Daz is the name of 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 ...

on the market in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

and was introduced in February 1953. 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 ...

and is lower priced than P&G's main brand,

Ariel Ariel may refer to: Film and television *Ariel Award, a Mexican Academy of Film award * ''Ariel'' (film), a 1988 Finnish film by Aki Kaurismäki * ''ARIEL Visual'' and ''ARIEL Deluxe'', 1989 and 1991 anime video series based on the novel series ...

. Aggressively marketed, it is associated in popular culture with the "Daz Doorstep Challenge" series of commercials, which saw various 'hosts' including

Danny Baker Danny Baker (born 22 June 1957) is an English comedy writer, journalist, radio DJ and screenwriter. Throughout his career he has largely presented for London's regional radio and television. Baker was born in Deptford to a working-class fami ...

Shane Richie Shane Patrick Paul Roche (born 11 March 1964), known as Shane Richie, is a British actor, comedian, television presenter and singer. Following initial success as a stage and screen performer, he became best known for his portrayal of the charac ...

and

Michael Barrymore Michael Ciaran Parker (born 4 May 1952), known by his stage name Michael Barrymore, is an English actor, comedian and television presenter of game shows and light entertainment programmes on British television in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s ...

surprising house occupiers by asking them to put Daz to the test against a rival detergent. The advert was spoofed by

Dom Joly Dominic John Romulus Joly (; born 15 November 1967) is an English comedian and writer. He is best known as the star of '' Trigger Happy TV'' (2000–2003), a hidden camera prank show that was broadcast in over 70 countries worldwide. Early lif ...

in the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

sketch series

Trigger Happy TV ''Trigger Happy TV'' is a hidden camera/ practical joke comedy television series. The original British edition of the show, produced by Absolutely Productions, starred Dom Joly and ran for three series on the British television channel Channel 4 ...

and in a John Smith's advertising campaign featuring

Peter Kay Peter John Kay (born 2 July 1973) is an English actor, comedy writer and stand-up comedian. He has written, produced and acted in several television and film projects, and has written three books. Born and brought up in Bolton, Kay studied ...

. From 1999 to 2002

Julian Clary Julian Peter McDonald Clary (born 25 May 1959) is an English actor, comedian, novelist and presenter. He began appearing on television in the mid-1980s. Since then he has also acted in films, television and stage productions, numerous pantomim ...

was the face of Daz laundry detergent, one of the first of his advert campaigns being a "Wash Your Dirty Linen in Public" roadshow with Daz Tablets. From 2002 to 2019, Daz TV commercials were set in an outlandish " Cleaner Close"

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

. Daz is available in powder (handwash and automatic), liquid, professional liquid and all-in-one multi-compartment pods, in common with most other P&G laundry detergent brands. In some packs of 3-in-1 Pods, the individual pods are printed with Daz/Vizir/Tide, as the same product was sold in multiple European markets under different local brands. However, despite the Tide name appearing, they are not the same formulation as

Tide Pods Tide Pods (stylized Tide PODS) are a line of laundry detergent pods from Procter & Gamble under the Tide brand. The pods gained notoriety starting in 2017 when social media sites began to show people intentionally eating them. History ...

in the USA.

Cleaner Close advertising campaign

From 2002 to 2019, Daz began a series of soap opera style adverts called ''Cleaner Close''. Some of these featured where a new packet Daz or prize give-away as part of the plot, such as a character who either hid money in Daz packets or donated money to Daz in their will. Other episodes have a character who do not use Daz which causes them problems, which are solved by a character who uses Daz. Cleaner Close is a parody of ''

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' is an English soap opera created by Granada Television and shown on ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres around a cobbled, terraced street in Weatherfield, a fictional town based on inner-city Salford. Origi ...

'', ''

Brookside Brookside may refer to: Geography Canada * Brookside, Edmonton * Brookside, Newfoundland and Labrador * Brookside, Nova Scotia United Kingdom * Brookside, Berkshire, England * Brookside, Telford, an area of Telford, England United States * Br ...

'' or ''

EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a Television in the United Kingdom, British soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the Ea ...

''. Most of the adverts feature ex-soap stars, sometimes portrayed as a similar character to the one they played in their original soap, and are narrated by

Tony Hirst Anthony Hirst (born 21 January 1967) is an English actor, theatre director and narrator best known for playing Mike Barnes on the soap opera ''Hollyoaks'' and in ''Coronation Street'' as Paul Kershaw, the love interest of Eileen Grimshaw. Hi ...

; who would later star in both Hollyoaks and Coronation Street. Soap stars or ex-soap stars to have appeared in Cleaner Close include:

Michelle Collins Michelle Danielle Collins (born 28 May 1962) is an English actress and TV presenter, best known for her roles in the British soap operas ''EastEnders'' and ''Coronation Street''. Collins played Cindy Beale in the BBC soap ''EastEnders'' from ...

(

Cindy Beale Cindy Beale (also Williams) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'', played by Michelle Collins. She first appeared 10 May 1988 and originally departed on 27 December 1990, before returning as one of the show's central ...

in ''EastEnders'',

Stella Price Stella Price is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera '' Coronation Street'', played by Michelle Collins. Collins' casting was announced in April 2011 and she began filming her scenes in May. The actress commuted from north L ...

in ''Coronation Street''),

Alison King Alison Rosamund King (born 3 March 1973) is an English actress and model. She is known for her roles as Lynda Block in the Sky One drama series ''Dream Team'' (1998–2003, 2005–2007), and Carla Connor in the long-running ITV soap opera ''Cor ...

(

Carla Connor Carla Barlow (also Connor and Gordon) is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'', played by Alison King. She made her first appearance on screen during the episode airing on 1 December 2006 and introduced as ...

in ''Coronation Street''),

Chris O'Dowd Christopher O'Dowd (born 9 October 1979) is an Irish actor and comedian. He received wide attention as Roy Trenneman, one of the lead characters in the Channel 4 comedy '' The IT Crowd'', which ran for four series between 2006 and 2010. He has ...

(Brendan Davenport in '' The Clinic''),

Jennifer Ellison Jennifer Lesley Ellison (born 30 May 1983) is an English actress, former glamour model, television personality, dancer and singer. Ellison is perhaps best known for playing Emily Shadwick in the television soap opera ''Brookside'' until 2003, and ...

( Emily Shadwick in ''Brookside'') and

Julie Goodyear Julie Goodyear MBE (''née'' Kemp; born 29 March 1942) is an English actress. She is known for portraying Bet Lynch in the long-running ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street''. She first appeared as Bet for nine episodes in 1966, before becoming ...

( Bet Lynch in ''Coronation Street'').

External links

Official website
Laundry detergents Procter & Gamble brands Cleaning product brands Cleaning products {{Product-stub