George Boudreaux just might be the number one LSU fan in the world, yet he's still the butt of jokes about his famous product. He's a larger-than-life fun guy who loves to talk about LSU, especially when it involves that famous product. I had a great time with him recently discussing his two favorite topics.

"Joe Dean-then athletic director- was introducing Coach Nick Saban to the New Orleans media at a big luncheon right after LSU's baseball team won the 2000 College World Series when he pointed me out and said, ‘Can you imagine a guy like George here making a living selling a product by the name of Boudreaux's Butt Paste?'''

George sat up a little taller and declared how he butted in-in front of all the media big shots. "I told him, ‘Joe let me tell you something. If our shortstop Ryan Theriot wouldn't have had his Butt Paste on he never would have scored from second and you wouldn't have that national championship, so don't you go talking about my Butt Paste. I was sitting by third base when he came around and there was no friction whatsoever; he was just digging for home!' And then I thought the whole room was gonna go nuts, you know?" George laughed uproariously.

LSU baseball and football players and coaches aren't the only famous fans-or should I say fannies?-of George Boudreaux's wondrous ointment. L.A. Lakers center Shaquille O'Neal uses it; George even has a pair of the Shaq's verrrrry large, size-22 basketball shoes. Peyton Manning, former Saints quarterback Bobby Hebert and former Saints Coach Mike Ditka also tout the paste's virtues. George says, "Though it might have helped the Saints players perform, I'd hate to imagine how bad they'd have played without it!" He takes credit for curing rashes- but not a rash of bad performances on the field. Now LSU's another story. "I like to think it was the secret weapon of LSU's national football championship, though."

His famous Butt mobile, a 40-foot luxury RV, can be spotted at just about any LSU sporting event or pharmaceutical convention. The latest in the Butt Paste vehicular promo-mobiles is a full-blown NASCAR racecar with a lady driver who's making racing fans sit up and take notice.

Recently a big hit on "Oprah," he wowed 'em with his down-home, St. Tammany Cajun wit and charm. He's been featured on "Jay Leno," and the "Today Show," as well as in a host of magazines and articles about an amazing product with a wacky name and a zany promoter who generates excitement and enthusiasm wherever he goes.

The beginning of
the end product

First developed by Dr. "Pappy" Talbot in the 1970s, the paste was compounded by Dr. George Boudreaux when he opened his Covington pharmacy on 21st street. The remedy caught on with patients needing a treatment for severe diaper rash. "It took us a long time to get where we are," George explains. (Did he say "tokus" or "took us"?) "In pharmacy school I worked with Pappy, who was an old-time pediatrician with a lot of remedies and mixtures for different ailments. Later, when I started as a druggist, I mixed the product that's a derivative of the original recipe that we used to make for him."

What's in a name?

"Before we had an official name for the paste, I'd just mix it up for local pediatricians when they'd call. This was before I had to meet the strict FDA guidelines at the next level of development." George laughs out loud. "One day Dr. Buddy Terral called me, laughing his butt off, and said the mother of a baby with a serious diaper rash asked him for some more of ‘George Boudreaux's Butt Paste.' The name stuck."

Behind the scenes

What are the secret ingredients in this wonder salve that kicks the competition's butts wherever it's sold? Peruvian balsam (an anti-bacterial ingredient that helps heal broken skin while promoting blood flow to wounded areas), zinc oxide, boric acid, castor oil and mineral oil. It's probably the most effective treatment of its kind available anywhere without a prescription.

What does it treat? Created primarily for diaper rash, for which it has official Food and Drug Administration approval, Boudreaux's Butt Paste also receives raves and thank-you letters from all over the world for treating a whole range of other maladies. Folks heap testimonial praises on its curative powers for heat rashes, acne, hemorrhoids, bed sores, abrasions, chicken pox, shingles, razor burn, feminine irritation, jock itch, poison ivy, rectal itching, fever blisters, minor burns, skin irritations, and chapped lips. It can even cure a common ailment that avid motorcycle enthusiasts refer to as "monkey butt."

Wisconsin dairy farmers were the first to report that putting the concoction on their milk-producing cows' sore udders saved the day. "They told me they rubbed some of my Butt Paste on the cow's bag, and, don't you know, they say she was back into production in no time a-tall!"

Like George points out clearly, "It's not just for diaper rash anymore."

The bottom line

And don't you think for a moment that George Boudreaux's just sittin' on his butt when it comes to the future. "Just yesterday we got our first nationwide order from Target-all 1,500 Targets. Plus, we got a call Monday from Walgreen's; they're considering going national with us, and you know we're in all 3,000 Wal-Marts throughout America now. So we're watching our sales go up and up-and we're grinnin' from ear to ear, podnah."

You bet your butt he is.

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