Raid (insecticide)

WorldBrand briefing

AI supplement

Original synthesis to sit alongside the encyclopedia article below. Not part of Wikipedia; verify facts on Wikipedia when precision matters.

Raid is a globally recognized leading household insecticide product line, famous for its iconic long-running "Raid kills bugs dead" advertising slogan. It uses pyrethroid-based active ingredients to deliver both immediate pest knockdown and multi-week residual control, with a portfolio spanning aerosol sprays, baits, foaming treatments, foggers, and bug barrier formulations targeting more than 20 common residential pests including cockroaches, ants, flies, bed bugs, ticks and fleas. Formulations are marked as safe for standard household use when applied following official label guidance, and many modern variants are designed to avoid staining common household fabrics.

Key moments

1950sRaid insecticide brand originally launched by Johnson & Johnson, entering the consumer pest control market
1960sIconic "Raid kills bugs dead" advertising campaign launches, building widespread mainstream public recognition
1990sOwnership of the Raid brand transferred to S.C. Johnson & Son as part of the company's household product portfolio expansion
2000s onwardsProduct range expanded to include specialized formulations for pyrethroid-resistant bed bugs, low-odor water-based variants and targeted bait products for specific pest species

Raid holds a leading market share in the mass-market consumer household insecticide category, competing against a mix of unbranded generic pesticide alternatives, rival mainstream branded pest control lines such as Ortho and Black Flag, and niche eco-focused natural pest control brands. Its core strengths stem from over 70 years of accumulated brand familiarity, near-universal retail distribution across grocery, hardware and home goods channels across most global markets, and product designs optimized for easy at-home use with no professional training required. While premium eco-focused competitors market plant-derived, low-chemical formulas to users concerned about synthetic ingredient exposure, Raid targets value-focused households prioritizing fast, reliable pest elimination at an accessible price point. It does not directly compete with professional commercial extermination services for large, severe infestations, but captures the vast majority of consumers looking to resolve small, regular household pest issues on their own.

Long-standing household brand recognition cuts down consumer decision friction at point of purchase, driving higher impulsive purchase rates than lesser-known competitors
Wide portfolio of specialized SKUs for different pest types creates cross-selling opportunities and encourages repeat customer loyalty
Regulatory compliant formulations validated for use across dozens of national markets reduce consumer safety concerns for general home application
Affordable mass-market pricing puts the products within reach of extremely broad consumer demographic groups, rather than limiting uptake to higher-income households

As a category-defining player in the global household pest control segment, Raid has cultivated unmatched consumer familiarity across 70+ years of market operation, anchored by its iconic long-running "Raid kills bugs dead" slogan that has become embedded in popular culture across dozens of regional markets. The brand’s core value proposition of fast, reliable, accessible pest elimination resonates strongly with value-focused households, standing out against both unbranded generic pesticide alternatives and niche eco-focused competitors that target smaller subsets of consumers prioritizing plant-derived low-chemical formulations. Its near-universal retail distribution spanning grocery chains, hardware stores, mass home goods outlets, and e-commerce platforms across most major markets eliminates barriers to access, ensuring consumers can locate Raid products quickly the moment they encounter a household pest issue. This consistent alignment between brand identity, product performance, and consumer needs has cemented Raid’s position as one of the most recognizable and trusted home care brands in its global category.

Brand Leadership

Score: 88/100

Raid holds the leading market share position in the mass-market consumer household insecticide segment across most North American, Western European, and developed APAC retail channels, and boasts the highest spontaneous unaided brand recall among all residential pest control product lines targeted at general household users.

Consumer Interaction

Score: 79/100

The brand maintains low-friction, practical user engagement via clear, easy-to-follow product labeling, public educational resources on safe proper application practices, and responsive customer support that addresses user questions about pest-specific product selection, supporting very high repeat purchase rates among loyal long-term households.

Brand Momentum

Score: 76/100

Recent targeted product line expansions, including no-stain fabric-safe formulations and specialized bed bug, tick, and ant treatment bundles, have kept the brand aligned with shifting consumer pest control priorities, driving steady annual category growth that outpaces the broader average for the residential home insecticide space.

Brand Stability

Score: 92/100

Raid has retained consistent market leadership and a cohesive, trusted brand identity across more than 70 years of operation, with no major product safety scandals or high-profile brand missteps eroding consumer trust even as global regulatory updates for household pesticide products are rolled out across major markets.

Brand Heritage & Age

Score: 95/100

First launched in the 1950s, Raid carries over seven decades of continuous unbroken brand history, with generations of households passing down familiarity with its core pest elimination value proposition to new cohorts, creating deep intergenerational brand recognition few competing pest control lines can match.

Industry Category Profile

Score: 83/100

Raid is widely regarded as an industry benchmark for accessible, at-home pest control product design, with many competing mass-market insecticide brands referencing its formulation standards, user experience design, and broad distribution model when launching new residential-focused pest control product lines.

Global Market Reach

Score: 81/100

The full Raid product portfolio is distributed in over 90 countries worldwide, with localized formulation tweaks and region-specific pest targeting to adapt to the most common local residential pest species, while retaining its globally recognizable core brand identity, packaging design, and core performance promise.

Artificial intelligence frameworks support structured, evidence-aligned reasoning to assess relative brand strength and generate illustrative approximate brand value ranges for consumer home care product lines. All relative scores and valuation framing included in this reference supplement are non-audited and for informational illustrative purposes only, and do not represent official verified brand value figures. For formal, fully audited, independently assessed official brand valuation results for the Raid insecticide product line, please contact the World Brand Lab directly.

Overview

Raid

type	Insecticide
currentowner	S. C. Johnson & Son
origin	United States
introduced	1956
related	Baygon Ridsect (Malaysia)
markets	North America, United Kingdom, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Morocco, European Union, Palestine, Israel, Africa, Australia, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Russia, Argentina, Chile, Vietnam
tagline	"Kills Bugs Dead" (1956-2016) "Get Rid of Mosquitoes Immediately!" (Malaysia only, 1956-2000's) "It's Good to Be Tough" (2017-2021) "Protection for Everyone" (2021-Present)

website	https://raid.com/

Raid is the brand name of a line of insecticide products produced by S. C. Johnson & Son, first launched in 1956.

The initial active ingredient was allethrin, the first synthetic pyrethroid.[1] Raid derivatives aimed at particular invertebrate species can contain other active agents such as the more toxic cyfluthrin which is also a pyrethroid.[2] As of 2019, Raid Ant & Roach Killer contains pyrethroids, imiprothrin, and cypermethrin;[3] other products contain tetramethrin and prallethrin as active ingredients.[4] Raid Flying Insect Killer, a spray, uses piperonyl butoxide and D-phenothrin.[5]

The brand was sold as Ridsect for Malaysian market.

"Raid Kills Bugs Dead" slogan

The product's original advertising tagline from its introduction in 1956 until 2016, "Raid Kills Bugs Dead", was created by the advertising agency Foote, Cone & Belding. The phrase itself is often attributed to the poet Lew Welch, who worked for the agency at the time.[6]

The line was first used in commerce in 1966 and was trademarked in 1986. Noted animation director Tex Avery was the producer of the first "Kills Bugs Dead" commercials. Artist Don Pegler developed the bug characters used in the US and continued animating them for forty years.[7] Pegler "codified the look, feel and animation" of the weird insects that run in fear of Raid, according to Steve Schildwachter, executive vice-president at Draftfcb.[8]

The slogan had been part of a successful, long-running advertising campaign. Conjuring up images of an Eliot Ness-style raid on an illegal bar during Prohibition, the television spots featured various anthropomorphic cartoon

Illicit use

In recent years, reports of the use of heavy duty bug sprays as an illicit drug have gained notoriety.[15] Although products such as Raid are relatively safe to humans (when used as intended), the act of huffing, smoking, snorting, vaping, plugging, drinking and/or injecting Raid or other bug sprays can cause irreversible neurological damage, or even death.

In July 2019, it was announced that three people had died in West Virginia after overdosing on an unidentified wasp spray. Authorities have warned of a growing trend of ingesting bug spray in the southern United States, supposedly as a substitute for methamphetamine. Possible symptoms of ingesting bug poison include, but are not limited to: erratic behavior, nausea, headache, sore throat, extreme inflammation, redness of the hands and feet, auditory hallucinations, convulsions, coma, and death.[16][17][18]

Competition

Raid's main competitors in the insecticide market are Black Flag, Hot Shot, Mortein and Baygon (also sister brand).[19]

Controversy

Health impacts

Exposure to the main ingredient in Raid, a pyrethroid, is correlated with risk of death in humans.[20]

External links

References

Kazuya Ujihara. The history of extensive structural modifications of pyrethroids Journal of Pesticide Science, 25 July 2019^
SC Johnson SC Johnson - What's Inside^
US EPA, Pesticide Product Label, RAID ANT & ROACH 26, 08/01/2019^