A bald guy, dressed in white, with an earring.
He’s been “Mister Clean” since at least the 1960’s.
Why? 
How did this odd symbol get on a container of cleaning stuff?
What is he supposed to represent?
Was he based on an actual person?
Why is he so butt-ugly? Looks worse than Popeye. :smack:
Can any Doper in the Advertising business give me the lowdown on Mister Clean?
Because he is tough on dirt, and makes the floor as shiny as his bald head.
Yeah, I’m pretty sure he’s supposed to represent the toughest, strongest cleaning product.
I remember his earring used to sparkle when he winked at you at the end of the commerical, didn’t it?
I’ve always thought he was sort of originally designed as one of those turn of the century bodybuilders with the bald head, handlebar moustache, the black full-body swimsuit, and big triangular weights with “200 lb” painted on the side… eh, maybe I’m thinking of a cartoon.
I always thought he was a genie, with his arms crossed, earing, bald head. No cite, just what I thought.
I’m with the Duke.
I always assumed that Mr Clean is the djinn who dwells inside the bottle and will grant your wish for a clean and shiny floor.
For a short time, there was also a Monkey’s Paw brand detergent. But it had serious problems.
Well, I don’t know. I recently “met” Mr. Clean at a food show in Ft. Wayne. He was pretty nice and polite, wearing all white, an earring, and his eyebrows are terribly white. Not blond, but white. And I think his nipples are plastic.
I remember reading an interview with the adman who created Mr. Clean. Even he couldn’t remember exactly what the deal was with the bald head and the earring.
I always thought he looked like he belonged on the cover of a “bodice-ripper” romance novel. Considering that the target audience at that time was (is still?) women, maybe they wanted to portray a muscular, exotic (see the earring!), sensitive man who stayed at home and cleaned.
He is disrespectful to dirt!
Yul Brynner with an obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Small nit: It’s Procter & Gamble.
Also, when P&G acquired Noxell Corporation they bought Lestoil with it (as well as Covergirl Cosmetics and Noxema brands). They used to make the stuff in a big vat up in Hunt Valley, MD. I’m sure they’ve divested themselves of the brand by now, but don’t know if it was sold or just discontinued.
I can still buy Lestoil in my local grocery (Montpelier, VT) so it is not discontinued.
Yeah, just checked. Clorox owns it now, which is fitting, since P&G used to own Clorox but had to divest them because of an anti-trust case in the 1950s, IIRC.
Tasted funny, eh?