Rinso
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Rinso was the brand name of a laundry soap most commonly used in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. It was manufactured by Unilever, starting in the early 20th century.
Rinso was one of the first mass-marketed soap powders. It sold well from its inception in 1918. It was advertised widely on radio in the 1930s. In the 1950s sales plummeted when a new detergent, Tide, maufactured by rival Procter & Gamble, proved to be much more popular. Rinso was revamped in the mid-1960s, and given a new name, Sunshine Rinso. The justification for the name change was that the new and improved Rinso now had "sunshine whiteners".
There was heavy ad backing (for example, a heavily played commercial during this time period was a pop version of a Sunshine Rinso jingle, set to You Are My Sunshine). Sales did not improve appreciably, and Rinso eventually disappeared from store shelves in both countries by the mid-1970s.
Rinso was, in effect, replaced with another Unilever detergent, Surf, in its two major markets.
However, Rinso is still being made by Unilever for the Turkish market and might be making a comeback in the U.S. since a Southern California chain (99 cents only store) has been carrying Rinso brand products for a few years now. It is possible that this could be their own brand if they have bought the rights to use the name in the U.S.
External Links
Turkish Rinso site (in Turkish) (http://www.unilever.com.tr/marka_rinso_sss.asp)