I doubt I'm alone among homos in having had a big sexual awakening watching a commercial featuring Mr. Clean. I have no idea if ads are specifically targeted towards gay men or sexually frustrated housewives that feature hunky guys (probably there's a lot of overlap there), but there certainly are a lot of them.

I don't watch much television, but I sure sat up and took notice seeing an ad for a Bissell vacuum cleaner featuring a muscley, leatherclad 'neatnik' biker. Here's the write up...

A handsome, tough biker is the benevolent "den mother" of a bike club house. This bald, gentle giant has rippling muscles and wears a goatee, along with requisite leather attire.

"I love to keep a clean club," he says, then reminds one of the less thoughtful upon entering, "Wipe your feet!"

"But the boys get so rambunctious sometimes." Several of the men in the living room then shout and spill their drinks, suggesting a sports event -- not the figure skating they're actually watching. It's the first of several jokes about the incongruous, non-masculine traits the men are showing.

The biker continues, "So I got myself the Pro-heat, Protech beauty. It's the only one that cleans and provides Scotchgard protection, all in one beautiful machine." He rolls the machine past a biker sitting on the white carpet, as he does needle-pointing next to a poodle. Another biker is sitting at the table, arranging a vase of flowers. Not your usual bikers!

Oblivious, he goes on about the vacuum much like he might the features of a motorbike, as 1950s-style music plays lightly. "It's got this exclusive built-in heater that makes hot tap water up to 25 degrees hotter -- mom always said hot water cleans better -- so it can really get in and thoroughly clean. Better than the other guys. It's even got a speedometer to tell how fast to go, to clean best."

One biker rides by on his cycle inside the house. Casually, the housekeeper simply says, "Animals. But fortunately, I've got Scotchgard protection." Then he takes his mug of fruit smoothie and meets the other's mug, spilling onto the rug. It easily cleans up.

As he sits on the rug and rubs it with a somewhat feminine affectation and happy sigh, he closes by saying, "It'll put any neatnik in hog-heaven."

This commercial is charming and low key. While it does not directly address gayness, it implies it through the subtle actions of the bikers in the background and the cleanly "neatnik" -- a trait usually considered as "gay." But the deft handling keeps the ad from focusing on gay stereotypes, and instead plays more broadly with masculinity.

"The creative strategy was to highlight the relationship people have with their Bissell products," explains Cindy Sikorsky, executive VP-creative director at the ad agency, Campbell Ewald. "This is a role-reversal idea and I wanted to show the product in an unexpected situation to break through the clutter" -- industry-speak for getting attention. "So we asked, 'What's the most insane situation we could represent?' We were trying to do the opposite of what you'd expect in a biker club and taking it to the extreme." White carpets and all.

Sikorsky says that "it was interesting casting for this role [of bikers>. We had ZZTop looking guys to hefty, overweight sorts. But this guy had a personality that appealed to everyone. " She adds that "the client preferred that he be good looking too."

The actor and ad both did well with the target audience, women 25-54 years old, in pretesting. It seems the biker, who is well liked in the gay leather community as well, will also grace Times Square in a larger than life billboard.

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