Cleaning adverts from the '90s featured some of the most memorable marketing campaigns in history, as big brands competed to attract customers. Looking back now, many evoke a sense of nostalgia, thanks to their catchy slogans and memorable jingles.
We're taking a trip down Memory Lane to bring you some of the best cleaning adverts of the era. Some still look fresh today, while others haven't stood the test of time quite so well!
Flash
The advertising campaign for Flash, with the slogan, "Flash does the hard work so you don’t have to", was created by Procter and Gamble, who had been making adverts for their floor cleaner since the '60s. The most famous Flash advert starred Karl Howman, who later found fame as Buster Briggs in BBC TV's EastEnders.
In the advert, he portrayed a "cheeky chappie" offering to clean the filthy kitchen floor for his tired wife. While the adverts were meant to be humorous, they were described by consumers as "slightly creepy".
Howman might prefer to forget telling his onscreen wife to "go play with your rubber duck in the bath" while he cleaned the sticky floor. You could say the advert was ahead of its time, as it showed a man cleaning the house, rather than a woman.
The brand's most recent ad campaign features a talking dog, who sings a version of Queen's hit song, Flash, with the lyrics changed to explain how the dog has shaken off lots of mud. Queen fans are not impressed by the way the brand has borrowed the late Freddie Mercury's iconic song!
Jif
Back in the '90s, Cif was known as Jif. Its advertising campaign was quite ahead of its time, moving away from the traditional adverts showing a frazzled housewife cleaning the home.
The innovative 1993 Jif advert showed a smartly dressed man cleaning his kitchen, with a female narrator suggesting it was so effortless that he forgot he was even cleaning. He started daydreaming about how he met his future wife, Lisa, while on an exotic holiday.
He rushed off to clean the bathroom too, while continuing to get lost in happy memories.
The script seems a bit cheesy today and the slogan, "Forget cleaning, remember Jif," isn't a particularly memorable one. However, it was infinitely more popular than the decision to change the brand’s name in 2000.
While the product remains a best-seller, Cif is one of the least-liked brand names on the market, according to consumer research.
Ariel
In 1990, Ariel introduced its comedy advertising campaign featuring Vera the school dinner lady, who inadvertently ladles gravy down her top when she's distracted. Ariel Automatic liquid comes to her rescue, removing the mother of all stains.
Demonstrating how Ariel could get anything clean; the light-hearted campaign featured a wide array of ordinary people including an artist, art students and a butler.
The decade also saw the launch of Ariel ads focusing on the environment and the "cleaner, greener and more convenient" slogan.
Ariel is rated fourth on the list of the UK's top washing powders today.
Duck toilet cleaner
The Duck toilet cleaner adverts of the '90s featured an animated talking yellow duck. The product was named due to the shape of the bottle, as it resembled a duck from the side view.
Riding the plastic bottle of Toilet Duck like an airplane, the duck wore Biggles-style goggles and scarf as he nosedived towards the toilet bowl, firing the cleaning product as he flew.
Even the germs were given a comic touch, turning them into green alien-like creatures that evaporated as a jet of Toilet Duck hit them. Today, the brand remains a best-seller, earning mainly five-star online reviews.
Vanish
When it comes to laundry products, one of the most well-known for stain removal is Vanish, launched in 1983. The brand's ad campaign in 1990 was a little odd, as it featured a talking shirt!
Entitled First Day at School, it shows a child's school shirt, tie and lunchbox on the table. However, the shirt's cuffs are soiled, so the shirt sleeve begins chatting away about getting them clean, while the packs of Vanish are superimposed in front.
The Vanish range has expanded into pre-wash treatments, gels, powders and carpet cleaners over the years.
Fairy
Fairy Liquid has a history of actresses or other celebrities starring in its adverts since the 1960s. Many of the older ads featured typical kitchen sink scenes, where mum was washing up, helped by her young daughter.
In 2017, when campaigners urged a ban on adverts that "promoted gender stereotypes", actress Nanette Newman, star of the '80s Fairy Liquid ads, rallied against the protesters, asking what was wrong with women being shown in a domestic setting.
Newman starred in a new advertising campaign in the 90s, when dozens of school children are enlisted to wash piles of dishes. The aim of the ad was to show Fairy went a long, long way compared with other brands.
In a recent survey by Good Housekeeping magazine, Fairy was voted the best washing up liquid for longevity.
Shake 'n' Vac
If you were around in the '80s, you'll probably never forget the iconic Shake 'n' Vac adverts, featuring actress Jenny Logan. All of a sudden, while describing how carpets can retain odours, including doggy smells, she bursts into song with the famous line, "Do the Shake 'n' Vac and put the freshness back!" while dancing round the living room with her vacuum cleaner.
Jenny reprised the role for the 30th anniversary of the product in 2010, after a forgettable advertising campaign during the '90s. The original advert is the most spoofed cleaning product ad on YouTube, with hundreds of people making their own version over the past four decades.
The spoof advert on UK TV in the '90s, featuring actors posing as singing and dancing bikers, was infinitely more interesting than the real adverts at the time.
Despite many other manufacturers creating similar carpet fresheners in the 21st century, Shake 'n' Vac remains a best seller, but no other advert has ever matched the legendary status of its original campaign.