Cheer is a
laundry detergent
Laundry detergent is a type of detergent (cleaning agent) used for cleaning dirty laundry (clothes). Laundry detergent is manufactured in powder (washing powder) and liquid form.
While powdered and liquid detergents hold roughly equal share o ...
sold in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
and
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
. It is manufactured by
Procter & Gamble
The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. It specializes in a wide range of personal health/consumer he ...
.
It was introduced in 1950,
and after a slight reformulation in 1952, was a highly successful follow up to P&G's
Tide
Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another.
Tide tables ...
product from 1948 to 1949.
Cheer is recognized for its distinctive blue granules, which formerly gave it the nickname "Blue Cheer". The 1952 formula ("Blue-Magic Whitener") was designed to clean as well as perform
bluing, which makes white clothing look whiter (this was traditionally a separate process). Magazine and television ads at the time proclaimed, "...washes clothes so clean, so white, you don't need bluing or bleach!" This was well known as a sponsor of ''
I Love Lucy
''I Love Lucy'' is an American television sitcom that originally aired on CBS from October 15, 1951, to May 6, 1957, with a total of 180 half-hour episodes, spanning six seasons. The show starred Lucille Ball, her husband, Desi Arnaz, along wit ...
''. Kinescopes exist of 1950s soap opera episodes with commercials for Cheer still intact, it being a sponsor of shows like ''The Brighter Day''.
In the 1960s, the brand was repositioned as "All Temperature Cheer" or as it was also known, "All-Tempa-Cheer", as it was said to be formulated to clean clothes effectively in all water temperatures.
As of July 2016 Cheer detergent is still being sold, albeit as a budget detergent. Tide Plus Colorguard replaced Cheer as the premium color care detergent. The brand is currently known as "Cheer Colorguard" and "Cheer Brightclean."
The brand was the
Jerry Seinfeld character's favorite type of detergent on the show ''
Seinfeld'', as seen in the episode "The Sponge". As "Blue Cheer", the brand also gave its name to a variety of
LSD
Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), also known colloquially as acid, is a potent psychedelic drug. Effects typically include intensified thoughts, emotions, and sensory perception. At sufficiently high dosages LSD manifests primarily mental, vi ...
produced by
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
chemist
Owsley Stanley, and the band
Blue Cheer
Blue Cheer was an American rock band that initially performed and recorded in the late 1960s and early 1970s and was sporadically active until 2009. Based in San Francisco, Blue Cheer played in a psychedelic blues rock or acid rock style, and ...
was most likely named after the variety of LSD.
References
External links
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Procter & Gamble brands
Laundry detergents
Products introduced in 1950
Cleaning product brands
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