Reader Kelly found herself in a common consumer dilemma: She was confused about the marketing language on some detergent labels. Why did some bottles of Tide that were the exact same size as others on the shelf proclaim that they will wash “20% more loads”? [More]
tide
Procter & Gamble’s New Idea To Move More Tide Pods: Automatic Subscriptions
By 7.19.16
Procter & Gamble has realized that it needs to stay ahead of consumer trends to stay a top seller of staple products like razors, detergent, and shampoo. The popularity of Dollar Shave Club took the company by surprise, so it began its own Gillette Shave Club, then apparently wondered what else they could ship to customers at regular intervals so customers wouldn’t have to go to the store. After all, if they don’t have to think about buying razors, they don’t have the opportunity to switch brands. [More]
Walmart Brings In Other Brands, Challenges Longtime Partnership With Procter & Gamble
By 6.16.16
You may not realize it, but every product that you see on the shelves of a major retailer is there because of intense negotiations behind the scenes over price, placement, number of varieties available, and even whether there will be a near-identical store-brand product next to it on the shelf. [More]
Tide’s Answer To Slumping Sales? Use More Detergent Pods!
By 6.8.16
While shiny, candy-colored detergent pods have poisoned many thousands of kids who mistake them for toys or treats, they’ve been success for detergent brand Tide and its parent company Procter & Gamble. So is it a coincidence that Tide’s new recommendation that customers use as many as three pods per load comes amid an overall sales slump in the detergent category? [More]
Would You Use A Tide-Branded Laundry Pickup Service?
By 1.26.16
Back in 2000, Procter & Gamble tested something interesting: it was a laundry pickup and delivery service called Juvian. That didn’t really take off, but the growth of app-based laundry services has apparently made the company give the idea another try. This time, it’s being tested in one neighborhood in Chicago, and the service is called Tide Spin. [More]
Tide Detergent Pod Containers Make Easy Trick-Or-Treat Baskets, But Is It A Good Idea?
By 9.10.15
Back in 2012, Procter & Gamble changed the packaging of Tide Pods to look less like candy in a jar after children showed an affinity for putting the colorful, shiny, toxic detergent packets in their mouths. While the move – and constant reminders to keep the detergent far, far away from kids – was meant to deter children from snacking on the poisonous packets, consumers are apparently finding a new use for the bright orange opaque container, a use that some say might not dissuade youngsters from thinking the contents are edible: Halloween candy buckets. [More]
Detergent Pod Poisonings Increase, Even After Changes To Packaging
By 5.15.15
In spite of efforts by manufacturers to make their laundry detergent pods look less like candy in a jar, the number of poisoning incidents related to these products continues to grow. [More]
Procter & Gamble To Shrink By Half, Remain Enormous
By 8.1.14
Procter and Gamble own practically everything, it feels like. From pet food to Pepto-Bismol, Tide to tampons — P&G is in a zillion businesses. But today, the company announced that they want to be in many fewer businesses. Less than half of what they currently own, to be specific. [More]
Laundry Shrink Ray Zaps Tide Slightly, Keeps Number Of Loads The Same
By 3.4.14
Can you shave a few milliliters off the amount of detergent that you use in every load of laundry and still get your clothes as clean? You probably can, but we’re curious after checking out this slight change in the amount of Tide detergent in a bottle while the number of loads per bottle remains unchanged. [More]
Grandmother Of Poisoned Boy Asks Procter & Gamble To Stop Making Tide Pods Look Like Delicious Candy
By 9.27.13
Since their introduction in 2012, Tide detergent pods have been a lightning rod for controversy. Initially packaged in clear plastic, candy jar-like container, the glossy, orange, blue and white pods tempted an alarming number of children into taste-testing them. Procter & Gamble, the makers of Tide, have subsequently made the packaging opaque and more secure, but one woman who says her grandson almost died after biting into a Tide pod says more can be done to make the product less yummy-looking to children. [More]
Costco Finally Stops Selling Yummy-Looking Detergent Pods In Clear Candy Jars
By 8.27.13
Several weeks ago, we told you about Costco’s questionable choice of putting its poisonous laundry detergent pods in a clear plastic container that looks an awful lot like the plastic jars it uses for things like animal crackers, nuts, and candies, especially in light of the numerous instances of young children licking, eating, or playing with these toxic toys. Now it looks like the wholesaler has come to its senses. [More]
Wisk And Costco Knock Tide From Top Detergent Greatness Spot
By 6.20.13
Tide might be the detergent of choice for criminals, but our stain-fighting cousins over at Consumer Reports tell us that in terms of actual quality, there’s a new champion in town. Products from Wisk and Kirkland (Costco’s house brand) took the top spots in their most recent detergent rankings. [More]
How Tide Became An Underground Currency
By 1.18.13 — Updated: 1.19.13
Everyone loves Tide, from the toddlers who gobble detergent pods to the criminals who boost it and sell it illegally. Some people even do laundry with it. The real question at the core of the Tide trade is this: How did bottles of brand-name detergent become a de facto currency? Why this brand, Tide? Where do the bottles come from, and who is the end consumer who actually pours the Tide in their washer? [More]
CPSC Issues Safety Alert On Detergent Pods
By 11.20.12
A month after the Centers for Disease Control issued a report showing that nearly 500 kids had been exposed to the lovely cleansing chemicals by playing with or chewing on colorful, shiny detergent pods, the folks at the Consumer Product Safety Commission have issued a safety alert declaring them harmful to children. [More]
CDC: Kids Sure Do Love Chewing On, Getting Sick From Detergent Pods
By 10.18.12
It’s no secret that little kids like bright, shiny colorful things, and that curiosity compels them to place these objects in their mouths. But since most children under the age of five are not yet versed in the possible harms of household chemicals, lots of them are popping bright, shiny colorful detergent pods into their waiting maws. [More]
Stealing Tide Is Still Enough Of A Problem That This CVS Has Theft-Protection Devices On The Stuff
By 10.1.12 — Updated: 9.30.12
We’ve written in the past about what a highly-prized item Tide laundry detergent is for thieves looking to resell the stuff on the black market, but now we’ve got photographic proof that stores aren’t taking the shoplifting threat lying down. [More]
Kids Worldwide Still Snarfing Detergent Pods Like Candy
By 9.6.12 — Updated: 4.3.13
In hindsight, maybe brightly-colored, individually wrapped dollops of laundry detergent weren’t such a great idea from a safety point of view. Sure, they’re popular: pre-measured soap is handy, and they keep people who use laundromats or apartment building machines from hauling giant bottles around. The disadvantage is that even with warnings to keep the products on a high shelf and promises to change the packaging to make it more childproof, kids everywhere seem to find the pods irresistible. [More]
New Tide Pods Box Will Aim To Keep Kids From Feeding On Detergent
By 5.25.12 — Updated: 5.15.15
It looks like 2012 is the year of Tide. First, it was revealed that the detergent is being heisted for use as currency by unseemly folks. Now the makers of Tide are having to change their packaging for Tide Pods because kids want to put the colorful, shiny detergent packs in their mouth. [More]
