Vim is the name of a range of household cleaning products originally produced by Lever Brothers (later Unilever).[1] The Vim brand is currently owned by the German multinational company Henkel, while Unilever retains ownership in Canada and Vietnam.
History
Vim scouring powder, one of the first products created by William Lever, first appeared on the market in 1904, an offshoot of Monkey Brand scouring soap. The name is thought to derive from the colloquial English word "vim" which has the same meaning as the Latin vis, vim ("force", "vigour").[2]
Vim was produced at Port Sunlight near Liverpool, England. The name Vim remained solely associated with the scouring powder until 1993, when a range of associated products were released. Vim was also the name of a detergent tablet manufactured by Lever Brothers, and sold in the United States during the 1960s. It was the sponsor of the sitcom on CBS, The Lucy Show, starring Lucille Ball.
Former owner Unilever abandoned Vim in favour of rival product Jif, although it was still sold in some other countries in Europe.
In December 2004, it was sold to the group
See also
- Ajax, for many years the main competitor to Vim in the market in the United Kingdom
References
- Vim at Unilever's Consumer Canada website.^
- Adrian Room. Dictionary of Trade Name Origins Routledge, 1983^
- New Vim & vigour Sunday Mirror, 5 December 2004^