Domestos is a British brand of household cleaning range which contains
bleach
Bleach is the generic name for any chemical product that is used industrially or domestically to remove color from (i.e. to whiten) fabric or fiber (in a process called bleaching) or to disinfect after cleaning. It often refers specifically t ...
(primarily
sodium hypochlorite
Sodium hypochlorite is an alkaline inorganic chemical compound with the formula (also written as NaClO). It is commonly known in a dilute aqueous solution as bleach or chlorine bleach. It is the sodium salt of hypochlorous acid, consisting of ...
, NaOCl). It is manufactured by
Unilever
Unilever PLC () is a British multinational consumer packaged goods company headquartered in London, England. It was founded on 2 September 1929 following the merger of Dutch margarine producer Margarine Unie with British soap maker Lever B ...
. Domestos (and Chlorox, essentially a 10–25% solution of sodium hypochlorite) contains 100,000
ppm (10%) of the active component, available
chlorine
Chlorine is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Cl and atomic number 17. The second-lightest of the halogens, it appears between fluorine and bromine in the periodic table and its properties are mostly intermediate between ...
; many other bleaches contain 50,000 or less.
History
Domestos was first produced in 1929 by Wilfred Handley, an industrial chemist, and sold door-to-door by salesmen who refilled stoneware jars bought by the customers. In 1961 the company was acquired by
Lever Brothers
Lever Brothers was a British manufacturing company founded in 1885 by two brothers: William Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme, William Hesketh Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme (1851–1925), and James Darcy Lever (1854–1916). They invested in and su ...
.
Product range
*Thick Bleach – "with a variety of fragrances" – rebranded as "Domestos 24HR", with a reformulation to give "24hr protection from flying germs." – rebranded again as "Domestos Extended Germ-Kill". Still branded Thick Bleach in Australia.
*Domestos 5x – "a bleach which lasts 5x longer than any other bleach or toilet cleaner" – Discontinued
*Sink and Pipe Unblocker
*Domestos Blocks – Discontinued
*Domestos Hygienic Wipes – Discontinued
*Domestos Bleach Cleaning Spray
*Domestos Zero Limescale – "an extra thick
hydrochloric acid
Hydrochloric acid, also known as muriatic acid or spirits of salt, is an aqueous solution of hydrogen chloride (HCl). It is a colorless solution with a distinctive pungency, pungent smell. It is classified as a acid strength, strong acid. It is ...
toilet cleaner can even killing germs even below the waterline."
*Domestos Total Blast – a toilet gel that "helps prevent tough dirt from sticking."-Discontinued
*Domestos Germ Blaster – a rimblock cage utensil advertised as being the "only rimblock that kills germs as it freshens."
*Domestos Turbo Fresh – A variant of the above advertised as being the "only rotating rimblock."
*Domestos Power 5 toilet cleaning.
Marketing
The most famous advertising slogan for Domestos in the UK is ''"Kills all known germs. Dead."'' An earlier advertising slogan had been ''"Domestos kills 99% of all household germs."''
During the late 1980s and early 1990s, Unilever ran a new TV campaign which featured a pastiche of the song ''
Big Bad John
"Big Bad John" is a country music, country song written and originally performed by Jimmy Dean. It was released in September 1961 and by the beginning of November it had gone to number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' Hot 100. It won ...
'', in which a Domestos bottle moved around a bathroom in the style of a cowboy. In the UK version of the campaign, the chorus was changed to ''Big Bad Dom'' while in Germany, it was changed to ''Unser Dom'' ("Our Dom")''.''
In 2002, a short-lived campaign featured former ''
Big Brother'' contestant Alex Sibley, who appeared in an advert lampooning his own obsession with cleanliness. It included an incident in the house, where Alex mimed to the song "
That's the Way (I Like It)" by
KC and the Sunshine Band. In the advert, Alex was seen cleaning the ''Big Brother'' toilet with Domestos whilst miming to the same song. Domestos was hoping the popularity of ''Big Brother'' would help sell their product. However, by 2003, Domestos were in trouble and looking for other ways, to improve their marketing campaign.
In 2005, various
adverts for different Domestos brands were shown on television and cinemas, with
computer generated germ
Germ or germs may refer to:
Science
* Germ (microorganism), an informal word for a pathogen
* Germ cell, cell that gives rise to the gametes of an organism that reproduces sexually
* Germ layer, a primary layer of cells that forms during embry ...
-like creatures made to represent ''
Salmonella
''Salmonella'' is a genus of bacillus (shape), rod-shaped, (bacillus) Gram-negative bacteria of the family Enterobacteriaceae. The two known species of ''Salmonella'' are ''Salmonella enterica'' and ''Salmonella bongori''. ''S. enterica'' ...
'', ''
E. coli
''Escherichia coli'' ( )Wells, J. C. (2000) Longman Pronunciation Dictionary. Harlow ngland Pearson Education Ltd. is a gram-negative, facultative anaerobic, rod-shaped, coliform bacterium of the genus ''Escherichia'' that is commonly foun ...
'' and ''
Staphylococcus
''Staphylococcus'', from Ancient Greek σταφυλή (''staphulḗ''), meaning "bunch of grapes", and (''kókkos''), meaning "kernel" or " Kermes", is a genus of Gram-positive bacteria in the family Staphylococcaceae from the order Bacillale ...
''. Each germ asserted its plans to inflict suffering, sometimes in parody of well-known films such as ''
The Godfather
''The Godfather'' is a 1972 American Epic film, epic crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, who co-wrote the screenplay with Mario Puzo, based on Puzo's best-selling The Godfather (novel), 1969 novel. The film stars an ensemble cast inc ...
'', before being wiped out by a specific brand of Domestos. The advertising slogans for this campaign were "Domestos – Millions of Germs Will Die" for Standard Domestos, and "Domestos – Millions More Germs Will Die" for ''5× Longer Domestos''. The ads were animated at
Passion Pictures
Passion Pictures is a British film production company established by Andrew Ruhemann in 1987. The company has studios in London, Melbourne, Paris, Toronto, and New York City.
Film production
The company's core business is in commercial and anima ...
and had actors like
Willem Dafoe
William James "Willem" Dafoe ( ; born July 22, 1955) is an American actor. Known for his prolific career portraying diverse roles in both mainstream and arthouse films, he is the recipient of various accolades including a Volpi Cup Award for ...
and
Christian Slater
Christian Michael Leonard Slater (born August 18, 1969) is an American actor. He made his film debut with a leading role in '' The Legend of Billie Jean'' (1985) and gained wider recognition for his breakout role as Jason "J.D." Dean, a sociopath ...
as the voice of the germs.
The ''5× Longer Domestos'' advert showed a germ cheerfully skipping and singing a song in a very deep American voice, reminiscent of narration in horror movie trailers.
Sung to the tune of "
London Bridge Is Falling Down
"London Bridge Is Falling Down" (also known as "My Fair Lady" or "London Bridge") is a traditional English nursery rhyme and singing game, which is found in different versions all over the world. It deals with the dilapidation of London Bridg ...
", the lyrics were:
The commercial ended with a voiceover of the slogan, read by famous British actor
Patrick Stewart
Sir Patrick Stewart (born 13 July 1940) is an English actor. With a career spanning over seven decades of Patrick Stewart on stage and screen, stage and screen, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Patrick Stewart, variou ...
. The staple of CGI germs has remained in Domestos adverts until 2018 and was replaced by "Unstoppable" in some countries.
In other countries
Domestos is known as Domex in
Bangladesh
Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...
,
India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
, the
Philippines
The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
, and
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...
and is marketed with the claim of a "one-stop solution" to a household's cleaning requirements instead of using a different cleaner for kitchen surface, floor and bathroom. In Japan, the brand name is known as a popular toilet cleaner. In the
Netherlands
, Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
, Domestos is sold under the name "Glorix", while in
Vietnam
Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...
,
Argentina
Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
and
Brazil
Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
it is known as "
Vim", and in other countries as "Klinex", in
Russia
Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
,
Greece
Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...
,
Bulgaria
Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...
and
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...
it was sold there as Domestos (Дoместос), Glorix (Глорикс) and Klinex (Клинекс).
References and notes
External links
Domestos UKDomestos Australia{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925194510/http://www.domestos.com.au/ , date=25 September 2015
Cleaning products
Cleaning product brands
Unilever brands
British brands
Bathrooms
Products introduced in 1929