Despite being the biggest-spending fast moving consumer goods category in terms of advertising, the washing powder and liquid sub-category cut its year-on-year ad spend a whopping 65% to £5.32m in the four weeks to 1 March.

The reduction in spend underscores how spooked even the leading brands have been by the economic crisis as most increase their promotional activity at the expense of advertising.

However, those that advertised this time last year are active again this year, albeit at a vastly reduced spend level and focusing on a smaller range of variants and sub-brands.

Unilever's market-leading fabric conditioner Comfort brand spent just £506,222 in the four weeks to 1 March - down a massive 74% on the £1.94m it spent in the same period last year, taking its year-to-date spend to £1.54m.

The fall in spend is all the more marked given that it comes after 40 years of almost consistent support for the brand, which continues to use the Clothworld creative to convey the dual message of naturalness and performance.

Meanwhile, Procter & Gamble's Ariel spent £829,257 in the four weeks to 1 March - down 54% on the £1.81m it shelled out last year, taking its year-to-date spend to £1.78m.

Ariel supported its new stain ­remover Excel Gel with a 30-second spot that focuses on its claim to ­deliver outstanding cleaning and ends with the strapline 'Brrrilliant'.

Procter & Gamble's advertising spend for Bold was down 51% year-on-year from £1.22m to £600,454, taking its year-to-date spend to £1.36m, and was deployed on a cheap and cheerful 10-second television commercial for its 2-in-1 variant focusing on the brand's value credentials.

Unilever's Persil suffered a 78% cut, the largest in the category, and like other brands in the category is moving away from performance towards value as the basis of its messaging.

The brand was supported with television advertisements for Small & Mighty, which boasts it can do the same number of washes as a bottle twice its size.

Likewise its advertising spend is having to work more than twice as hard as before. Unilever spent £506,631 on Persil in the four weeks to 1 March compared with £2.3m a year earlier.