Electrasol® Gets Rinsed Away… new name is Finish®

Posted on 04/28/2009 by admin

It’s tough to give up a legacy product name, no matter how goofy or unrelated it sounds. I saw a TV ad this weekend announcing that Electrasol, the tried and trusted name in dishwasher detergents, is now Finish®. Come to find out, Finish was already the name for the product everywhere outside the U.S. and the company wanted to simply “clean up” their branding hierarchy and have all the dishwashing related products under one unified name. According to their web site, “FINISH® products are the same ELECTRASOL® and JET-DRY® products that you know and trust, now backed by the power of the world’s #1 dishwashing brand.”

I could find no trace of where the original name Electrasol® came from (two partners Electra and Sol? Spanish for “electric” and “sun?”) Regardless, the new name Finish® is much simpler and has an implied promise (to “finish” the job, or to put a “finish” on the dishes.) Some will lament the change just because consumers get attached to the way things are, but overall this is a good move. Fractured branding becomes a nusance at some point, both in terms of time, attention, packaging and promotion.

(Now if the parent company, Reckitt Benckiser, would take it one step further and simplify their own name.)