Two of the catchiest TV jingles of all time were the ads for Uncle Sam and Mr Sheen.
Who were they? Were they real people?
Uncle Sam of course wasn’t, and is based on the American character of the same name dating right back to the American war of independence.
Well, what does that have to do with a deodorant marketed in Australia in the 1970s? Well, it just so happens that the company that made this product was Samuel Taylor Aerosols, later to be bought out by Reckitt and Colman. Samuel Taylor was an entrepreneur in the aerosol and household products industry, creating Mortein, Preen, Mr Sheen, Fabulon and several other names that we all recognise.
Despite the catchy jingle however, the Uncle Sam range of products (which included a hair shampoo and Santa Snow) was seen as being a little too American for the market (I’m sure that people didn’t actually know that it was an Australian product) and it soon disappeared.
Mr Sheen is of course a different story. Although its creation predated my involvement in the industry, I am pretty sure the name was just thought up by someone in marketing. But where did they get the idea for the image of the little chap on the can?
My first clue came when I met the managing director of Reckitt and Colman (who had originally come from Samuel Taylor Aerosols). I remember my first impression was “huh – is this bloke the spitting image of Mr Sheen or what?”
His real name was Chris Roberts, and I’m sure he has long since retired. But when I made a few discreet enquiries it turns out that yes, he was the bloke that Mr Sheen was based upon.
And whereas Uncle Sam disappeared from the market pretty quickly, Mr Sheen is one of the great success stories in the aerosol industry. It’s what I call an “evergreen” product – a successful product which is always there, continues to sell itself on the strength of its performance alone, and does not require advertising support.
There are, of course, several other evergreen products, but that’s a story for another day.
I believe the voice for Mr Sheen was provided by the late Ross Higgins, best remembered as Ted Bullpit in Kingswood Country.