Mr._clean

For other uses, see Mr. Clean (disambiguation).

Mr. Clean is a brand name of a popular cleaning product. Mr. Clean also makes a melamine foam cleaner under the name-brand of Magic Eraser.

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, a muscular, tanned, bald man who cleans things very well. According to the company, 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. Mr. Clean has always smiled on the packaging, except for a brief time in the mid 1960\'s when he was frowning on the package. He also has never talked.

Mr. Clean was assigned a first name as a result of a contest held in the 1962. His rarely used full name is Veritably Clean.Mindless Crap August 2001 Stump Me Questions (and Answers) (HTML). Mindless Crap. Retrieved on 2008-03-05.Spam Newsletters (HTML). About.com. Retrieved on 2008-03-05.Lunch Meat (HTML). Rigney Graphics. Retrieved on 2008-03-05.

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). The Mr. Clean advertising jingle was written in 1958, the year the product was introduced, by Thomas Scott Cadden (1923-2007). The jingle is registered with ASCAP under title code 570098598 & 570006267. It has been played as recently as 2007, usually in a contemporary musical setting or instrumental version. 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 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

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 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 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 uncannny 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.

Mr. Clean scenes competition and controversy

In March 2007, an online competition (found at http://www.mrcleanscenes.com) was held in association with YouTube. The public was given the opportunity to create a commercial advertising the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. The competition ran through June 30, 2007. 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.

In September 2007, the winning video "Here\'s To Stains" was announced on the website\'s main page, but the grand prize had not yet been awarded to the selected video\'s creator, due to an error by the contestant during the submission process. The entrant was supposed to submit his/her video into the "Mr. Clean Scenes Group" on YouTube before submission onto the Mr. Clean website, per Rule #3 of the website\'s "Official Rules and Terms." However, the contestant failed to do so, possibly resulting in forfeit of the prize and a different contestant being claimed the winner.

In October 2007, Procter & Gamble sent a letter to one of the contestants, the one who brought the controversy to the attention of the corporation, stating that Procter & Gamble is actively investigating the issue.

Until February 2008, the website stated for the $10,000 Video Contest Winner, "Prize has not been awarded. Check back later." It then read that the winner was Chris H of Chicago, IL.

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.

References

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