Tide (brand)

Tide

Product type	Laundry detergent
Owner	Procter & Gamble
Country	United States
Introduced	1946 (1946)
Related brands	Tide Pods Ace (Morocco, Puerto Rico and Latin America except Ecuador and Panama) Alo (Turkey) Vizir (Poland)
Markets	Worldwide
Website	www.tide.com

Tide products in mainland China

Tide (/ˈtaɪd/) is an American brand of laundry detergent manufactured and marketed by Procter & Gamble. Introduced in 1946, it is the highest-selling detergent brand in the world, with an estimated 14.3 percent of the global market.

History

Background

The household chore of doing the laundry began to change with the introduction of washing powders in the 1880s. These new laundry products were pulverized soap. New cleaning-product marketing successes, such as the 1890s introduction of the N. K. Fairbank Company's Gold Dust washing powder (which used a breakthrough hydrogenation process in its formulation), and Hudson's heavily advertised product, Rinso, proved that there was a ready market for better cleaning agents. Henkel & Cie's "self-activating" (or self bleaching) cleaner, Persil; (introduced in 1907); the early synthetic detergent, BASF's Fewa (introduced in 1932); and Procter & Gamble's 1933 totally synthetic creation, Dreft (marketed for use on infant-wear) —all indicated significant advances in the laundry cleaning product market.

Throughout the 1930s, Procter & Gamble's chemists and chemical engineers worked to develop a heavy-duty synthetic laundry detergent. The main challenge, known as the surfactant-builder problem, was creating an alkyl sulfate-based detergent that cleaned heavily soiled clothes without making them stiff or coarse. After 7 years, the company's research efforts had been largely unsuccessful, and the project, known as Project X, was cancelled. However, chemist David "Dick" Byerly continued the work surreptitiously. He experimented with various builders, such as sodium pyrophosphate, which cleaned effectively but left fabrics feeling rough. By 1941, Byerly concluded that the optimal builder was sodium tripolyphosphate, which, when used in a high ratio to the surfactants (such as alkyl sulfates and alkylbenzenesulfonates), cleaned without causing harshness. This discovery made it possible for detergents to work effectively in washing machines, even in hard water. By 1945, Byerly's work had progressed to a point where his supervisors, including Thomas Halberstadt, felt confident enough to present the project to senior management.

Commercialization

Tide was first introduced in U.S. test markets in 1946 as the world's first heavy-duty detergent, with nationwide distribution accomplished in 1949. Tide claimed it was "America's Washday Favorite". Authority was quickly gained in the U.S. detergent market, dwarfing the sales of Ivory Snow and accelerating the demise of two of its main competing products, Rinso and Gold Dust Washing Powder, both then Lever Brothers brands. These other brands came in the more familiar soap-powder and soap-flake forms. Tide, however, came shaped like a white powdered bead and was originally marketed as a multi-use product, with its packaging claiming it could be used for both "cleaner clothes, sparkling dishes". Procter & Gamble, Tide's manufacturer, later released Cascade in 1955 to create a specialized product for dishwashing that left dishes shinier.

In 2006, the development of Tide was designated an ACS National Historic Chemical Landmark in recognition of its significance as the first heavy-duty synthetic detergent.

As of January 2013, Tide had more than 30% of the liquid-detergent market, with more than twice as much in sales as the second-most-popular brand Gain, although it costs about 50% more than the average liquid detergent.

For the company's national and international experience in sustainable development, and eco-friendly products, the Environment Possibility Award conferred the "Environmental Heroes of the Year" to Tide in 2020.

In some areas, Tide has become such a hot commodity item, that criminals steal it from stores to resell. Police call the detergent "liquid gold" on the black market and it has been known to be traded or sold for illegal drugs.

Brand

In a 2009 survey, consumers ranked Tide among the three brands they would least likely give up during the Great Recession. The Tide trademark is an easily recognized, distinctive orange-and-yellow bulls-eye. This original logo was designed by Donald Deskey, an architect and famous industrial designer. The logo was slightly modified for the product's fiftieth anniversary in 1996, and remains in use today.

Tide was the first product to be nationally packaged using Day-Glo colors—strikingly eye-catching when first introduced in 1959.

Product line

Initial packaging of Tide Pods. The plastic container was later made opaque to reduce the chance of the product being mistaken for candy.

Tide is marketed under various sub-brands, such as 2× Ultra Tide.

In 1968, the Tide brand expanded with Tide XK, the first detergent formula in the US that incorporated cleaning enzymes and was marketed for its "Xtra Kleaning" properties. The brand introduced its first liquid detergent, Tide Liquid, in 1984, which was a clear, orange-tinted formula. In 2005, the brand launched both Tide to Go, a portable pen for on-the-spot stain removal, and Tide Coldwater, a formula specifically designed to clean in cold water to save energy.

Tide Free is marketed as being free from dyes or perfumes. Tide-To-Go is a product packaged in a pen-like format and intended to remove small stains on the spot, without further laundering.

In Puerto Rico, the Tide formula is marketed under the name Ace.

Following the 2000 launch and 2002 withdrawal of Tide's first attempt at a laundry tablet (Tide Rapid Action Tablets), Proctor & Gamble spent eight years developing a successor that contained both a liquid and a powder, finally introducing Tide Pods in early 2012. As of 2016, the pods have grown to account for an estimated 15% of the brand's total sales. In late 2017, an Internet meme was popularized around the concept of eating Tide Pods and, as a result, people attempted the extremely dangerous "Tide Pods Challenge".

After a debut at SXSW in 2024 and regional testing in 2025, Procter & Gamble began the national rollout of Tide evo in 2026. The detergent format consists of dry, fiber-based 3.5 inch-square tiles that utilize layered cleaning ingredients designed to dissolve in cold water and are sold in recyclable paperboard packaging.

Tide Cleaners is the name of a dry cleaning and laundry service with hundreds of locations across Chicago, Philadelphia, Denver, Washington D.C., Boston, Cincinnati, Houston, Dallas, Nashville and Charlotte.

Sponsorships

Super Bowl

Procter & Gamble has run Super Bowl commercials to promote Tide. The first ad which was run in 2008 was the "Talking Stain", a campaign promoting Tide To Go.

Tide aired an episodic three-part ad during Super Bowl LI that starred Fox NFL Sunday co-host Terry Bradshaw, where he discovers a stain on his shirt right before going on air from Fox's set at NRG Stadium, prompting him to—as seen in a second commercial later in the game—quickly travel to Jeffrey Tambor's house so he could clean it with Tide. Rob Gronkowski is also featured in the campaign, including the pre-Super Bowl teasers where Gronkowski runs a laundromat with Tambor as an unhappy client. In the conclusion (aired near the end of the game), Bradshaw makes it back to the game, only for his colleague Curt Menefee to spill coffee on his shirt, with Tambor (who is watching from home) refusing to help again. To make the sequence plausibly live, the ad was filmed over the weeks immediately after the Conference Championship Games, and required P&G's agency to construct a replica of Fox's actual on-field set for the game as well as for Bradshaw and Menefee to don the same attire from the ad for the actual broadcast. Visual effects were used to correctly reflect the look of the stadium and the teams participating in the game.

During Super Bowl LII, Tide aired a series of commercials starring David Harbour, which presented several types of commercials that viewers often see during the Super Bowl, only to reveal that they are all actually commercials for Tide because all of their clothes are perfectly clean. Some of the commercials included crossovers with ads for other Procter & Gamble products, including a Mr. Clean ad aired during Super Bowl LI, and Old Spice's "The Man Your Man Could Smell Like" ad.

NASCAR

The "Tide Ride", driven by Ricky Rudd at Pocono Raceway in 1997

Tide has sponsored several NASCAR stock cars, notably the Chevrolet "Tide Ride" driven by Darrell Waltrip as #17 for Hendrick Motorsports. The relationship lasted from 1987 to 1990 and won the 1989 Daytona 500. Waltrip left the team to form his own team.

Tide then sponsored Ricky Rudd in the #5 car after Levi Garrett left Hendrick. Rudd drove for Hendrick until 1993, when he left the racing team, also to form his own team and taking the Tide sponsorship. Rudd Performance Motorsports ran from 1994 to 1999 and won the 4th Brickyard 400 in 1997. After Rudd became winless in his first time in 17 seasons, Tide left Rudd after being lured by Calvin Well's new team PPI Motorsports. The new team's number was 32, which the sum of 17, 5, and 10. Scott Pruett was the first driver but after DNQing 6 times and no Top 10s, Ricky Craven took over in 2001 and responded with a win at Martinsville Speedway. He went winless in 2002, but one year later, he won the closest race in NASCAR history at Darlington in the Carolina Dodge Dealers 400, rubbing with Kurt Busch for laps and with a margin-of-victory of 0.002 seconds. After no Top 10s halfway through the 2004 season, Craven left PPI and was replaced by Bobby Hamilton Jr. for 2004 and 2005. Travis Kvapil ran for PPI in 2006 but with four DNQs.

Tide left the sport before it was going to sponsor one of Well's proposed Toyota teams in 2007. Tide was on Kevin Harvick's truck a few times, but Kroger was also promoting the car. Tide made its Cup series return in September 2016, when it sponsored Matt Kenseth's No. 20 car for a Darlington tribute scheme. Tide extended their sponsorship to Joe Gibbs Racing to three races in 2017.

Year	Driver	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	Owners	Pts
1987	Darrell Waltrip	Hendrick Motorsports	17	Chevy	DAY 8	CAR 7	RCH 20	ATL 6	DAR 10	NWS 21	BRI 12	MAR 21	TAL 11	CLT 5	DOV 7	POC 13	RSD 30	MCH 7	DAY 4	POC 19	TAL 4	GLN 11	MCH 17	BRI 21	DAR 10	RCH 2	DOV 10	MAR 1	NWS 12	CLT 9	CAR 3	RSD 6	ATL 18								4th	3911
1988					DAY 11	RCH 4	CAR 24	ATL 3	DAR 24	BRI 23	NWS 14	MAR 5	TAL 37	CLT 1	DOV 23	RSD 28	POC 6	MCH 8	DAY 5	POC 5	TAL 33*	GLN 20	MCH 17	BRI 7	DAR 4	RCH 8	DOV 17	MAR 1	CLT 2	NWS 12	CAR 31	PHO 13	ATL 5								6th	3764
1989					DAY 1	CAR 29	ATL 1	RCH 7	DAR 36	BRI 2	NWS 8	MAR 1*	TAL 5	CLT 1	DOV 9	SON 38	POC 32	MCH 3	DAY 19	POC 4	TAL 2	GLN 16	MCH 37	BRI 1*	DAR 22	RCH 6	DOV 18	MAR 1	CLT 14	NWS 20	CAR 3	PHO 4	ATL 5								4th	3971
1990					DAY 14	RCH 12	CAR 6	ATL 26	DAR 11	BRI 9*	NWS 2	MAR 4	TAL 10	CLT 22	DOV 19	SON 33	POC 8	MCH 15	DAY INQ†	POC 20						RCH 3	DOV 19	MAR 19	NWS 7	CLT 9	CAR 8	PHO 4	ATL 5								5th	3691
	Jimmy Horton																		DAY 17		TAL 13
	Sarel van der Merwe																					GLN 24
	Greg Sacks																						MCH 2	BRI 20	DAR 30
1991	Ricky Rudd		5		DAY 9	RCH 2*	CAR 4	ATL 6	DAR 1	BRI 5*	NWS 11	MAR 11	TAL 13	CLT 9	DOV 10	SON 2	POC 20	MCH 8	DAY 9	POC 20	TAL 4	GLN 2	MCH 11	BRI 5	DAR 15	RCH 5	DOV 7	MAR 8	NWS 12	CLT 32	CAR 12	PHO 11	ATL 11								2nd	4092
1992					DAY 40	CAR 28	RCH 6	ATL 12	DAR 5	BRI 6	NWS 3	MAR 23	TAL 26	CLT 9	DOV 6	SON 4	POC 36	MCH 5	DAY 7	POC 4	TAL 4*	GLN 13	MCH 36	BRI 8	DAR 10	RCH 6	DOV 1	MAR 10	NWS 15	CLT 5	CAR 3	PHO 30	ATL 25								7th	3735
1993					DAY 30	CAR 12	RCH 15	ATL 5	DAR 19	BRI 26	NWS 7	MAR 29	TAL 41	SON 3	CLT 37	DOV 35	POC 9	MCH 1	DAY 4	NHA 5	POC 11	TAL 24	GLN 24	MCH 35*	BRI 22	DAR 6	RCH 4	DOV 21	MAR 4	NWS 5	CLT 8	CAR 14	PHO 6	ATL 2							10th	3644
1994		Rudd Performance Motorsports	10	Ford	DAY 8	CAR 11	RCH 18	ATL 9	DAR 9	BRI 32	NWS 6	MAR 12	TAL 25	SON 14	CLT 6	DOV 19	POC 21	MCH 4	DAY 17	NHA 1	POC 6	TAL 7	IND 11	GLN 5	MCH 10	BRI 12	DAR 4	RCH 5	DOV 18	MAR 25	NWS 11	CLT 29	CAR 4	PHO 7	ATL 14						6th	4050
1995					DAY 13	CAR 4	RCH 21	ATL 8	DAR 41	BRI 5	NWS 29	MAR 30	TAL 22	SON 4	CLT 5	DOV 31	POC 13	MCH 38	DAY 8	NHA 5	POC 3	TAL 41	IND 20	GLN 4	MCH 30	BRI 36	DAR 6	RCH 8	DOV 10	MAR 27	NWS 5	CLT 4*	CAR 13	PHO 1	ATL 10						9th	3734
1996					DAY 9	CAR 4	RCH 9	ATL 8	DAR 9	BRI 14	NWS 15	MAR 23	TAL 28	SON 7	CLT 15	DOV 8	POC 2	MCH 31	DAY 33	NHA 3	POC 2	TAL 37	IND 6	GLN 34	MCH 8	BRI 9	DAR 16	RCH 12	DOV 34	MAR 35	NWS 7	CLT 13	CAR 1	PHO 14	ATL 8						6th	3845
1997					DAY 9	CAR 4	RCH 6	ATL 30	DAR 23	TEX 5	BRI 27	MAR 13	SON 34	TAL 11	CLT 10	DOV 1	POC 21	MCH 13	CAL 3	DAY 34	NHA 9	POC 36	IND 1	GLN 40	MCH 29	BRI 19	DAR 5	RCH 28	NHA 42	DOV 6	MAR 13	CLT 41	TAL 34	CAR 40	PHO 36	ATL 37					17th	3330
1998					DAY 42	CAR 43	LVS 12	ATL 23	DAR 33	BRI 30	TEX 27	MAR 14	TAL 24	CAL 11	CLT 31	DOV 6	RCH 11	MCH 37	POC 41	SON 28	NHA 19	POC 42	IND 31	GLN 14	MCH 13	BRI 9	NHA 10	DAR 22	RCH 34	DOV 13	MAR 1	CLT 37	TAL 18	DAY 27	PHO 27	CAR 10	ATL 24				23rd	3131
1999					DAY 30	CAR 30	LVS 43	ATL 25	DAR 27	TEX 19	BRI 38	MAR 29	TAL 19	CAL 41	RCH 36	CLT 28	DOV 14	MCH 38	POC 15	SON 38	DAY 13	NHA 27	POC 27	IND 9	GLN 32	MCH 38	BRI 3	DAR 34	RCH 27	NHA 42	DOV 37	MAR 18	CLT 38	TAL 3	CAR 19	PHO 5	HOM 41	ATL 7			31st	2922
2000	Scott Pruett	PPI Motorsports	32		DAY 19	CAR DNQ	LVS 42	ATL 41	DAR DNQ	BRI DNQ	TEX 27	MAR 32	TAL 20	CAL 34	RCH 27	CLT 41	DOV 38	MCH 19	POC 31	SON 39	DAY 40	NHA 30	POC 36	IND 10	GLN DNQ	MCH 17	BRI 38	DAR 24	RCH 16	NHA 41	DOV 42	MAR DNQ	CLT DNQ	TAL 39	CAR 30	PHO 34	HOM 43	ATL 32			37th	1929
2001	Ricky Craven				DAY 23	CAR 5	LVS 41	ATL 13	DAR 27	BRI 23	TEX 27	MAR 28	TAL 15	CAL 41	RCH 43	CLT 31	DOV 4	MCH 35	POC 43	SON 16	DAY 33	CHI 21	NHA 38	POC 10	IND 9	GLN 35	MCH 2	BRI 38	DAR 18	RCH 11	DOV 26	KAN 21	CLT 35	MAR 1*	TAL 24	PHO 8	CAR 12	HOM 30	ATL 38	NHA 38	21st	3379
2002					DAY 17	CAR 5	LVS 31	ATL 5	DAR 41	BRI 13	TEX 14	MAR 30	TAL 18	CAL 37	RCH 9	CLT 3	DOV 7	POC 14	MCH 15	SON 19	DAY 23	CHI 20	NHA 21	POC 17	IND 33	GLN 34	MCH 17	BRI 16	DAR 14	RCH 21	NHA 6	DOV 9	KAN 38	TAL 15	CLT 36	MAR 7	ATL 21	CAR 9	PHO 34	HOM 24	15th	3888
2003				Pontiac	DAY 26	CAR 4	LVS 36	ATL 12	DAR 1	BRI 15	TEX 21	TAL 4	MAR 27	CAL 15	RCH 38	CLT 38	DOV 8	POC 10	MCH 15	SON 21	DAY 43	CHI 25	NHA 21	POC 40	IND 17	GLN 28	MCH 40	BRI 8	DAR 8	RCH 30	NHA 38	DOV 40	TAL 8	KAN 41	CLT 19	MAR 32	ATL 35	PHO 38	CAR 39	HOM 29	27th	3334
2004				Chevy	DAY 23	CAR 35	LVS 25	ATL 22	DAR 36	BRI 22	TEX 28	MAR 16	TAL 43	CAL 18	RCH 26	CLT 24	DOV 16	POC 34	MCH 29	SON 16	DAY 38	CHI 38	NHA 38	POC 20	IND 24	GLN 32	MCH 35	BRI 34			NHA 17										34th	2309
	Bobby Hamilton Jr.																												CAL 38	RCH 11		DOV 29	TAL 43	KAN 23	CLT 15	MAR 36	ATL 38	PHO 16	DAR 31	HOM 21
2005					DAY 35	CAL 20	LVS 11	ATL 38	BRI 39	MAR 40	TEX 39	PHO 35	TAL 40	DAR 30	RCH 36	CLT DNQ	DOV 21	POC 23	MCH 31		DAY 38	CHI 21	NHA 28	POC 23	IND 39		MCH 35	BRI 35	CAL 23	RCH 43	NHA 29	DOV 33	TAL DNQ	KAN 43	CLT 41	MAR 30	ATL DNQ	TEX 38	PHO 35	HOM 36	37th	2348
	Ron Fellows																			SON 8						GLN 25
2006	Travis Kvapil				DAY 27	CAL DNQ	LVS 39	ATL DNQ	BRI 40	MAR 34	TEX 27	PHO 21	TAL 19	RCH 27	DAR 30	CLT 22	DOV 29	POC 19	MCH 21		DAY 30	CHI 37	NHA 35	POC 27	IND 25		MCH 21	BRI 20	CAL 34	RCH 28	NHA 27	DOV 39	KAN 19	TAL DNQ	CLT 20	MAR 40	ATL 32	TEX 28	PHO 30	HOM 27	37th	2648
	Ron Fellows																			SON 37						GLN 32

Further reading

• Leu, Chelsea (May 27, 2016). "Here's What's Inside Those Magical Stain-Erasing Pens". Wired. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
• Davis, Davis; Dalzell, Frederick; Olegario, Rowena (2004). Rising Tide: Lessons from 165 Years of Brand Building at Procter & Gamble. Harvard Business Publishing. ISBN 978-1-59139-147-0.

External links

• Official website