U.S.-based Kraft Foods hired young people to rap about TUC crackers and hand out samples on Moscow streets.
Soviet women washed dishes with soda and salt for decades, while men never heard of deodorant and teens scrubbed their pimples with soap and water.
Not anymore.
Western consumer goods companies have flooded what remains in many aspects a virgin market, spending tens of millions of dollars to research consumer habits and conduct increasingly elaborate marketing campaigns aimed at selling products that many Russians never imagined needing.