In the 2011 ad by the company Mr. Clean, there are multiple red flags that point towards the imbalance in commercial views and strategies. This ad states: “This Mother’s Day, get back to the job that really matters”. I was able to extrapolate a couple of different messages from the wording and from the imagery. Specifically looking at the images, the first thing that jumped out at me was that a woman is cleaning the house. This gives the message that it is a woman’s job to take care of the house and keep it clean. This woman looks to be a mother, and it seems as though she is teaching her daughter that when she grows up, she too will be the one taking care of the house, keeping it clean, and being a good housewife. The two females are also visibly very happy about using the product and doing their job well. Now looking at the text, the first message that pops out at me is that on Mother’s Day, with this product, the mother can clean the house quickly, and more efficiently. Once the house has been cleaned, the mother can get back to the job that really matters which is raising the children.  This message also pins a role on the mother being responsible for raising the children and being their primary caretaker – even on Mother’s Day. The second message I got from the text was that on Mother’s Day, mothers can get this product and “get back to” cleaning the house because it is their job and it is the job that really matters in the grand scheme of things. This message is far more degrading, emphasizing that woman are only meant for cleaning, as this is the job that actually matters.

In my jammed version of the 2011 Mr. Clean Ad my goal was to remind the viewer that it is not solely a woman’s responsibility to care for and clean the home. Through the imagery I wanted to specifically include a father figure to represent the option of a male in the perceived female role. Having a father and son in this ad shows the possibility of a father teaching his son the shared responsibilities in a household. This sets an example for younger boys to not have an expectation that a female will be the one caretaker of the house. Instead, boys that are exposed to these positive examples will go into these situations with the knowledge of shared roles. The original ad was directed to mothers on Mother’s Day, and my jammed version is directed to the rest of the household. Instead of mothers being told to get back to work, whether it is cleaning or raising their children, the new message reminds others to do their share of the workload. Many of us are guilty of leaving chores behind for someone else to do. The message in this ad is a friendly reminder that we need to step up to the plate and work as a team. The message can also be translated into helping out your mother with housework on Mother’s Day to take off her usual load. Lastly, the text with the image combined can also give the viewer the idea to do all of the housework for their mother on Mother’s Day, since there is no mother in the ad leading to a slight imbalance in the meaning of teamwork, but resulting in a nice gesture.