Ever wondered why they're called 'soapies'?

Today's soapies, or soap opera's (as they're officially known), may seem to be thick on the ground and thin on plot lines, but do have any idea how they actually came to be, and why they're referred to as soapies?

To chart their beginnings, one would have to look back as far as the 1930's. Back then, radio was considered as one of the primary marketing channels, and advertisers would use it to push their products. A number of cleaning material companies, looking for a way to tap into the lives of their target market (women, who were mainly stay-at-home wives back then), decided to air serials with fictional characters. Each serial 'episode' would follow on from the previous one, and was intended to be a companion to the women of the day while they were doing their household chores. These serials' plot lines were fantastical, with a different, outrageous drama happening almost every day to the characters. Making the day-to-day happenings of the characters so far-fetched was intended to placate the listener (the woman), and make her feel as if her relatively monotonous life was not such a bad one to have. Wouldn't you rather clean the house and do the laundry, knowing that you'll please your husband, than have him lose interest and sleep around with your sister/brother/mother/neighbour/boss/dog-walker?

As time progressed, these serials gained in popularity and became an identification point for the women of the day. In due course, they moved over onto television, and haven't looked back. Today, there are hundreds of soapies broadcast around the world, and many have evolved into prime-time television. The underlying formula remains unchanged, though: Have fictional characters, not too unlike your target market (so that they can identify with them), who lead impossibly dramatic and unsettled lives. Build them into a plot line which continually builds on what has gone before, and keep the series going in perpetuity. A cash cow if there ever was one.

But still you ask: Why 'soapies'? Well, back in the 30's, the advertisers bank-rolling the production of the series were all cleaning companies, who produced laundry soaps, bath soaps, cleaning soaps, etc. Eventually, the series took on the identity of the adverts being played, and they became known as the 'soap operas', which was then colloquialised into the word 'soapies'. Just another example of marketing having the most profound effects on the way we live today...