Haha
Love that Surf collection - wonder if it has the same scent as Radion did?
We had Surf too, (still do) but over here, at the time of Radion’s launch (1989) Surf was mainly geared towards being a great economical value powder (probably stemming from “Square deal Surf” that had become known in the 50s). I wouldn’t say it was a low low grade product though and certainly was a bit (if not by much) more expensive than store brands.
When Radion was discontinued in 1999/2000, it was boxed under the Surf “Sun Fresh” variant for a while. Along with Surf’s existing line of Surf “Cotton Fresh” (would assume their original base scent) and “Lemon Fresh”, this to make the 3, Sun/Cotton/Lemon Fresh.
Then in 2005 amid rapidly declining sales, Surf had a complete redesign. Changing to a more “scent experience” based product, appealing to consumers demands for more exotic fragrances with lines such as (and still available today) “Tropical Lilly and Ylang Ylang” etc etc - I can think of at least 30 different scent variants that have come and gone in the last 13 or so years.
Did well for Unilever though, Surf has been the fastest growing laundry brand for a long time; don’t think it holds a serious threat to the established others though - Ariel, Persil, or Fairy, as these are specifically tailored to specific needs and consumer bases.
Maybe Bold (and Daz) is Surf’s primary competitor, but saying that Bold is more Premium (and it’s price reflects that, at certain times in the past, it has, surprisingly, been the most expensive detergent on the market). Daz sits in the Surf price bracket, and they do dabble with scented variants time to time, but nowhere near to the extent Surf do, and Daz will never shake off being known as the “White” powder, although this was achieved with copious amounts of bluing as opposed to any serious cleaning tech as with Ariel.
