Has Dishwashing Really Become This Difficult?

Never has dishwashing become so complicated.  No wonder sales of automatic dishwashers has grown in recent years.  Recently I was sent to the store to purchase some dishwashing detergent.  I think that my wife had confidence in me making such a major purchase since I spent thirty of my forty years at P&G in the Package Soap Division.  I had worked on the development of Dawn, ivory, Joy, Bridget (gotcha on that one), Cinch, etc.  I had no idea of the daunting task of selection.  Not only did it seem like there were a hundred brands but so many options in each brand.  The brand selection was easy.  I know my wife prefers Dawn but which one?  The following were the alternatives.

Dawn Dishwashing Detergent:

    Product Color           Label Tag

Yellow                Sunrise Citrus Scent
Yellow                Lemon Scent - Effective on Grease
Yellow                Lemon Scent - Easily Removes Stuck on Grease
Green                  Rain Forest Splash Scent
Green                  Fresh Escapes Apple Blossom - Antibacterial
Blue                    Original Scent
Blue                    Original Scent - New Fast Acting Formula
Dark Blue            Power Plus
Light Blue            Plus Hand Care
Orange                Antibacterial
Gold                    Fresh Escapes - Citrus Burst - New Fast Acting Formula
Rust                    Antibacterial - New Fast Acting Formula
Red                     Fresh Escapes - Wild Flower Medley

If I have counted right, that is 13 different configurations.  And that does not even consider the three different bottle sizes or the two different bottle types, transparent and opaque.

I made my selection.  My wife did not comment on the selection but I expect that the next time she will either make the purchase herself or give me very explicit instructions.  So much for the difficulty of a husband's shopping trip in this new age of technology.  My father was not saddled with such decisions.  I remember when the number one dishwashing detergent was Tide.  How simple:  one box for both laundry and dishwashing.  My dad's life was so much easier.  Actually so was grandpa's.  He would purchase either Fels Naptha or Tag.  Both brands were used for both dishwashing and laundry.  Isn't modern day technology great?

On a serious note, are all these options really necessary for such a simple task?  No wonder the trade is charging slotting fees and limiting shelf space.  Do they really expect the trade to stock all the options?  How much time, effort and cost is associated with the development, manufacturing and distribution of each version?  Couldn't the different divisions of R&D, Marketing and Sales have better things to do with their time?

P.S.  Sunday's FSIs contained a coupon for Palmolive and listed 8 versions in at least 4 sizes (13 oz., 14.7 oz., 25 oz. and larger)