Who owns Impulse?
Impulse is owned by Unilever (the United Kingdom, LSE: ULVR).[1]
Evidence: Unilever PLC Annual Report on Form 20-F for 2025, SEC EDGAR, 12 March 2026. Verified from filings; last checked .
Key facts
- Current owner
- Unilever PLC verified
- Owner HQ
- 🇬🇧 United Kingdom, London
- Origin
- 🇿🇦 South Africa
- Founded
- 1972
- Category
- Personal care & beauty › Cosmetics & fragrance › Fragrance
- Parent ticker
- LSE: ULVR NYSE: UL AEX: UNA
- Last verified
- · 1 sources
About Impulse
Impulse is a body spray brand launched in South Africa in 1972 and rolled out internationally by Unilever, sold as a fragrance rather than a deodorant and advertised for decades with a campaign in which a stranger is moved to buy the wearer flowers. It remains strongest in the United Kingdom and southern Africa.
Ownership timeline of Impulse
Where Impulse sits in Unilever
Controlling ownership as of . Brands grouped under the entity that owns them; large groups are collapsed.
- Axe
- Bango
- Brut
- Cif
- Clear
- Close-Up
- Colman's
- Comfort
- Degree
- Dermalogica
- Domestos
- Dove
- Dove Men+Care
- Grüns (80%)
- Hellmann's
- Horlicks
- Hourglass Cosmetics
- Impulse
- Kate Somerville
- Knorr
- Lifebuoy
- Liquid I.V.
- Living Proof
- Lux
- Lynx
- Maizena
- Marmite
- Murad
- Nexxus
- Nutrafol
- OMO
- Paula's Choice
- Pepsodent
- Persil
- Pond's
- Pot Noodle
- Radox
- Rexona
- Royco
- SheaMoisture
- Signal
- Simple
- St. Ives
- Suave (outside the United States and Canada)
- Sunlight
- Sunsilk
- Sure
- Tatcha
- The Vegetarian Butcher
- TRESemmé
- Vaseline
- VO5
- Zendium
Open the full Unilever ownership tree →
See the full Unilever brand portfolio (53) →
Other brands owned by Unilever
Unilever controls 53 brands on Brandtree, 34 of them in personal care & beauty.
Also in personal care & beauty
- Axe (1983)
- Brut (1964)
- Clear (1974)
- Close-Up (1967)
- Degree (1990)
- Dermalogica (1986)
- Dove (1957)
- Dove Men+Care (2010)
- Hourglass Cosmetics (2004)
- Kate Somerville (2004)
- Lifebuoy (1894)
- Living Proof (2005)
- Lux (1899)
- Lynx (1985)
- Murad (1989)
- Nexxus (1979)
- Paula's Choice (1995)
- Pepsodent (1915)
Founded in the 1970s
- Pot Noodle (1977)
Other brands in fragrance, and who owns them
The 20 brands in fragrance on Brandtree belong to 10 owners. The largest is Puig, with 5; Unilever has 2.
| Brand | Owner | Owner based in |
|---|---|---|
| Byredo | Puig | 🇪🇸 Spain |
| AERIN | Estée Lauder | 🇺🇸 United States |
| O Boticário | Grupo Boticário | 🇧🇷 Brazil |
| Eskulin | Kino Indonesia | 🇮🇩 Indonesia |
| Creed | L'Oréal | 🇫🇷 France |
| Jafra | Betterware (BeFra) | 🇲🇽 Mexico |
| Chanel No. 5 | Chanel | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom |
| Twelve Plus | Osotspa | 🇹🇭 Thailand |
About the owner: Unilever
Unilever is a publicly listed company headquartered in London, United Kingdom, founded in 1929. Brandtree records 53 brands under its control, and it is listed as LSE: ULVR, NYSE: UL and AEX: UNA.
Unilever is a British consumer goods company formed in 1929 by the merger of Dutch margarine producer Margarine Unie and British soap maker Lever Brothers. It reports through four business groups: Beauty & Wellbeing, Personal Care, Home Care and Foods. Its ice cream business was demerged as The Magnum Ice Cream Company in December 2025.
🇿🇦 Impulse and other South African brands
Brandtree records a controlling owner for 175 brands that began in South Africa. 12 of them (7%) are now controlled by a company headquartered in another country, Impulse among them.
Frequently asked questions
Who is the parent company of Impulse?
The parent company of Impulse is Unilever, a publicly listed company headquartered in the United Kingdom.
Is Impulse South African or British?
Impulse originated in South Africa in 1972, but it is owned today by Unilever, which is headquartered in the United Kingdom. So Impulse is a South African-origin brand under British ownership.
Is Impulse still owned by Unilever?
Yes. As of 16 September 2026, Impulse is still owned by Unilever. The ownership record was last checked against primary sources on that date.
Sources (1) & corrections
Last verified . Every ownership fact above is backed by one of these primary documents. Numbers in brackets in the text refer to this list.
- [1] Unilever PLC Annual Report on Form 20-F for 2025 — SEC EDGAR, SEC Form 20-F, published 12 March 2026; retrieved 16 September 2026.
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