Tampax is a bran of tampon from Procter & Gamble. It was originally both the name of an independent company for over 50 years, based in Palmer, Massachusetts (with headquarters in New York), and the product itself. Renamed Tambrands, Inc. during the 1980s, P&G purchased it in the late 1990s. It was noted for decades as having the dominate share of the tampon market, challenged in the USA mostly by Playtex, J&J, Kimberly-Clark and briefly by P&G's failed product from the 1970s called "Rely". The "Rely" tampon was pulled from the market after being associated with toxic shock syndrome (TSS).