Has anyone come across this?

"Is it normal for large companies such as, say, P&G to make the same product - in the same package - but change the scent for where it is sold? And do some retired scents end up elsewhere?"

Answer to your first query is "yes". P&G like Unilever, Henkel/Dial and the rest have huge R&D along with marketing departments that are among other things responsible for gearing products to certain markets, even when part of same line.

For instance P&G long tested Tide detergent (at least when it was a powder) in markets across USA to see how it worked with different water supplies and other factors.

Detergents also are tested against common soils for market intended. UK for instance is big on beetroot and curry, so any detergent worth its salt must tackle those soils. In France it is red wine (surprise, surprise)....

Scent wise for both laundry detergents and fabric softeners, yes there is a wide variety of what local noses find acceptable. IMHO many products in France are far to highly scented,but the French seem to love strong scents overall including on laundry.

What smells like "fresh" clean laundry varies by region as well. Mexican and Latin American laundry products IMHO overall are powerfully scented. Even Ace (their Tide) seems different scent wise than Tide.

Lavender is very popular scent for laundry detergents and fabric softeners sold in France, but you don't see that much of it about in States.

P&G like many other conglomerates IIRC has moved to a "North American" model which means products are for Mexico, USA and Canada. Some are targeted mostly for one country (hence your Downy bottle entirely in Spanish), while others are printed in English/French/Spanish, or just English/Spanish, or English/French.

P&G like others do have expiration dates for their laundry products. Things that don't sell in say USA supermarkets are taken back and moved on to discount/off price places. Although given how frequently Tide is on sale at Rite Aid have a hunch they are getting things that are close to end of shelf life date.

P&G won't sell products that are expired that am aware of; retired products again as with things that didn't sell are moved on to various sources.

Remember that poster who popped up in here asking about that box of Bold detergent no one in USA had seen before, but swore he purchased at some odd lots type of store? That's the sort of thing am talking about.

P&G also knows suppliers or distributors are getting their hands on products meant for sale in Mexico or Canada by various means besides official channels.

Remember years ago now people were buying all that phosphate laden Mexican detergents that were showing up where they shouldn't? P&G at first stated they had nothing to do with how various vendors got their mitts on such things. Later they simply removed phosphates from all laundry products period, so that solved that issue.

Once confined to major urban areas, the Latino/Hispanic consumer market is booming nearly everywhere in USA. As such am not surprised various products intended for south of the border keep popping up.


Forum Topics & Rules Manuals & Literature	New users Click-here to sign-up

Post# 1082414 7/25/2020 at 22:44 (1,367 days old) by volvoman (West Windsor, NJ)
Checkrate/Likes Found this at my local Ollie’s today. It looks like Mexican Downy, but with US packaging, a US phone number, and instructions to visit the US Downy website. However, it smells nothing like US Downy. It was more of a flowery scent, mixed with cedar. I liked it a lot; will probably try it tomorrow. Is it normal for large companies such as, say, P&G to make the same product - in the same package - but change the scent for where it is sold? And do some retired scents end up elsewhere? Photos... < > Photo 1 of 4 View Full Size

Post# 1082417 , Reply# 1 7/25/2020 at 23:09 (1,367 days old) by Launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage)
Checkrate/Likes 5 "Is it normal for large companies such as, say, P&G to make the same product - in the same package - but change the scent for where it is sold? And do some retired scents end up elsewhere?" Answer to your first query is "yes". P&G like Unilever, Henkel/Dial and the rest have huge R&D along with marketing departments that are among other things responsible for gearing products to certain markets, even when part of same line. For instance P&G long tested Tide detergent (at least when it was a powder) in markets across USA to see how it worked with different water supplies and other factors. Detergents also are tested against common soils for market intended. UK for instance is big on beetroot and curry, so any detergent worth its salt must tackle those soils. In France it is red wine (surprise, surprise).... Scent wise for both laundry detergents and fabric softeners, yes there is a wide variety of what local noses find acceptable. IMHO many products in France are far to highly scented,but the French seem to love strong scents overall including on laundry. What smells like "fresh" clean laundry varies by region as well. Mexican and Latin American laundry products IMHO overall are powerfully scented. Even Ace (their Tide) seems different scent wise than Tide. Lavender is very popular scent for laundry detergents and fabric softeners sold in France, but you don't see that much of it about in States. P&G like many other conglomerates IIRC has moved to a "North American" model which means products are for Mexico, USA and Canada. Some are targeted mostly for one country (hence your Downy bottle entirely in Spanish), while others are printed in English/French/Spanish, or just English/Spanish, or English/French. P&G like others do have expiration dates for their laundry products. Things that don't sell in say USA supermarkets are taken back and moved on to discount/off price places. Although given how frequently Tide is on sale at Rite Aid have a hunch they are getting things that are close to end of shelf life date. P&G won't sell products that are expired that am aware of; retired products again as with things that didn't sell are moved on to various sources. Remember that poster who popped up in here asking about that box of Bold detergent no one in USA had seen before, but swore he purchased at some odd lots type of store? That's the sort of thing am talking about. P&G also knows suppliers or distributors are getting their hands on products meant for sale in Mexico or Canada by various means besides official channels. Remember years ago now people were buying all that phosphate laden Mexican detergents that were showing up where they shouldn't? P&G at first stated they had nothing to do with how various vendors got their mitts on such things. Later they simply removed phosphates from all laundry products period, so that solved that issue. Once confined to major urban areas, the Latino/Hispanic consumer market is booming nearly everywhere in USA. As such am not surprised various products intended for south of the border keep popping up.

Post# 1082425 , Reply# 2 7/26/2020 at 00:32 (1,367 days old) by D-jones (Western Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh Area))
Checkrate/Likes 2 As usual Launderess you are a treasure trove of information.

Post# 1082430 , Reply# 3 7/26/2020 at 01:25 (1,367 days old) by Launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage)
Checkrate/Likes Here ya go! www.amazon.com/-/es/Downy...

Post# 1082431 , Reply# 4 7/26/2020 at 02:12 (1,367 days old) by Launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage)
Checkrate/Likes Other packaging, don't think have seen this in USA, not locally anyway. www.downy.mx/es-mx/produc...

Post# 1082432 , Reply# 5 7/26/2020 at 02:21 (1,367 days old) by Launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage)
Checkrate/Likes *Job Lot Source* Places like this: www.bargainw.com/wholesal...

Post# 1082453 , Reply# 6 7/26/2020 at 10:21 (1,367 days old) by iej (.... )
Checkrate/Likes European Ariel Liquid is made in France to same spec all over and I think a lot of Americans would find it a a fairly strange scent. It’s hard to define but it has notes of lilly of the valley, lavender and even pine in there. Ariel powder is also hard to describe. Unilever Persil and Skip in France seem to be identical to me. Scent is very much the same. The non bio / sensitive version smells a bit like some Dove shower gels to me. Lavender is very commonly used in France, but also British and Irish soaps historically. You’ll find a lot of lavender scented products historically, particularly things like floor polishes and so on. It’s a very classical scent. Also it’s still fairly common (especially amongst older folks) to put bags of dried lavender into linen drawers, wardrobes and so on. In theory it was about preventing moths, but in reality it’s just a really nice scent. Surf in this market sell a herbal blend liquid that I really like the smell of. It’s just a pity that Surf itself isn’t a particularly good detergents. It’s Omo/Skip/Persil with usually just one enzyme, which makes no sense anymore as it’s no longer positioned as a budget brand, but more all about the fragrances. The detergent I absolutely adore the scent of is a semi ecological one by Reckitt & Benckiser (R&B) called Botanical Origins, which seems to be made in Spain. It’s a full multi enzyme detergent, that works extremely well but the orange blossom version just smells amazing! There’s a l’occitane fragrance, Neroli & Orchidée which has a candle which I really, really like too and Piz Buen sunscreen products, all have similar notes to that.

Post# 1082537 , Reply# 7 7/26/2020 at 19:10 (1,366 days old) by Launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage)
Checkrate/Likes *Why Do They Do This?* Allow such wide sales or distribution of products where they shouldn't? Simple, products have finite shelf life, especially fabric softeners that can separate and go gloppy if not used in time. It can be difficult to match production to what sells, so things that don't and or are surplus have to get moved on somewhere some how. Though most of us who use vintage or otherwise dead stock products would say otherwise, P&G, Henkel and rest do not advise using expired products. Know supermarkets and other places that get things from proper distribution channels will pull unsold stock that is sent back to P&G, where it ends up see above. What cannot be sold outright through normal channels there are always various discount or dollar stores that buy up things by case or job lots. Many of these places aren't up on pulling old/dead stock. This explains finding products long discontinued, and or where packaging (bottle or box) has aged so badly it has discolored.