cif

[mayennaise]

Why the name change from Jif

[Hopkirk]

I think it was called Cif in Europe already.

The letter J is pronounced differently in many languages, which can cause confusion.

EG In French J is pronounced G, and G is pronounced J

In Spanish J is more of a Y I think.

[Hopkirk]

Before being called Jif it was called Vim.

[DickieBrakelight]

and oddly enough Ajax had a manager called Vim

[chokkie]

One could also ask why other products have changed their name. It's obviously all about the european market. I thought that Cillit Bang used to be called something else. And what about all those chocolate bars that have had their names changed ....

[spudqueen]

Well I never knew that Jif it was Vim. I'd forgotten all about Vim. Anyway, I found this
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cif

[heathfield]

My wife and I still refuse to call it anything but Jif! As to it being called Vim, as in Spudqueen's link, that came as something of a surprise. Vim, in my day, was a dry scouring powder just as Ajax still is today. But manufacturers not only mess about with the names of their products, (Charmin = Cushell, Bounty = Plenty, etc,), they mess around with the product's ingredients. Vanish was originally an eco-friendly all- natural ingredient detergent, rather like Ecover is today. It was so harmless, you could actually use it as a shower gel. It cleaned everything and left it streak-free - worked beautifully on windows, (and even my car's starter motor!). But Reckitt and Benckiser bought Vanish over, and thought they could improve the product by adding all sorts of chemical nasty stuff to the original formula. Instead of improving it, they totally messed it up.
That said, naming products is a big problem for global manufacturers. Panels sit and plough through dictionaries of the world's languages to make sure a suggested name won't mean something horrid or laughable in another country. (e.g. It was suggested that Vauxhall's ''Nova'' meant ''No Go'' in Brazil!). ''Cif'' is unfortunate in this respect, having a name that sounds like an unwelcome social disease! I'll keep calling it ''Jif''.

[Greedyfly]

http://www.theanswerb...s/Question916762.html