Is Mr. Clean for The Mrs.?

Enforcement of Norms

While looking for an ad to write about, I came across one for Mr. Clean. There is a picture of an mom and daughter cleaning something together with Mr. Clean on the bottom along with the product. The caption on the ad is: This Mother’s Day, Get Back To The Job That Really Matters. This ad is a clear example of enforcement of norms. The typical stereotypes of women and men’s roles in society are being reinforced here. It is telling women to stop what their doing that is keeping them from taking care of their children and the house and to go back and do that. I do not think I could find a ad more stereotypical of gender roles. Gender roles are a big issue in society right now and this ad is just enforcing the traditional roles.

Although this ad can be rather offensive to women, it is effective in promoting the product. This controversial ad caused more people to learn about Mr. Clean. People discussed the ad and its message all around, getting Mr. Clean to become more known and reach more people than it normally would. Say the ad was on the morning news to discuss its message, then everyone who watches the morning news will learn about Mr. Clean. Even though it is being discussed in a negative view, the name and product is getting out there and people will eventually forget about the ad and just remember the name. So the next time they are at the store looking for cleaning products, Mr. Clean will jump out to them because they know the name.

This might not directly affect the everyday person, but it will through other ads. Companies are able to look at different companies ads and their sales charts. If one company sees that after this ad created big talk for its message, why would they not want to create a controversial ad? It could have the same effect for their product. And really who cares if people get offended, at least they are buying the products!