Spiffits are a group of
brand
A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's goods or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create and ...
ed products, launched in April 1989 as the first complete line of pre-moistened household cleaning towelettes.
The line included a glass cleaner, furniture polish, a soft scouring cleanser, bathroom cleaner and a multi-surface cleaner and competed against similar individual products sold under the
Lysol,
Pledge,
Clorox
The Clorox Company (formerly Clorox Chemical Company) is an American multinational manufacturer and marketer of consumer and professional products. As of 2024, the Oakland, California-based company had approximately 8,000 employees worldwide. N ...
and
Endust brands. The Spiffits towelettes were manufactured by DowBrands, the consumer products division of the
Dow Chemical Company
The Dow Chemical Company is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Midland, Michigan, United States. The company was among the three largest chemical producers in the world in 2021. It is the operating subsidiary of Dow Inc., ...
at the time. The product was launched with an $18 million-dollar advertising campaign developed by Henderson Advertising, of
Greenville, South Carolina
Greenville ( ; ) is a city in Greenville County, South Carolina, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 70,720 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, sixth-most pop ...
. The ad campaign featured animated Spiffits "spokesboxes", produced using single-frame stop-motion filming techniques and moldable rubber box puppets, considered an innovative animation technique at the time.
Ironically, Spiffits, DowBrands, and Henderson Advertising have all disappeared from the American marketing landscape, however the legacy of pre-moistened cleaning towels has flourished and become a staple in many of America's homes today.
In 1998, Dow disposed of the primary components of its consumer products division to
S. C. Johnson & Son, Inc. for US$1.125 billion. The transaction included the intellectual properties associated with the division, including the Spiffits trademarks.
Sources
#Advertising Age, February 19, 1990;
#M. Klein, former Henderson Advertising executive;
#The Dow Chemical Company, Form 10-K filed 24 March 1999
Cleaning products
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