Crowded around the kitchen sink filled with grease-slicked water, my mom said “now watch” and grasped the squeeze bottle of mysterious blue stuff, letting drip just one tiny drop of liquid wonder – Dawn – onto the surface. We all sucked in a breath as the grease snapped to attention and scuttled away, recoiling up the sides of the sink like a lobster trying to scramble from the pot. It was 1973 and it seemed like a miracle to a ten year old consigned to do the family dishes just one year earlier.
Many years of Dawn use later, I was excited to see this kitchen miracle and popular party trick expand into another room in the home—the laundry room. Tide with Dawn Stain Scrubbers dares to attack food stains with the power of Dawn. So says the bottle.
Not to be outdone by a detergent, I gave it a military strength test. I take a pillow case and stain it with stripes of ketchup, mustard and barbecue sauce – just like a kid or a drunk 27 year old would by rubbing his tired face into the pillow.
Then the games begin.
I cut the cloth into four equally stained segments and treat each differently:
1) Tide with Dawn in the washer as usual.
2) Tide with Dawn pretreated with Tide with Dawn, then wash as usual.
3) Trader Joe Detergent that smells really cool of lavender and righteousness.
4) Trader Joe pretreated with Trader Joe, which sounds just a little kinky if you ask me.
Now, Trader Joe is not exactly a stalwart of the stain-killing variety. And, my test results indicate that neither is Tide with Dawn, at least not under these torturous conditions. Tide with Dawn did kick the pants off Trader Joe (wonder what he wears under those pants). But it did not return the pillow case to its original pre-stained splendor. Nope, Tide with Dawn wouldn’t remove the stain from my reputation it I put that pillow case back on the bed, but hey since I’d torn it to shreds it’s no longer suitable for toddlers or 27 year olds anyway. So, it’s about as good as any other Tide but certainly no party trick.
Many years of Dawn use later, I was excited to see this kitchen miracle and popular party trick expand into another room in the home—the laundry room. Tide with Dawn Stain Scrubbers dares to attack food stains with the power of Dawn. So says the bottle.
Not to be outdone by a detergent, I gave it a military strength test. I take a pillow case and stain it with stripes of ketchup, mustard and barbecue sauce – just like a kid or a drunk 27 year old would by rubbing his tired face into the pillow.
Then the games begin.
I cut the cloth into four equally stained segments and treat each differently:
1) Tide with Dawn in the washer as usual.
2) Tide with Dawn pretreated with Tide with Dawn, then wash as usual.
3) Trader Joe Detergent that smells really cool of lavender and righteousness.
4) Trader Joe pretreated with Trader Joe, which sounds just a little kinky if you ask me.
Now, Trader Joe is not exactly a stalwart of the stain-killing variety. And, my test results indicate that neither is Tide with Dawn, at least not under these torturous conditions. Tide with Dawn did kick the pants off Trader Joe (wonder what he wears under those pants). But it did not return the pillow case to its original pre-stained splendor. Nope, Tide with Dawn wouldn’t remove the stain from my reputation it I put that pillow case back on the bed, but hey since I’d torn it to shreds it’s no longer suitable for toddlers or 27 year olds anyway. So, it’s about as good as any other Tide but certainly no party trick.
The Data: Tide with Dawn has a strong success index at 123, but awareness and conversion potential are both on the low side. The success index is driven by high sharing scores indicating that the idea has talk value. Perhaps raising awareness would help maximize penetration by making those who are interested aware of the product.
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