It was the year of PONG, the debut of HBO as a subscription cable service, and our first introduction to Scrubbing Bubbles. Consumers met the iconic cleaning enthusiasts in 1972 with the launch of Dow Bathroom Cleaner with Scrubbing Bubbles. Ad agency Della Femina Travisano and Partners brought the bubbles to life in early commercials through stop-motion animation. As they scrubbed their way through the bathroom eventually leaving it shiny that they needed to wear sunglasses, a tagline appeared at the end to announce “We do the work… So you don’t have to.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSSb7dTaMoY
Later commercial spots saw the bevy of bristled buddies multiplying from a handful to an infinite number of hard working teammates. In 1998, SC Johnson acquired Dow Brands and continued to leverage the animated Bubbles and their tagline. While the number of these scrubbing agents is truly endless, there are four in particular who have been named — Scrubby, Poppy, Mindy, and Sudsy. Let’s meet them and find out how they take care of the dirty work.
Scrubby
A born leader, Scrubby takes toilet-cleaning time seriously and encourages teamwork amongst his fellow bubbles. In early commercial spots from the 1980s, Scrubby was occasionally referred to as “Captain Bubble.” He looks up to Dr. Flusher Sink, a famous shower explorer. Scrubby admires him so much that he swears Dr. Sink changed the way he looks at tile grout!
Mindy
Scrubby may be the leader of the Bubbles, but Mindy is poised and ready to take over his leadership duties any minute now. While the Bubbles were at the Academy together, Mindy infamously broke Scrubby’s record for quickest sink. The noted brains behind the scrubbing, you can spot Mindy buffing her way through bathrooms while jamming out to salsa music.
Poppy
Think of Poppy as the veteran of the Bubbles who has seen it all and can’t be popped. While Poppy’s taking it easy now, he’s got more than his fair share of scouring stories to tell from decades gone by. Most notably, he once cleaned the Presidential bathroom at the White House. (But he’ll never reveal the things he saw there…)
Sudsy
If Kenneth the Page from 30 Rock happened to be one of the Scrubbing Bubbles, he would definitely be Sudsy. This little guy is just happy to be here doing what he does best — cleaning up a mess. (Which, according to Sudsy, is almost as fun as making it!)