Making a Big Splash at the Big Game

Procter and Gamble delivered on a great debut for Mr. Clean with their Super Bowl commercial this past Sunday.    If you’re going to spend $5 million dollars in ad money to get your product out there, why not make a memorable splash in front of a viewing audience of 111.3 million.

What makes this commercial so interesting is that they are shying away from the traditional, squeaky clean image of the navy seal inspired mascot.  Instead, they have re-introduced Mr. Clean in the digital era with a sex appeal like no other cleaning product on the market place.

Playing off the success of recent films such as Magic Mike and the 50 Shades of Grey series, we see a brilliantly created spot of what one could only imagine as simply tongue and cheek.  Leo Burnett Toronto agency was behind the story boards for this 30 second spot, where Mr. Clean comes to life as a desirable hunk for a day dreaming woman named Sarah.  We see a mini-romance unfold, playful sexual desires quenched and even Sarah’s actual real partner becomes more desirable after he finishes cleaning.

Mr. Clean’s Intended Target Audience

While the Super Bowl has a large male viewing audience, this commercial takes aim at the characteristics of what a female likes in a man.   Mr. Clean in particular portrays a few of these qualities.  He’s depicted as masculine, attractive, sensual, he can dance and the big kicker here…is that he cleans.  The idea that a man is sexy when he cleans, is one of the messages you get after you view this ad.  While the target demographic looks to aim at homeowners particularly women, the ad also identifies to men as well.  They too can become desirable in their spouse’s eyes if they start using a Mr. Clean product.

Overall, it was a great strategy for Procter and Gamble to go in this direction.  It was also another great idea to release this ad online 10 days early before the actual Super Bowl game to help build the buzz.  The clip has already surpassed 10+ million views on YouTube, it will be interesting to see if these views can translate into product sales in the long run.  While there were other memorable and bigger budget ads like Wix, the Mr. Clean commercial is fun, playful and memorable.   I did a brief presentation on this ad a few days before the actual clip aired at the big game, you can check out the slides below.