At nearly 60 years old, Mr. Clean was starting to show its age. Distribution was dropped. Brand
equity was at a low. The brand was being massively outspent in media. And all in a highly commoditized category, where Mr. Clean costs more. Leo Burnett’s challenge was to reverse sales declines by transforming the Mr. Clean brand into a modern cleaner for today’s modern cleaner.

“Cleaner of Your Dreams” recast the chore of cleaning from dreaded to dreamy. Looking at historical advertising metrics that correlated in market creative to sales, Facebook revealed that when the Mr. Clean character was portrayed as sexy in the past, sales grew — with one campaign driving a 7% sales lift. Looking to better understand the dynamics of household cleaning, what was found next surprised Leo Burnett: partners sharing household chores was in the top three highest-ranking issues associated with a successful marriage — third to faithfulness and sex. Seems there’s nothing sexier than a man who cleans.

Mr. Clean is the cleaner of your dreams. Leo Burnett looked to the Super Bowl to revive the brand because it is the largest TV event with the largest co-ed TV audience all year round – integral, considering the objective of modernizing the brand. The campaign took a phased approach: It was kicked off with a PR and radio tour, adding more paid channels daily, including a provocative 0:06s teaser on YouTube. Then, ten days before game day, the Super Bowl spot was launched on The Today Show and in YouTube TrueView, using retargeting to ensure those who were exposed to the teasers would get the punchline they had been anticipating. The Super Bowl spot featured a new, sexier-than ever Mr. Clean, seductively dancing and cleaning his way throughout the house, ending with the dreamy Mr. Clean actually being an average man — he was nothing but a fantasy — and the tagline: “You gotta love a man who cleans.”

Following the Super Bowl, the agency continued the campaign in TrueView, and on Facebook swapped in product-focused messaging that ran as we led into the Spring Cleaning season — the highest volume potential time period of the year. Mr. Clean’s in-store displays mimicked the same phased approach to messaging as all other touchpoints.

In the six weeks post Super Bowl, sales on the products included in the spot were up 3% to 5%, representing a lift in 82% of total Mr. Clean sales. In the ranking of Super Bowl LI ad campaigns, Mr. Clean was ranked #1 by Business Insider, #3 by YouTube AdBlitz, #5 by Adweek, #6 on USA Today Ad Meter, and received 4/4 stars from AdAge, and an “A” from the Kellogg School of Business. The campaign was covered by Ellen DeGeneres, Jimmy Kimmel, Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Fallon, and more, totalling over 8 billion impressions. On Super Bowl Sunday, Mr. Clean had the highest SOV on Twitter, talked about 26% more than the next highest advertiser (Budweiser), and 58% more the next day. The ad was the second most-shared ad of Super Bowl 2017 (226,767 shares).