The History of Tide Laundry Detergent

Tide laundry detergent was introduced by Proctor and Gamble in 1946. It was the first heavy-duty laundry detergent in America. In order to promote the new product to homemakers, Tide sponsored many daytime soap operas. The company also hired Donald Deskey, an architect and famous industrial designer, to create the distinctive orange and yellow bull’s eye packaging. As the first product to be packaged for national sale with such bright colors, Tide was extremely eye-catching and memorable. The original Tide formula remained unchanged from 1946 until 1968, when Tide XK was introduced as America’s first enzyme-containing detergent. After liquid detergents became popular in Japan and Europe, Proctor and Gamble launched Era, their first liquid detergent, but Tide in liquid formula was not introduced to American markets until 1984. Tide with Bleach was introduced in powdered formula in 1988 and Tide with Bleach Alternative followed shortly after. The 2000s saw many additional products rolled out, including Tide Rapid Action Tablets, Tide with a Touch of Downy, and Tide to Go. Perhaps most significantly, Tide Pods were introduced in 2012 after eight years of research. (The process involved 75 dedicated technical resources, over 450 packaging and product sketches, and 6,000 consumers were involved in the research!) Today, Tide offers a variety of formulations for consumers to choose from and remains a popular laundry detergent brand.