Cif is a French brand of household cleaning products owned by the Anglo-Dutch company Unilever, known as Jif in Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Middle East and the Nordic countries. Cif was launched in France in 1965 and was marketed in competition against scouring powders (such as Vim scouring powder) as a creamy and hence protective, but powerful household cleaner. Name Cif is sold under the names Jif, Vim, Viss and Handy Andy, depending on which of the 51 countries it is sold in. In Sweden, and South Africa, the products were originally sold under the name Vim before this was changed to Jif, the launch name in the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Netherlands and Hong Kong. In January 2001, the name in most of these countries was changed to Cif in order to align marketing and product inventories across the continent. Despite this, many in Ireland, continue to call the product Jif. The name change from Jif to Cif was confirmed by Unilever in December 2000. In Belgium, Finland and Portugal, the product was known as Vim for quite some time, after which it became Cif. In Canada and India, it is still called Vim. Recently advertisements for Cif surface grease cleaner have started to appear in India, while the Vim name is still used for the kitchen dish cleaning product. In Germany, the cleaner's name is Viss. In Norway, the product is still today traded as Jif and owned by Orkla ASA. It is also still traded in Iraq as Jif, with local Arabic and English writing. Products Cif Bathroom Mousse Cif Stainless Steel Cleaner Cif Bathroom Cleaner Cif Kitchen Cleaner Cif Power Cream Cif Cream Cleaner, a non-abrasive version References External links UK product website Australian Jif product website German Viss product website (in German) Japanese Jif product website (in Japanese) Unilever brands Reckitt brands Cleaning products Cleaning product brands Orkla ASA Products introduced in 1969