The Redcoats Are Coming

This summer, the nation that brought you Beatlemania is serving up another batch of hype and hysteria in the United States.

British drugstore giant Boots broke all sales records in the U.K. when it unveiled an anti-aging "miracle serum" called No7 two years ago, and now the chain is looking to spread the success to America.

Boots unsealed a huge batch of "No7 Restore and Renew" at 8 AM on Wednesday morning at a CVS store in midtown Manhattan. While the event didn't draw an iPhone-sized storefront line, Americans eager to try the sell-out serum braved rain and arrived as early as 6:15 A.M. to be sure to snag a tube.

No7's claim to fame is a low-price point ($21.99 in the U.S.), combined with glowing endorsements from independent scientists. The company estimates that one in three women in the U.K. own the product.

But the Boots product launch is just a warm-up to a week jam-packed with product hype, courtesy of the Brits.

English soccer star David Beckham, who was acquired by the Los Angeles Galaxy as much for promotional reasons as athletic ones, will play in his first Major League Soccer game on July 21.

After months of media frenzy, the Galaxy is counting on the American fascination with their new British import to create a new wave of enthusiasm for professional soccer in the U.S. Perhaps he will compensate for the backlash his wife is generating with her new reality television show.

If one event could outshine Beckham's big States-side debut on Saturday, it's another sensational U.K. export: the last Harry Potter book will finally hit shelves at midnight on the same day.

J.K. Rowling's children's series has been big business for U.S. booksellers, and the seventh and final installment has brought with it an unprecedented level of enthusiasm. Potter-mania has been steadily escalating over the past several months, as kids of all ages have gone to great lengths to sneak a peak at how the story will end.

So Boots has good reason to be optimistic about hawking its products in the States. CVS and Target stores around the country will begin stocking No7 within the next couple weeks, and the British drugstore brand can only hope that it will cause a Beckham-sized stir.

by Liz Gunnison

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