FAQ About Soap Operas
How did soap operas get their name?
Soap operas got their name from the early days of radio broadcasting when the genre first emerged. In the 1930s and 1940s, many soap manufacturers sponsored these daytime dramas as a way to promote their soap products to the predominantly female audience. Soap companies, such as Procter & Gamble and Colgate-Palmolive, would often be the sponsors of these radio dramas.
The soap companies would advertise their products during the shows, targeting the homemakers and housewives who were the primary consumers of household cleaning products, including soaps. As a result, the term "soap opera" was coined to describe these serial dramas due to their association with soap advertisements.
The name stuck and continued to be used when soap operas transitioned from radio to television. Even though the direct sponsorship by soap manufacturers has become less prominent in recent years, the term "soap opera" has remained as the common descriptor for this particular genre of serialized dramas.
