Mr. Clean retires! What's that you say?

Cafe Society
21

The moment I heard about Mr. Clean’s retirement, out of the deep recesses of my mind sprang a familiar tune…

“Mister Clean gets rid of dirt and grime and grease in just a minute. Mister Clean will clean your whole house and everything that’s in it. Mister Clean Mister Clean Mister Clean!”

This was the jingle that introduced Mister Clean to America, and like lots of other commercial jingles from my childhood days, it’s still taking up valuable brain cells.

I remember a childhood friend dressing up as Mr. Clean for Halloween. That’s how effective that ad campaign was.

Mr. Clean is an icon. Mark my words, he’ll be back.

22

Guess he got tired of leaving a sheen where you clean.

Picture in post #6 — he should really trim those eyebrows.

23

In Germany, he’s not a mere Mr. Proper, but Master Proper (Meister Proper).

First thing I thought when reading the OP: the current administration is behind it, getting rid of another gay icon. He looks like the guys from Right Said Fred modeled their looks after him.

24

I’m too sexy for my cleaner, too sexy for my cleaner, you pathetic weiner. And I shake my little brush on the catwalk.

25

I wonder how many actors played the character in the national tv commercials?

I vaguely remember Mr. Clean as an older guy. His eyebrows had turned white.

He’s younger now.

26

Now we finally know his first name: “Veritably”.

27

The New York Times article in the OP mentioned his first name, which originated in a 1962 ad campaign.

28

Yep, but no one here mentioned it.

29

Looking back through a bunch of old Mr. Clean ads, he was nearly always portrayed as an animated character, though I did find one ad (from the early '60s, it appears) in which he was portrayed by a flesh-and-blood actor.

30

Several years ago, they had an African American Mr. Clean for a bit.

31

As a kid I presumed that Mr. Clean was supposed to be a genie who came out the bottle and made everything magically clean.

32

That’s what he was designed to be.

33

You get it: Genie in a bottle. :grinning_face: