Fairy is a British brand of washing-up liquid, the manufacturer owned by the American company Procter & Gamble. the West Thurrock factory, in England. Fairy liquid is traditionally green, prompting the well-known advertising jingle "Now hands that do dishes can feel as soft as your face with mild green Fairy Liquid". As of 2015, Fairy is sold in most parts of Europe, although regional names vary. Fairy liquid is available in a variety of colour and scent combinations. The original white bottle with red cap was replaced with PET bottles. In the UK, Fairy Liquid has become a genericized trademark for washing up liquid. Fairy soap bars were originally manufactured by Thomas Hedley Co. of Newcastle upon Tyne which was acquired by Procter & Gamble in 1927.
50th anniversary
In February 2010, Fairy brought back the original washing up liquid bottle to celebrate 50 years of the brand. Nanette Newman, who appeared in the 1980s TV advertisements returned for a new campaign to promote the launch.
Other products
In the United Kingdom and Ireland, Fairy is also a longstanding brand of non-biological laundry detergent, the original soap-based variant being known as "Fairy Snow". In recent years, Fairy Non-Bio also have added fabric conditioner to their product range. Like Fairy dish detergent, its traditional trademark is a walking baby. Fairy was also a brand of soap in those countries, characteristically green in colour and available both in the form of larger rectangular 155g blocks for laundry and other household purposes and in the smaller rounded 125g size as toilet soap, where it used the same "walking baby" trademark as the laundry powder and was marketed as a pure, mild product. It was suddenly discontinued by the manufacturers in about 2009 to the disapproval of its faithful customer base. The Fairy brand has expanded further from the soap-based products, and is now also used on automatic dishwashing products; the latest being "Fairy Activebursts". These are pouches of powder and specially formulated washing-up liquid, which are specifically designed for domestic dishwashers. There are also other variants, a power spray for cleaning pots and pans and for a period of time a foam/mousse was sold.
Fairy was released onto the Australian market in 2011 and is quickly growing to become one of the most popular choices available within the country.
In Egypt, Fairy competes with Henkel's Pril, and takes second place to Pril in market share. It is notable for its aggressive advertising campaign featuring actresses from Egyptian televisionsoap operas emphasizing its strength.
Fairy is also sold in Germany; in 2000 it was briefly renamed Dawn, but after sharply declining sales due to an unfamiliar brand, the Fairy name was revived in 2002.
In Sweden and Norway, Fairy is branded as Yes, as seen on the adjacent picture. It was introduced in 1961 and is by far the biggest selling detergent in Sweden.
In Belgium and the Netherlands it is marketed as Dreft. The same name also refers to another brand of detergent also made by Procter & Gamble.
In Saudi Arabia, it has been sold since the 1970s.
