Dear whoever makes those cleaning product commercials: You're doing it wrong

My favorite ones are the air freshener ads. The homes are always immaculate. I'm at a loss because frankly, unless you really are a slob and don't clean your house weekly (and maybe that's the type of people these ads are geared at) why would you buy these toxic things anyway???

Just the other day I was considering firing the cleaning lady (it was 6:30am)
By 7:00 I remembered I am the cleaning lady!!
Thanks for the article, lol

Why can't women be attacked by squirrels while fixing the gutters on the ladder while the guy with the vacuum cleaner saves her from falling backwards with its amazing suction. :P

these commericals bother me, as well. why do they only show women cleaning. never any men or teens? have you considered writing the company, instead of this blog? letting them know how you feel might make a bigger impact!

I'm a guy and this bugs me. I thought the same thing about the commercial you were talking about. It's like; do guys not need to clean their house also?

It goes both ways though. Most commercials make guys look like idiots that would be lost without the help of a woman, or at least a lot do.

I'm not a harried or busy mom, but I laugh at this article and total agreement. I was the youngest of 4, and my mom was a single woman who'd get us out of the house by 6AM and sometimes we wouldn't see our beds until 8 or 9pm (depending on which extra-curricular activities were on the schedule)... Our house, was not pristine. When something needed cleaning, it was first a mess! No one smiled when they reached for the Pine-Sol or Comet, nor were we happy to wipe, dust, or scrub away a mess. And thoe whole pet issue, we were definitely sniffing every corner of home to make sure no puddles were made, or antiques were left.

Thanks for the laugh, great post and so true!

You are so right! Now THAT is what we would like to see!

When I was growing up, Mom worked afternoons, and Dad worked days. We kids still had our chores at night and weekends, but Mom did most after we were at school.
As a single, working mom of 3 children who have busy schedules of their own, my house at its best is never as clean as the "before" in the commercials. It often looks more like the "before" of a "Clean House" episode.

lol. I used to hate the commercials where a man's voice was talking about periods. When I was pregnant, a mother of a co-worker,(Demon Spawn, I'm sure), told me the biggest mistake she made raising her daughter was that she spent more time on how her house looked than she did paying attention to her daughter. She then apologized for her "jackass daughter". I have a lovely little one and a filthy house. Nuff said.

AMEN! I love REAL women like me, who are happy to let the world know what REALITY is!

I think this is more on a subconcious level with a clean bathroom with one stain. Your eyes will glance over the cleanliness, mentally marking it as clean. They want you to focus on the stain and how their product removes it. If the bathroom were a real bathroom you would be concentrating on everything else than what they want you to see. It works in reverse too. A very messy bathroom and they wipe one spot clean and your drawn to that one clean spot like a magnet.

Ha! Great article. I really hate the ones where the house looks spotless, but the woman always cleans it up anyway. If it ain't broken, don't fix it; if it ain't messy, don't clean it. And why do they always look so freakin' happy to be cleaning? I hate cleaning.

Oh I know! I think that every time I see that lady going out to walk her dog in a dress - Please! Though I also think on the commercials that show super grubby showers and then their cleaner just wipes it away - I doubt most people even let their tub and shower get that nasty looking.

Very true. The commercials here in India are like what you describe.
But,, the fact here is that the entire western culture is fakely imitated here. For eg, Axe, Fuel, Garnier etc.

Soooo true.... you had me laughing so hard.... thanks

Hi Lylah,
Nice post. You are so right on with this one. I also wish they would use more realistic looking women who are doing this supposed cleaning..... Too many of them look like models. I'm available for commercials if anyone wants a real working woman......

Hear! Hear!

Don't forget that there are plenty of single dads out there too. We don't just contribute ... if we don't do the work it doesn't get done. I have two teenage kids and a dog who sheds (A LOT). You're right: sometimes they should show a dad who puts out a smoke, heads inside, shakes his head while looking at the mess, opens a beer and heads for the sink full of dirty dishes, wondering why the kids couldn't have picked up their towels off the bathroom floor before heading back to their mom's house, and why the dog had to get so excited and upset by the kids leaving that he needed to give an extra chore to do. I don't really see what they can sell me that will make my load any easier. And you're also right: when I'm done with the dishes I don't smile with satisfaction to see that there are no water spots on the glasses ... I just sigh and move on to the next room.

Maybe they don't have men in the commercials because guys don't care about a spic 'n span house as much as women do. I grew up in a household where my dad DID do the cleaning (he scrubbed the showers/toilets) and all the yard work. He was a teacher and was home in the afternoon while my mom worked til 5pm (yes, he even had dinner started). He was the original Mr. Mom in the '70's/'80's. Things weren't perfect, but my mom didn't care. I think guys would do more around the house if their wives didn't b**** about they way they're doing it. I hear endless complaints from my friends about how if only he'd fold the towels the "right" way. Well he's folding the towels isn't he. The article was spot on though about who cleans an already clean house (well my sister does, but that's a different story).