- For other meanings of "STP" see STP.
STP is a brand name and trade name for the automotive additives and performance division of the Clorox Corporation.
Founded in 1953 in Saint Joseph, Missouri, the company’s name, STP, was derived from “Scientifically Treated Petroleum”. The company entered into the marketplace with one product, STP Oil Treatment.
In 1961 the company was acquired by the Studebaker-Packard Corporation. Studebaker briefly tied STP into its advertising as an acronym for “Studebaker Tested Products”. However Studebaker-Packard CEO Sherwood Egbert , felt that STP could one day out-pace its parent company and recruited Andy Granatelli as the CEO of STP to help raise the product’s image. At the same time, Granatelli also became the public face of STP, often times wearing a white suit emblazoned with the red oval trade-marked “STP” logo to race events, passing out thousands of all weather STP stickers.
While Studebaker went out of the car business in 1966 to become a closed investment company, STP sales continued to climb to the point where it was spun-off of Studebaker-Worthington Corporation’s balance sheet and into a publicly traded company in 1969.
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