Original Mr. Clean Magic Eraser Advertisement:

Source: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LDtOBgDvQR4/TcYUpT6_R7I/AAAAAAAAAx8/-Iz2Vxa91Sg/s1600/mr+clean.jpg

The original advertisement of the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser comes off as rather offending to women as it infers that women in all households are responsible for cleaning and housework. The image of the advertisement further implies that all women must worry about getting housecleaning completed before relaxing and enjoying their time on a holiday designated to celebrating motherhood. It is rather socially accepted in some households that the women who have their own families stay home opposed to working. However, this advertisement makes it seem rather mandatory for women to be cleaning regularly without break. Mother’s day is a special occasion in which I would assume many families take rather seriously in terms of relieving the mother figures in the family of any responsibilities they may hold and allowing them to relax for a change. The message behind the decision to use this product over others becomes a little unclear due to the language that is used. On first glance, it is hard to differentiate what the “job” that mother’s are implied to get back to on Mother’s Day really is. Since it is suggesting that Mother’s are responsible to keep the house clean and in check, wouldn’t that be the sole job that they would have to complete, regardless of the date?

In addition, the advertisement depicts a young girl alongside the older women which further suggests that females are expected to hold the role of chores like cleaning. In only representing women, this advertisement also infers that the men are not considered to hold any responsibility for cleaning at home. This classification is rather disrespectful in my opinion as there should be nothing against either gender cleaning or carrying out other roles within a household including child care. Lastly, I don’t believe that being a mother should be classified as an occupation as the actions that motherhood encompasses cannot be represented specifically under the label of “being a mother”.

Culture Jammed Advertisement:

In my altered version of the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser advertisement, I have first replaced the image of the woman and young girl with an image of what appears to be a family of three happily washing the dishes together. In doing so, I wanted to reduce the stereotypical pressure of women being constraint to doing household duties (but couldn’t find a more appropriate non-stock photo). The text of the original advertisement which read, “This Mother’s Day, get back to the job that really matters.” was changed to read, “This Mother’s Day, get back to the job that really matters, relaxing.”. Opposed to promoting women cleaning and working hard with the help of Mr. Clean Magic Eraser, I intend to promote getting the tasks of house cleaning done more efficiently so that the ideal family is able to spend more time together relaxing on an occasion like Mother’s Day. In addition to this, a tagline, “Keeping families clean and smiling” has been added to further emphasize the fact that this product more efficiently cleans so that individuals are able to spend more time with their loved ones. The alterations made reduce the representation of women and mothers as sole contributors to housework and instead encourage team efforts and equal work distribution within a household.