Ajax is a brand of cleaning agent products, introduced by Colgate-Palmolive in 1947 for a powdered household and industrial cleaner. It was one of the company's first major brands. The cleanser ingredients include sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate, sodium carbonate, and quartz.
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History
The Ajax name was transferred to a line of household cleaning products and detergents; the line enjoyed its greatest success in the 1960s and early 1970s. Ajax All-Purpose Cleaner with Ammonia, introduced in 1962, was the first major competitor to Procter and Gamble's Mr. Clean (debuted 1958). Ajax's success as the so-called "White Tornado" forced Procter and Gamble to introduce its own ammoniated cleaner, Top Job, in 1963.
Other Ajax products included Ajax Bucket of Powder, an ammoniated power floor cleaner (1943); a short-lived spray cleaner (1960); Ajax Laundry Detergent (1964); and Ajax Window Cleaner with Hex ammonia (1965). The last successful Ajax line extension in North America, Ajax for Dishes, debuted in 1971; now known as Ajax Dishwashing Liquid, it and the flagship powdered cleanser are the only two Ajax products sold to consumers by Colgate in the United States. The brand name continues on a line of industrial detergents, cleaners and disinfectants. Colgate-Palmolive Company sold US and Canadian rights to the Ajax brand name on laundry detergents, as well as to other laundry products as Fab and Cold Power, to Phoenix Brands in 2005.
Ajax Laundry Detergent was available in a liquid formula, with or without bleach, beginning in the mid-1980s.
In the Philippines, Ajax became the popular detergent brand in the market from 1960s until its discontinuation in the year 2000 due to the major popularity of two largest rival detergent brands in the Philippine market today, Surf of Unilever and Tide of Procter and Gamble.
Three Ajax Spray n' Wipe products (an all-purpose cleaner, a bathroom cleaner, and a window cleaner), well known in Australia and New Zealand, are among market leaders.
When Ajax was first released in 1947, the commercial for the product was produced by Shamus Culhane.
Maps Ajax (cleaning product)
Etymology of name
The original Ajax powder slogan was "Stronger than dirt!", a reference to the muscular hero Ajax of Greek mythology. Some Ajax dish soaps now feature the trademarked slogan "Stronger than grease!" which may be a pun on "Greece." Another early slogan was "Ajax... the foaming cleanser!"
Advertising in popular culture
The first slogan was used again for Ajax Laundry Detergent when introduced in the early 1960s, advertised with an armed knight riding a white horse. At the end of the Doors song "Touch Me", Jim Morrison says the slogan "Stronger Than Dirt". A widely mocked commercial in the late 1970s and early 1980s declared, "Armed... with AJAX!"
US actor Eugene Roche gained household fame as AJAX man, "Squeaky Clean", in many 1970s television commercials.
In the UK, character actress Ann Lancaster appeared on television advertisements featuring the slogan, "It cleans like a white tornado". Colgate ceased UK advertising for the brand in 1996.
In the Philippines, veteran actress Lorli Villanueva appeared in television commercials, featuring her character as "Maxima Labandera" in the 70s. The late actress Nida Blanca featured in Ajax detergent commercials from 1988-1992 The late comedian and Blanca's co-star Dolphy was the final ambassador of Ajax detergent from 1994 until 1998.
In Australia, Ajax Spray n' Wipe television commercials appeared around 1988 to 2010, all with the same music, based on Ian Dury's song "Billericay Dickie". The ads featured soap opera actress Paula Duncan and the same family members.
It is featured in Carrie Underwood's song, "Dirty Laundry".
See also
- Comet (cleanser), originally a Procter & Gamble brand
- Vim, a similar product originally from Lever Brothers
References
External links
- Ajax product page on Colgate consumer website
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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