• by Aaron Baar , May 3, 2016

Judging from many cleaning product ads, a mess often results from lack of oversight or a careless accident (and cleaning it up is drudgery). But why does making the mess have to be devoid of fun?

In a new campaign for its stylish cleaning products, Method puts the fun in making a mess through a series of over-the-top video executions and innovative out-of-home elements. The campaign, from agency Muh-Tay-Zik | Hof-Fer, celebrates the green cleaning product with the same sense of style that garnered it attention when its packaging hit the shelves 15 years ago. 

“The base that [Method] carves out is style combined with substance, and that’s unique among the field,” Tony Zimney, creative director with the agency, tells Marketing Daily. “We found the messy part of the story before you cleaned up was was fun part. The subtext was you don’t have to feel about about cleaning it up.”

The new campaign uses the theme, “Fear No Mess,” to articulate its message. The videos use slow-motion and a jazzy soundtrack to underscore high-concept mess making. In one, a woman takes a leaf blower to a birthday cake, covering party guests in the pieces that get blown apart. Another depicts a woman golfing meatballs off a table in a well-appointed house, and a third shows a couple throwing fresh fruit at each other through an oversized fan.

Though Method boasts all-natural ingredients and is environmentally friendly, the brand is eschewing the health, safety and responsibility messages of competitors to show the product’s effectiveness in a way that celebrates the mess, rather than the drudgery of cleaning up. 

“Cleaning ads happen in a Norman Rockwell world that doesn’t exist anymore,” Joel Kaplan, a creative director at the agency, says. “At it’s core, no one else is saying, ‘We’re a cleaning company, and we encourage you to make messes.’”

The ads will primarily run on digital channels, such as connected TV, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest. Out-of-home and social elements depict things like a continually melting snow cone and perpetually shaking muddy, wet dog to make the “Fear No Mess” message more hypnotizing where attention is fleeting. 

“The whole idea was we have to capture people’s attention on the go,” Kaplan says. “These people aren’t just sitting at home reading Better Homes & Gardens.”