Mr. Clean

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mr. Clean is a brand name fully owned by Procter & Gamble. of a popular cleaning product. Mr. Clean also makes a melamine foam cleaner under the name-brand of Magic Eraser. Mr. Clean made its debut on the market in 1958. Within the first six months of the introduction, Mr. Clean became the top selling household cleaner on the market. In the summer of 1962, Mr. Clean grew to a convenient 40-oz size. In November of 1962, Mr. Clean was assigned a first name Veritably Clean as a result of the "Give Mr. Clean a First Name" promotion. In the winter of 1963 Mr. Clean played a police officer "Grimefighter" who really arrested dirt problems. In the summer of 1963 Mr. Clean became the first liquid household cleaner in a plastic bottle. In April 1965 Mr. Clean got mad at dirt and appeared as "New, Mean Mr. Clean." In the spring of 1966 Mr. Clean played "two-fisted" grime fighter, who knocked out dirt with one hand and left the shine with the other. Also offered a spray dispenser as promotion pack to increase convenience of use. In spring 1966 Mr. Clean offered clean and shine, in the "Mr. Clean leaves a sheen where you clean" campaign. He grew whiskers for brute strength, had a black eye to show floor "shiner" and testified in court against dirt. In Spring 1968 Mr clean was a "Changed Man" and was reformulated to include pine aroma and better cleaning "in the bucket." In October 1970 "Lemon Refreshed" Mr. Clean premiered. In the summer of 1974 "Two Fisted Mr. Clean" who was great at cleaning on one hand and on the other hand he leaves what's shiny gleaming. (This commerical brought back the use of the original Mr. Clean jingle). In July 1976 "Sunshine Fresh Mr. Clean" with improved fragrance was introduced. In December of 1981 Mr. Clean was had a new no-wax floor formula. In January 1983 Mr. Clean offered Lemon Bright improved no-wax formula. in March 1985 Mr. Clean celebrated his 24th anniversary as "The Man Behind the Shine" with donation of all Mr. Clean television commericals to the UCLA Film Television and Radio Archives. In July 1985 a new Mr. Clean was introduced with better full-strength cleaning to clean down to the shine like never before. Also in 1985 a national search for Mr. Clean look-alikes launched in Los Angeles. In 1996 Mr. Clean appeared in "How Times Have Changed" once again using the original Mr. Clean jingle and the new Ultra power in it.

The name "Clean" is usually translated into local languages: in Canadian French M. Net; in Spain, Don Limpio; in Mexico, Maestro Limpio; in Italy, Mastro Lindo; in Germany, Meister Proper; in France, Monsieur Propre.

The product's mascot is the character Mr. Clean. In 1957, Harry Barnhart conceived the idea and Ernie Allen in the art department at the ad agency Tatham-Laird & Kudner (Chicago), draws Mr. Clean as a muscular, tanned, bald man who cleans things very well. According to P&G, the original model is actually a Navy sailor from the city of Pensacola, FL, although most people think he is a genie based on his earring, folded arms, and tendency to magically appear at the appropriate time. Hal Mason, the head animator at Cascade Pictures in Hollywood, modified the already existing artwork in print advertising to be more readily used for the television commercials written, produced and directed by Thomas Scott Cadden. (Thomas Scott Cadden also wrote the words and music for the original Mr. Clean jingle - see below) Mr. Clean has always smiled, except for a brief time in the mid 1960s during the "Mean Mr. Clean" series of ads when he was frowning because "He hates dirt!" Although Mr. Clean is the strong, silent type, he did speak once in a TV commercial where live actor (Mark Dana) appeared playing Mr. Clean in a suit and tie in the mid 1960's. It has been suggested that Mr. Clean subliminally represented something of a "mystery man" for housewives at home alone cleaning the house.

^[1][2][3]

Historical Mr. Clean Commercials:
(Euro RSCG Tatham and predecessor agencies 1957-1998)
1) MC #1-60 "Jingle" (Original Commercial & Jingle) First air date - 1958
2) MC #22-60 "Fall House Cleaning" First air date - 1959
3) "Grime Fighter" First air date - 1963
4) "Mean Mr. Clean" First air date - 1965
5) "Gun" First air date - 1965
6) "Clean Sheen" First air date - 1966
7) "Dirt Not Wax II" First air date - 1966
8) "Lemon Happening" First air date - 1970
9) "Two-Fisted Mr. Clean" First air date - 1974
10) "Sun Bottle" First air date 1976
11) "Bottle Street" (Suzanne Sommers)
12) "Wet or Dry" - First air date 1983
13) "Tuna Sandwich"
14) "Mrs Randall"
15) "Wet or Dry Birthday"
16) "Man Behind the Shine" First air date - 1984
17) "Outshines Them All" First air date - 1985
18) "Moving In"
19) "Vacation Rental"
20) "Uncle Silas"
21) "Penthouse"
22) "Mr. Fixer-Upper"
23) "Country Living"
24) "Old Friend" (Bathroom)
25) "Turn Up Your Nose" (Mountain Falls)
26) "Doesn't Cut It" (Glass)
27) "The Right Bleach" (Bleach)
28) "Too Much Pine"
29) "Hands & Knees" (Ultra) First air date - 1994
30) "Youthful Glow" (Newer Floors)
31) "Big Bottle (Lemon Ultra)
32) "Times Have Changed" (Ultra/Equity) First air date 1996
33) "Let Me Demonstrate" (Versatiltiy/Spray)
34) "Dream Team" First air date - 1997
35) "Dream Spray" First air date - 1997
(Grey Advertising takes over Mr. Clean account in January 1999)
--) "Mr. Clean Magic Eraser"
--) "Mr. Clean with Febreze" First air date - 2007

[edit] Jingle

Mr. Clean's theme song (see jingle) has been around since the product's introduction, initially sung as a pop-music style duet between a man (Don Cherry) and a woman (Betty Bryan). Thomas Scott Cadden (1923-2007) wrote the jingle at his home in Skokie, IL in the spring of 1957 while working for Tatham-Laird & Kudner Advertising Agency. The vocal and piano recording was made on a home tape recorder for presentation to the agency and later to P&G. P&G OK'd the jingle in the spring/summer of 1957. Thomas Scott Cadden produced the recording of the jingle at Universal Recorders in Chicago in the summer/fall of 1957. Bill Walker was the arranger and Don Cherry & Betty Bryan (Later married to Jerry Birn writer for The Bold And The Beautiful & The Young And The Restless) were the singers. In January/February of 1958, Thomas Scott Cadden produced and wrote the first pool of television commercials (nine one-minute commercials and four 20-second "lifts". Included was the original full 60-second jingle commercial and the 10-second jingle "tag" at the end of all the others. They were produced at Cascade Pictures in Hollywood, CA. The first pool of commercials ran in August 1958 at WDTV/KDKA in Pittburgh, PA, the year the product was introduced. The jingle is copyrighted under numbers EU 589220 & EU 599221. The jingle is also registered with ASCAP under title code 570098598 & 570006267. It has been played as recently as 2008, usually in a contemporary musical setting or instrumental version. It is the longest running advertising jingle used in television history. Original Lyrics by Thomas Scott Cadden:

Chorus: Mr. Clean gets rid of dirt and grime
And grease in just a minute
Mr. Clean will clean your whole house
And everything that's in it

Verse #1: Floors, doors, walls, halls
White sidewall tires and old golfballs
Sinks, stoves, bathtubs he'll do
He'll even help clean laundry, too

Verse #2: Can he clean a kitchen sink?
Quicker than a wink
Can he clean a window sash?
Faster than a flash
Can he clean a dirty mirror?
He'll make it bright and clearer.
Can he clean a diamond ring?
Mr. Clean cleans anything

Mr. Clean gets rid of dirt and grime
And grease in just a minute
Mr. Clean will clean your whole house
And everything that's in it
Mr. Clean...Mr. Clean...Mr. Clean

[edit] Mr. Clean in popular culture

• Mr. Clean's appearance with his tight muscle shirt, ear piercing, stylishly handsome looks, fastidious habits, and helpful but deferential persona in television commercials, has made Mr. Clean into something of a Chelsea Boys-style gay icon. [1]

• Mr. Clean is the nickname for GM3 Tyrone, a black 17-year-old from "some South Bronx shit-hole", a character portrayed by Laurence Fishburne in the movie Apocalypse Now

• Mr. Clean has been used as a derisive term in the same manner as goody two shoes or Boy Scout, describing someone who displays conspicuous morally upstanding behavior. The term has been used by Dick Vitale to describe a basketball play that at first glance appeared to be a foul but, in fact, was not.

• In the ABC series Lost, Sawyer once addresses Locke as Mr. Clean, in a reference to Locke's bald head and strong build.

• In the South Park episode Imaginationland, Mr. Clean can be seen in the background as one of the imaginary characters.

• In Space Quest VI, by clicking on a Mr. Soylent machine, you will hear a jingle similar to that of Mr. Clean.

• Major Alex Louis Armstrong from Fullmetal Alchemist anime and manga series has an uncanny resemblance with Mr. Clean and is jokingly known as "Colonel Clean" among fans.

• In the video game, NASCAR 2005: Chase for the Cup, an unlockable gives the player the ability to turn his regular pit crew into a pit crew of Mr. Cleans.

• In the SpongeBob SquarePants episode Culture Shock, SpongeBob asks Squidward Tentacles if he should use Mr. Cleanser or Dr. Clean, two different parodies of Mr. Clean.

• In the satirical series Robot Chicken, Mr. Clean was spoofed as "Señor Clean" as he is depicted as a homosexual Mexican.

• Master Xehanort, from the video game Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep, bears a slight resemblance to Mr. Clean

• Mr. Proper is referenced in the popular Linux Operating System Kernel build mechanism whereby a person who is in the process of building a new Linux kernel might issue the command, "make mrproper" in order to "clean up" all files from past builds and restore the build directory to its original clean state. The reason "make mrproper" is used instead of "make mrclean" is because Linus Torvalds, the father of Linux was familiar with the name "Mr. Proper" as this is the brand widely known in Europe.

• In The Simpsons episode Bart Gets an Elephant, Homer pours a bottle of "Mr. Cleanser" into a puddle in the basement and begins scrubbing, ignoring the warning to only use the product in a well-ventilated area. The resultant fumes cause him to hallucinate and imagine the various mascots from a selection of household cleaning products coming to life. The mascots then begin to brutally attack Homer and Mr. Cleanser, identical to Mr. Clean right down to having the correct skin colour (as opposed to the usual yellow skin of characters in the series), angrily informs Homer in a German accent "I...must...destroy you!".

• In Questionable Content comic strip #1141, obsessive-compulsive Hannelore picks Mr. Clean as her ideal man. Faye then tells Hannelore that she's "pretty sure he's gay." but Hannelore doesn't mind since her disorder causes her to be repulsed at the idea of sex.

• In Armageddon, Rockhound refers to a bald man as Mr. Clean.

• In the Italian series "I ragazzi della Terza C", season I, episode 1, Chicco Lazzaretti (Fabio Ferrari) refers to a bodybuilder guy saying: "E chi è questo? Mastro Lindo..." ("Who's this? Mr. Clean...")

weezy talks about him in phone home

[edit] Mr. Clean scenes competition

In March 2007, Mr. Clean launched an online competition with YouTube that gave consumers the opportunity to create a commercial advertising the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser (http://www.mrcleanscenes.com).

Entrants were asked to use up to 60 seconds of time for their advertisement. A prize of $10,000 was slated for the announced winner, based on an independent judging corporation's (D.L. Blair) scoring.

The competition ran through June 30, 2007. In September 2007, the $10,000 prize was awarded to the creator of the winning video "Here's To Stains.” The video can be found at http://www.mrcleanscenes.com/mrclean/en_US/mclanding.do.

[edit] References