Mr. Clean Logo
Mr. Clean is a brand of household cleaning products sold in 18 countries around the world. The brand’s products are known to every housewife thanks to their surface cleaning sprays, cleaning liquids, and the “magic” melamine cleaning sponge. Mr. Clean is a strong, silent, and positive character who represents the brand and rarely appears on screen without a smile. The only reason he could frown would be because he hates dirt.
Meaning and History
Linwood Burton, a marine ship cleaning businessman, founded the Mr. Clean trademark in the 1950s. In those days, ship cleaning agents were solvents, which were harmful to health and damaged the finish. Therefore, Burton created an effective and safe product. In 1958, Procter & Gamble purchased the brand and increased the scope of its offerings. Mr. Clean gained widespread recognition in 1962 when the animated figure ‘Mr. Clean’ was introduced. It was also the first (1963) to produce cleaning products in plastic bottles. In some countries, the brand name varies depending on the language.
What is Mr. Clean?
The Mr. Clean brand offers a variety of cleaning and disinfection goods, such as magic erasers, disinfectant sprays, and all-purpose cleansers. It is owned by Procter&Gamble.
1958 – 1997
Ernest Allen of the art department of the advertising agency Tatham-Laird & Kudner drew a muscular, tanned, bald man who does an excellent job of cleaning. Initially, it was thought that a man with an earring in his ear would represent a typical sailor who could easily cope with cleaning the deck and more. But in fact, it turned out that customers associate Mr. Clean with the genie. Therefore, the advertisement played out a situation reminiscent of the magical appearance of a genie from a lamp. The character is accompanied by the brand name printed using a bold, sans-serif font. The red color and all caps enhance a strong and bold brand image.
1997 – 2002
The logo was updated with Mr. Clean character being moved to be part of the inscription. The latter was placed on a diagonal and had a noticeable blue outline. The logo concept was not changed, though. The company simply created a more professional design.
2002 – 2006
The updated logo features a new, more rounded font and sentence case for the name. There is also no more blue, which created a heavy feeling earlier. The “genie” has been raised slightly higher above the name, so its torso is also visible. To make his white T-shirt visible on any backdrop, the designers added light gray shadow and outline. The name is also set on a white base with a shadow.
2006 – 2008
For a short period of time, Mr. Clean has been hiding his hands behind the name. He looked more tanned. The blue outline has been brought back, but it looked less overwhelming than it did in the late 1990s. The inscription featured a lighter shade of red and had the “Mr.” part placed above instead of to the left of the “Clean” portion of the name.
2008 – 2010
The logo has been slightly adjusted relatively soon after the last update. First of all, the genie confidently crosses his hands right above the name. He also appears even more broad-shouldered. The name is printed in the same way it was back in 2002.
2010 – 2014
Although the brand’s slogan, logo, and character design have undergone numerous changes, Mr. Clean has stuck to the core idea of the company – assisting customers in having their homes cleaned quicker and more effectively. The updated logo has Mr. Clean character look more like a fitness trainer than a genie. He also has his hands down and is barely visible in the logo. The company also introduced a new sans-serif, bold font. The inscription is written using a deeper red shade and is centered on a straight baseline. It is obvious that the company is trying to stay relevant to the changing market preferences.
2014 – Today
Nearly 60 years after the brand’s founding, the company updated its logo. The strength, trustworthiness, and toughness that the brand embodies are reflected in its logo. The modifications were intended to give the logo adaptability for use in various markets. It was decided to remove the Mr. Clean character. Even without Mr. Clean and slightly modified font, the logo looks recognizable thanks to a bold design and the use of the same color palette.
Font and Color
The color palette mainly consists of white and red. White is a color associated with freshness, independence, calmness, and purity, all of which are important qualities for a cleaning product. Red is linked to power, confidence, and passion. It is a color of leaders. Additionally, the contrast between the red and white hues is striking, memorable, and visually expressive. Furthermore, the vibrant red contrasts sharply with Mr. Proper’s white T-shirt.
In the early years, the company used a very basic sans-serif font with thick, straight strokes and straight cuts. During a period from 2002 until 2010, the name was printed using a font that resembled Orbi Sans Black Italic font but with finer terminals. In 2010, the company used a sans-serif font similar to Nauman ExtraBold font. The logo introduced in 2014 features a font that looks exactly like Forza Black by typography.com with the “Mr.” portion also featuring slab serifs.
