Method still has a dirty mind when it comes to cleaning products

What is it about cleaning products that provokes Method and Droga5's most prurient impulses? Back in November, the marketer and the agency got in a bit of hot water with a video that recast the thinly disguised Dow Scrubbing Bubbles as rape-y pervs. Now, Method has evolved its "Just say no to jugs" campaign for its concentrated Method Laundry Detergent with a video of an attractive couple futzing with a big jug of liquid detergent. As the woman tries to open the bottle and gets the goopy stuff all over her hands, try to remember this is laundry we're talking about here, not the Shake Weight. Come to think of it, this is a very clever ad. Never before has doing laundry looked like such fun.

—Posted by Todd Wasserman

Method takes on the 800-pound gorilla in the fabric-care category

Method is taking aim at the big jugs in the laundry world with a print and digital campaign for its new "smartclean technology" pump-bottle detergent. The concept, developed in conjunction with ad agency Droga5 (yes, the same agency that created the super-viral "Shiny Suds" ad that Method then pulled), is that using bottled laundry detergent is the old and "wasteful" way of cleaning clothes. The company says you can clean 50 loads with its small bottle, featuring a high-powered, plant-based formula that uses 95 percent natural and renewable ingredients. "Say no to jugs" and enjoy "a jug-free America," read some of the Method's advertising lines. The goal is to shake up the way consumers have been doing laundry for years, says Method vp of brand experience Matthew Loyd. "We've been all buying laundry detergent on autopilot for decades," he says. "What we're offering is more than a revolutionary laundry experience. We are delivering a super powerful and concentrated detergent that is a replacement to the outdated, wasteful jug." Are you listening, Procter & Gamble? This is detergent war!

—Posted by Elaine Wong

Method continues war against dirty via Web, social media

Facebook users who chanced upon Method’s fan page last month may have wondered why there was a call to sign up to become “a person against dirty” on its wall. The rite of initiation involved a sample kit, which you’d pass out to your family and friends, with hopes that they, too, would spread the word about Method’s eco-friendly cleaning philosophy. Method, though, closed off the giveaway in one hour (hey, freebies do not last, especially in a recession) as word of the promotion spread around (it is Facebook, after all). Consequently, only the first 100 got their foot in the door, adding to an exclusive base of 1,000 top advocates. Method said the Facebook promo stemmed from social media buzz around its earlier product sampling mailing, which was sent to its most avid fans. The kits, four in each box, contained four mini-sized samples of Method cleaning products, along with a dollar off coupon and a token of a free company T-shirt. Heck, had we known, we would’ve tried our luck! Who doesn’t want to be a “person against dirty?”

—Posted by Elaine Wong