Cif
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|---|---|
| Product type | household cleaning |
| Owner | Unilever |
| Country | France |
| Introduced | 1969 |
| Related brands | Jif, Vim, Viss, Handy Andy |
| Markets | 51 countries, Global |
| Website | Cif @ Unilever |
Cif is a brand of household cleaning products by Unilever, known as Jif in Australia, New Zealand, Middle East and the Nordic countries. Cif is the largest selling abrasive cleaner product in the world. Cif is not marketed in the United States.
History
Launched in France in 1969, it was marketed against scouring powders as Vim, a creamy and hence protective but powerful domestic cleaner. Initially focused on cream cleansers for the kitchen and bathroom, it was launched using a now famous "skater" advert, which highlighted how scouring powders could "scratch like skates on ice."
Asia is Cif's fastest-growing market, and India its largest.
Name
The Cif product is sold under the names Jif, Vim, Viss and Handy Andy, depending on which of the 51 countries it is sold in.
In Sweden, the United Kingdom, and South Africa the products were sold under the name Vim before this was changed to Jif, the launch name in Ireland, the Netherlands and Hong Kong. In 2001 the name in most of these countries was changed to Cif in order to harmonise marketing and product inventories across the continent. Despite this, many in the UK continue to call the product Jif[citation needed]: particularly as 'Cif', spelt 'syph' (but identically pronounced), is slang for syphilis
In Belgium, Finland and Portugal, the product was known as Vim for quite some time, after which it became Cif. In Canada and India, it is still called Vim. Recently advertisements for Cif surface grease cleaner have started to appear in India, while Vim name is still used for the kitchen dish cleaning product. In Germany, the cleaner's name is Viss. In Norway and Sweden the product is still today traded as jif.
Products
- Cif Bathroom Mousse
- Cif Stainless Steel Cleaner
- Cif Bathroom Cleaner
- Cif Kitchen Cleaner
- Cif Power Cream
External links
- Cif product page
- Canadian Vim product page
- Jif product website (in Swedish)
- Jif product website (in Norwegian)
- Viss product website (in German)
- Cif Argentina (in Spanish)
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