Spiffits are a group of
brand
A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create ...
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
Lysol (; spelled Lizol in India) is a brand of American cleaning and disinfecting products distributed by Reckitt, which markets the similar Dettol or Sagrotan in other markets. The line includes liquid solutions for hard and soft surfaces, ai ...
,
Pledge,
Clorox
The Clorox Company (formerly Clorox Chemical Company) is an American global manufacturer and marketer of consumer and professional products. As of 2020 the Oakland, California based company had approximately 8,800 employees worldwide. Net sales ...
and
Endust
Endust is an American brand of dusting aid produced by Nakoma Products. A dusting aid is sprayed on a dustcloth or dustmop, rather than directly on the furniture.
The brand was developed by O-Cedar, a division of Martin Marietta, in the 1950s; Dra ...
brands. The Spiffits towelettes were manufactured by DowBrands, the consumer products division of the
Dow Chemical Company at the time. The product was launched with an $18 million-dollar advertising campaign developed by Henderson Advertising, of
Greenville, South Carolina. 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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