Product type Biological detergent Country United Kingdom Related brands | Owner Procter & Gamble Introduced 1967 | |
Markets Europe, Latin America, East, Southeast and South Asia, South Africa, Maghreb and the Middle East | ||
Ariel is a marketing line of laundry detergents made by Procter & Gamble. It is the flagship brand in Procter & Gamble's European, Algerian, Mexican, Japanese, Brazilian, Peruvian, Turkish, Filipino, Pakistani, Colombian, Chilean, Indian and Venezuelan portfolios. In some U.S. stores, Mexican Ariel is available.
History
Ariel first appeared on the UK market in 1967 and was the first detergent with stain-removing enzymes. It was a high-sudsing powder designed for twin-tub and top-loading washing machines. With the rise in popularity of automatic front-loading washing machines, a suitable low-suds variant was launched in the early 1970s. The mid-eighties saw the range expanding to encompass liquid detergent and compact powder.
The compact powder was originally known as "Ariel Ultra"; and was subsequently reformulated into the nineties as "Ariel Futur". This was possibly in response to Unilever's launch of the ultimately doomed "Persil Power", which was seen to damage clothes. Compact powders never proved popular in the UK; so when the tablet variant appeared in July 1999, the compact version disappeared.
In 2003, Ariel brought out its quickwash action to its detergents, to allow consumers to be able to do their laundry on a quickwash cycle.