The TV ad for Fairy Liquid that didn’t quite add up

THE scientists at Fairy Liquid have spent more than 60 years tweaking the formula to ensure a little goes a long way – however, it seems, they struggle with basic maths.

The popular brand has run into trouble after a recent TV commercial caught the eye of former maths teacher James Clifton.

The voiceover proclaimed that the washing-up liquid lasts 50 per cent longer than rival products. However, this boast was illustrated with an image of Fairy Liquid next to two bottles of an unidentified rival – suggesting it lasts 100 per cent longer.

It was clear to Mr Clifton, who gave up a teaching career in September to launch a training business, that both could not be true and so he made a complaint.

Now the Advertising Standards Authority, which said that Mr Clifton was one of ten people to have spotted the problem, has

‘One was only half full’

instructed manufacturer Procter & Gamble to change the commercial. Mr Clifton, 39, said: ‘You do not need to be a maths genius to understand this was wrong.’

The problem appears to have occurred because Procter & Gamble has changed the way it markets Fairy Liquid.

For generations, it claimed Fairy lasted 50 per cent longer, but two years ago began claiming it lasted twice as long, a boast other manufacturers objected to. Now it has gone back to claiming it lasts 50 per cent longer.

Procter & Gamble said that while the advert compared Fairy’s lasting power to two bottles of a rival product, one of these was only half full. The company said the only error was that the images were not shown for long enough to make it clear that one bottle of Fairy is equivalent to one and a half bottles of a rival.