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A commercial from 1988 for Persil Washing Powder

Persil Power is a laundry detergent product developed and sold in the mid-1990s by Unilever.

In the early 1990s, Unilever’s Persil detergent had been falling behind its competitors in sales. As independent tests were showing the major brands to have relatively similar performance in removing stains, Unilever decided that they needed a product with an edge in stain removal. Persil’s main competitor, Ariel, had recently introduced Ariel Ultra, the first of the “Super Compacts” – washing powders equipped with chemical catalysts which (according to the advertising) cleaned better than ever, with less powder. With Ariel Ultra taking the detergent market by storm, and their own Persil Micro lagging far behind, Unilever needed but to surpass it with a new super-compact Persil line. Thus, Persil Power was conceived.

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A commercial from 1988 for Persil Liquid Wash

Persil is a brand of laundry detergent manufactured and marketed by both Henkel in some countries (including Germany, France the Netherlands, Poland and most other European countries in addition to Middle East countries as Egypt, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Syria) and by Unilever in the UK, France and the Republic of Ireland, since acquiring rights to the brand in 1931, in others. Both Henkel and Unilever manufacture their own formulations. Invented in 1907, it is notable because it was the first commercially available laundry detergent. Persil is Unilever’s premium brand in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. It is marketed as a powder, liquigel, “Small and Mighty” highly concentrated liquid detergent, liquid capsules and tablets. It is sold in biological, non-biological (with and without enzymes respectively) and colour care (biological, bleach-free) formulations. The range also includes specialist care products for wool and silk items. In the UK only, Unilever also uses the Persil brand to market a range of washing up liquid.

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