’t call it that. We laughed. His laugh was more pirate'y than mine.
Kevin The Pirate, New Years Eve at The Square & Compass.
And you know what… if I called the product something sensible or technical such as “Turbo Pro Chamois 2000 XTR”… we would probably not be talking about it / reading about it now.
