P&G to strike Danny Baker from Daz ads

Procter & Gamble has confirmed that it plans to axe TV celebrity Danny Baker from its Daz commercials in May and replace him with another household name.

Procter & Gamble has confirmed that it plans to axe TV celebrity Danny Baker from its Daz commercials in May and replace him with another household name.

Danny Baker helped Daz achieve one of the highest spontaneous recalls in television advertising, with “The doorstep challenge”. According to Marketing Week’s brand track survey (MW November 18), Daz scored the highest spontaneous recall of any detergent brand with 54 per cent, followed by Lever’s Persil (48 per cent) and Ariel (43 per cent).

P&G has used personalities to advertise Daz for over 40 years, always featuring “real” women.

The commercials, through Leo Burnett, were shortlisted for last year’s Institute of Practitioner’s in Advertising Advertising Effectiveness awards.

P&G would not reveal why Danny Baker had been dropped, or who his replacement would be, but stressed that it was not because of the brand’s performance. The company claims Daz is performing well against rival brands. According to unofficial sources, Daz has 11 per cent of the total washing powder market by volume. It is in fourth place after Ariel, Persil and combined own-label brands.

According to Register MEAL, P&G spends about £12m on the Daz brand. It was launched in the UK in 1953. Daz automatic ap-peared in 1979, Daz Ultra in 1990 and Daz Ultra Liquid and Daz Colour in 1992.