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           During 2017 Super Bowl, Mr. Clean released an ad entitled “Cleaner of Your Dreams,” adding the brand to the growing list of companies using sex appeal to sell their product. In the commercial, a white, seemingly heterosexual woman – a wife named Sarah – is cooking and spills on the stove. Suddenly, Mr. Clean walks into the kitchen with a tight shirt revealing abs and a smug look on his face. He flexes his muscles as he squeezes out a sponge. Next, Mr. Clean begins to dance near, essentially on, Sarah. She then begins to dance in a sexual manner, suggesting that she is turned on by Mr. Clean’s cleaning. Finally, Sarah’s husband reappears, calling out “Sarah, Sarah!”, pulling her out of her trance. The viewer is meant to assume her husband was cleaning the entire time under the Mr. Clean fantasy. She becomes excited and runs to him, kissing him and pushing him onto the couch. This action conveys how a woman’s sexuality is used as a reward for a man’s ‘good behavior’, which to the stereotypical white housewife is helping her clean.

            While the “sex sells” rhetoric in television ads has a long history in the media and is not surprising, one would not think that the target audience for this ad, middle-aged women, would be attracted to this message. Not only does Mr. Clean’s ad include a man coming to a woman’s rescue, but it also reinforces the stereotype that is it not normal for men to be cleaning the home. The commercial ends with the couple having sexual relations on the couch as the screen blurs out, and the slogan, “you gotta love a man who cleans,” appears. While a woman is likely to appreciate her partner’s help in cleaning their shared space, this commercial portrays the activity of a man cleaning as an unusual, angelic behavior that women will yearn for.

            The music in the ad further works to portray this message. As Mr. Clean walks in, the music plays, “girl what you want, not what you need… be your fantasy … I’ll be your ecstasy”. The song choice blatantly makes clear Mr. Clean’s stance on the woman’s role in the home – her purpose is to clean, and she does not “need” a man to help her. She can only “fantasize” about a husband willing to clean. When he does help her to clean, however, it is so pleasurable it is comparable to a drug-induced high.

            On another note, Mr. Clean is quite sexualized himself. The purpose of his tight-fitting clothing and dancing is to arouse Sarah, as well as the target audience of middle-aged women. Comments by YouTube users following the video emphasize this point – one user commented “I’ve watched this an unhealthy amount of times”, while another said, “Oh no he’s hot”. While these comments are most likely jokes, they indicate that the commercial’s goal of making Mr. Clean into a sex symbol was successful. Another wrote, “I want someone to look at me the way Mr. Clean looked at Sarah”. Not only did Mr. Clean dance on Sarah and attempt to arouse her, but perhaps by cleaning and doing a chore she typically does, Mr. Clean made her feel seen and appreciated. It is inherently sexist, as well as symbolic of traditional husband and wife power dynamics, to presume a woman’s only desire is to feel appreciated by her husband for her work in the home. Where the commercial went wrong, however, was in assuming and suggesting that a woman’s immediate reaction to these emotions is to have sex with her husband. Perhaps the creators of the commercial accomplished their goal of creating a sexually attractive, ideal male body that catches women’s attention, but did they really reach the goal of selling their product to this audience?

            The commercial portrays a white, cis, heterosexual, presumably monogamous couple. The connection between white heterosexual couples and traditional husband and wife power dynamics could not be more obvious. As argued by Jonathan Katz in The Invention of Heterosexuality, heterosexuality has been the unchallenged societal norm of sexuality for most of history. After World War II, women were confined to the home and their work was limited to domestic tasks of caring for the family and home (Katz 237). Mr. Clean’s commercial supports the stereotypical role of women as the caretakers of the home and men as the breadwinners. Clearly the commercial creators do not agree with that time period’s conservative approach to sex which attempted to reconnect heterosexual sex with the purpose of procreation (Katz 237). In fact, the commercial encourages men to help their wives clean in order to be rewarded with sex. While the intended audience for this commercial may have been the middle-aged women, more specifically wives, Mr. Clean seemingly crafted this commercial with the entertainment of white, heterosexual husbands in mind. Thus, the sexualization of this commercial creates a disconnect people the intent of the ad and the experience of the viewer.

            The racialization of the commercial also works, perhaps unintentionally, to limit Mr. Clean’s audience range and customer base to the binary of being white and heterosexual. Representation of diverse relationships in terms of race, class, and sexuality would have extended the message of this ad to a greater audience. As a result, many potential customers may refrain from buying this product targeted at white, heterosexual, middle-aged women.

            As a company selling cleaning products, the Mr. Clean franchise should be well aware of the stereotypical, misogynic implications their commercial has for women. Not only are they selling their product, but also the ideals of the white, heterosexual traditional husband and wife dynamic with the wife as the caretaker of the home. Brands with influence in the media must stop establishing the standard that women must take on this role and reward their partners with sex. Rather, they should represent more diverse relationships, not only to reach a wider audience of consumers, but to also stop integrating messages of sexism, racism, and homophobia into everyday commercials.

“Mr. Clean | New Super Bowl Ad | Cleaner of Your Dreams – super bowl 51.” Youtube, 9 Feb. 2017. Web. 25 Sept. 2021.  <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozuWoZITX3Y>.

Katz, Jonathan. The Invention of Heterosexuality. New York: Dutton, 1995. Print.