LOS ANGELES – Warner Bros. has paid Procter & Gamble $150 million for the right to use cleaning agent mascot Mr Clean in a new series of CGI-based action films.
Industry analysts say Hollywood studios have exhausted the list of beloved comic book characters and will now entertain movie-going audiences with famous brand entities.
Studios are said to be making bids for the Jolly Green Giant, who represents frozen vegetables for General Mills, Trix Rabbit of the famous cereal brand, and Kool-Aid Man.
But it was “Grimefighter” Mr Clean who attracted the first bid. Invented in the 1950s, the rugged, bald, blue-eyed mascot sporting a single, gold-hoop earring is considered the most capable of carrying a two-hour film while appealing to multiple demographics.
While the script for the first Mr Clean film is still in development, sources say the story will explain Mr Clean’s motivation as owing to a chemical spill at a poorly run industrial estate in New Jersey that kills his parents; that Mr Clean’s archenemy will be an amorphous soot-spreading blob of floating dirt; and that his main love interest will be an androgynous-looking pine tree.
Warner Bros. spokesman Les Goldstein said that the studio was moved to make the bid for Mr Clean after learning the mascot is not only a favorite of housewives but also a homosexual icon. “Gays just love Mr Clean,” said Goldstein. “He is both a protector and a homemaker. He’s just got this timeless anal quality that seems to appeal them.”
Warner Bros. also purchased the rights to use the Mr Clean jingle in the action film: “Can he clean a kitchen sink?/Quicker than a wink/Can he clean a window sash?/Faster than a flash/Can he clean a dirty mirror?/He’ll make it bright and clearer/Can he clean a diamond ring?/Mr Clean cleans anything…”
Warner Bros. hopes to ultimately corner the brand mascot market. Raved Goldstein, “Could you imagine how incredibly cool it would be to bring together Trix Rabbit, Jolly Green Giant and Kool-Aid man into one film? How incredible would that be?”
