1978 Tide Washing Powder advert from the UK

Tide (Alo or Ace in some countries) is the brand-name of a popular laundry detergent manufactured by Procter & Gamble and first introduced to the United States consumer in 1946. It is also marketed in Canada, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, India and several other countries. Originally in the form of a white powdered bead, the Tide detergents line was later expanded to include orange, clear, and dark-blue liquids. The brand is recognized by its distinctive orange-and-yellow bulls-eye logo. Tide was the first heavy-duty synthetic detergent, the development of which was designated an ACS National Historical Chemical Landmark.

Background

The chore of doing the laundry began to change with the introduction of washing powders in the 1880s. These new laundry products originally were simply pulverized soap. New cleaning-product marketing successes, such as the 1890s introduction of the N. K. Fairbank Company’s Gold Dust Washing Powder (which used a breakthrough hydrogenation process in its formulation),and Hudson’s heavily advertised product, Rinso, proved that there was a ready market for better cleaning agents. Henkel & Cie’s “self-activating” (or self bleaching) cleaner, “Persil;” (introduced in 1907); the early synthetic detergent, BASF’s “FeWA” (introduced in 1932); and Procter & Gamble’s 1933 totally synthetic creation, “Dreft,” (marketed for use on infant-wear) —all indicated significant advances in the laundry cleaning product market.

The detergent business was further revolutionized with the discovery of the alkylbenzene sulfonates, which, when combined with the use of chemical “builders”, made machine washing with hard water possible. This presented Proctor and Gamble with the opportunity to create a product such as “Tide“.

Info gleaned from Wikipedia