484. 1960s LAUNDRY SOAPS THAT BECAME WASHED-UP BRANDS

Four laundry detergent brands from the 1960s decade no longer with us. For one brief, shining moment, FAS, GLOW, SUNLIGHT and MARVEL had promising benefits that soon got washed away, for reasons we do could only assume as poor sales due to marketing, promotion, product or company issues.

1960 SUNLIGHT Print Ad

SUNLIGHT, introduced in 1960, was Lever Bros. brand that was created back in 1884, the world’s first packaged product. Despite being touted as “the world’s largest selling household soap”, it did not catch on with the public”.

FAS, 1966 Print Ad

FAS, with “the fastest cleaning power” was a product of Philippine Detergent Products introduced in 1966, but was killed when their other brand “Marvel” made greater strides in the market, so resources were put behind that brand instead.

 

GLOW, 1965 Print Ad

GLOW “Fights Stubborn Dirt” was the very first laundry product manufactured and launched by Peerless Products Manufacturing Corp. (est. 1963). It did not last long in the market dominated by Tide and Breeze. The company had their biggest success in 1977 when it launched “Champion” detergent, which continues to be a pillar of laundry care products for the company,

MARVEL, ca. 1967 Print Ad

MARVEL , a brand of Philippine Detergent Products introduced in 1967 had better success as it was pushed with TV commercials and print ads (“Relax Lang” campaign)  that saw it thru the early 1970s, before it fizzled out.

308. DAZ AND FAS : Two Lesser-Known Detergents of the Mid-60s

DAZZ gets clothes dazzling clean--saves you money too! 1965

Sometime in 1965, two laundry detergents were launched one after each other in the Philippines, both with one syllable-brand names, which also rhymes, and both price brands. DAZ was a Procter & Gamble project introduced in 1953 in the United Kingdom. It was aggressively promoted there, and over a decade later, was rolled out to the Philippines as Super DAZ, in the hope of replicating its success in the U.K. market. DAZ was sold on  the basis of its fast, cleaning power, at a price more economical than any laundry bar or powder. 

FAS, for the fastest cleaning power! 1966

Right on its heels was FAS, a locally manufactured laundry powder of the Philippine Detergents Products.  FAS claims to be the detergent with “the fastest cleaning power”, in a time where  supelatives were permitted without any substantive proof.

Both DAZ and FAS had print ads that looked suspiciously similar, one is wont to think that they were made to compete against each other. But no such fireworks happened, as DAZ failed to dazzle and FAS was fast to fade; both brands did not even survive the end of the 60s decade.

 

19. Relax Lang, Basta MARVEL!

Marvel is a detergent powder brand developed by Philippine Detergent Products, introduced sometime in 1967. Its claim to fame is that Marvel “cleans like magic”, allowing the housewife more time to relax.

 

MARVEL ‘RELAX LANG’. Nida Blanca and Elizabeth Ramsey
in a crowd pleaser spoofing Marvel’s introductory campaign theme.

The introductory campaign was created around the slogan “Relax Lang, Basta Marvel”, in a TVC starring the late comedienne Elizabeth Ramsey and Nida  Blanca.

From “Relax Lang” to “Ay, Mali!” –Marvel advertising keeps adding colorful phrases to the language of the man on the street. The “Ay, Mali” slogan has been directly responsible for the birth of a new television sitcom.

 

1972 MARVEL AD.

Another catchy, jingle-based TV was launched in the early 70s with “Basta Marvel, damit ay Marvelin!”, starring Moody Diaz, who portrayed Aling Otik in the popular sitcom, Tisoy.

CREDITS:

AGENCY: Atlas Marketing Promotions & Marketing Corp.

ADVERTISER: Philippine Detergent Products