Cif Explained

Cif
Type:Household cleaning
Currentowner:Unilever
Origin:France
Related:Jif, Vim, Viss, Handy Andy
Markets:Global
Website:

Cif is a French brand of household cleaning products owned by the British company Unilever, known as Jif in Australia, New Zealand, Japan,[1] Middle East and the Nordic countries.

Cif was launched in France in 1965 and was marketed in competition against scouring powders such as Vim.

Name

Cif is sold under the names Jif, Vim, Viss and Handy Andy, depending on which of the 51 countries it is sold in.

In Sweden, and South Africa, the products were originally sold under the name Vim before this was changed to Jif, the launch name in the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Netherlands and Hong Kong.

In January 2001, the name in most of these countries was changed to Cif in order to align marketing and product inventories across the continent. Despite this, many in Ireland and Scotland continue to call the product Jif. The name change from Jif to Cif was confirmed by Unilever in December 2000.[2]

In Belgium, Finland and Portugal, the product was known as Vim for quite some time, after which it became Cif. In Canada[3] it is still called Vim. In Germany, the cleaner's name is Viss. In Iraq it is still traded as Jif, with local Arabic and English writing.

In Norway, the product is traded as Jif and owned by Lilleborg, a part of Orkla ASA. Unilever had a decades long partnership with Lilleborg when they were given the exclusive rights to the brand Jif in Norway. Lilleborg registered the trademark in 1968. Without consent from Lilleborg, Unilever registered their trademark Cif in 1998 and started selling Cif products in 2018. Thereafter Lilleberg protested and two JIF vs CIF court cases followed. The court decided that Unilever was allowed to keep the brand Cif, but not allowed to sell Cif products in Norway.[4]

In the United States, Cif Cream Cleaner is sold as a co-branded product with Scrub Daddy.[5]

Products

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: ジフ. ジフ.
  2. Web site: Ad hoc: Jif becomes Cif in Unilever's spring clean. www.telegraph.co.uk. 12 December 2000. 6 November 2017.
  3. Web site: Vim Creams . Unilever Canada . 28 October 2021.
  4. Web site: Unilever may keep its CIF trademarks in Norway, but is not allowed to use them . Julius Berg Kaasin, Elena Steen Eriksen . 2022-05-24 . Brækhus Advokatfirma DA (Norway). The article was first published in World Trademark Review Daily, April 21st, 2022 (WTR internet article is restricted by paywall).
  5. Web site: 2023-03-21 . Cif and Scrub Daddy: a perfect partnership for growth . 2023-08-22 . Unilever . en-GB.