clorox

Francis Scialabba

brand marketing

What’s the Deal with that Clorox Ad?

Does Clorox ad address valid concerns, or play fear for profit?

3 min read

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More than a year after the pandemic upended...well...everything, brands are still trying to keep up with the ever-changing national sentiment. Right now? People are tired and burned out, but hopeful for a hot vax summer.

Which is why this Clorox spot recently caught our eye. The 15-second ad shows children running toward a playground, but abruptly stopping to let their teacher wipe down the equipment—with Clorox disinfectant, of course.

Why the double take? Earlier this month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the chance of contacting Covid-19 “from touching a surface is low,” or less than one in 10,000.

It got us thinking: Is Clorox advertising addressing valid concerns, or playing on our fear?

Wiped

The campaign, which Clorox began airing in late December, might have made more sense before the CDC’s most recent announcement.

And scientists have been questioning “hygiene theater” for months now.

The campaign “leverages the fear that parents have of school reopenings,” Christine Alemany, CEO of creative agency TBGA, told Marketing Brew.

  • It “ignores the overall safety of outdoor playgrounds that fresh air and sunlight provide, which misrepresents the risks around COVID-19 and may harm a brand’s credibility,” she explained.

What’s next?

After a year of high demand and shortages, vaccinations are expected to bring Clorox’s sales back down to earth. But ads like this could help boost sales in the meantime.

  • “A year ago, Covid hits and demand for their products went through the roof,” David Lieberman, a media professor at The New School, told Marketing Brew. “[Now] you’ve got the CDC saying this is all hygiene theater, so what do you do if you’re Clorox? What else would they say: ‘You don’t need us?’”

Marketing Brew reached out to Clorox to ask whether the brand had concerns following the CDC’s latest guidance over the framing of the spot, which was shot last summer. No word on whether the cleaning brand plans to pull the ad.

“The updated CDC guidance reflects [that] while transmission of COVID-19 via surfaces is still possible, the risk is low compared to other modes of transmission,” a Clorox spokesperson told us. “However, routine cleaning and disinfecting are part of a holistic strategy to help reduce the spread of many germs, such as flu and norovirus, that can cause illness in addition to the COVID-19 virus.”

Zoom out: Companies don’t message by accident. Drafts are written, revised, and sent to lawyers. Many people have their fingers in a commercial—especially when, according to iSpot estimates, Clorox has already spent more than $1.7 million on airtime for this ad.

So what message is it really trying to get across? We’re already compulsively cleaning because we’re scared—we don’t need help from brands. — RB

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Marketing Brew informs marketing pros of the latest on brand strategy, social media, and ad tech via our weekday newsletter, virtual events, marketing conferences, and digital guides.

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