Surf is the name of a brand of laundry detergent by Unilever, which is blue in colour
Proctor & Gamble was the first to use one brand name for its leading detergent Tide in some countries and another brand name, with a different package Ariel in the others. Unilever copied this policy. The company markets Surf in many countries and OMO in the remainder (or alternate All) where Surf would not have the required impact/is already known for other products. The products are almost identical, although formulations vary in different regions to cater the local preference for perfume and cleaning requirements. But the packages are dissimilar enough that retailers stock Surf in the same section with OMO, often at the same price, so consumers must believe they are different products. The approximate global distribution is:
Surf was first introduced by the Unilever corporation in 1953, and became the Unilever spearhead in the synthetic detergent market. The product was first created to hold Unilever's dominance in the detergent market, which had been slowly eroding due to fierce competition from Procter & Gamble and its first global brand detergent, Tide. Surf became the major detergent sold by the corporation when its other soap powder, Rinso, was phased out of production in the 1970s.
In the UK, where Unilever also manufacture Persil detergent, Surf is marketed as a lower-priced brand aimed at budget-conscious shoppers, whereas Persil is aimed at the higher end of the market. In the rest of the world Persil is owned and marketed by Henkel, a competitor of Unilever - hence 'Surf is lead brand. Persil is not marketed in the United States
Unilever’s global detergent brands include: Skip, the pre-war brand Sunlight, Sun and Vim and Surf