None of them have been around as long as I have, but . . .

Did you know that you could purchase Energizer Bunny slippers? Did you even imagine that they had a website just for the bunny or that Mr. Clean had a website just for him?

And if you had to guess who was the oldest - and my favorite - advertising icon or mascot when I was growing up, you'd probably have no problem winning that contest. It was Farfel, the Nestle dog, a puppet who used to sing: N-E-S-T-L-E-S, Nestles makes the very best . . . cha-aaaaw-clit! Jimmy Nelson was the ventriloquist who worked Farfel and his pal Danny in Nestle's commercials from 1955 to 1965. For anyone who remembers Farfel and the loud clap of his mouth at the end of the jingle, that was actually a mistake made during Nelson's audition. Because he was so nervous, his hand was sweaty and it slipped; but the company liked it, so it stayed. He thought he had blown it for sure, so it's one of those little mistakes in life that can lead to something good that you didn't expect. :-)

Now the Energizer bunny is starting his 20th year in advertising, having made his debut in October 1989. He was conceived by a man watching his son swim in a floatation device shaped like a pink rabbit on which his wife had placed her sunglasses to make him laugh. He's now so popular he has a balloon in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

But, Mr. Clean has - unfortunately, in my opinion - been around the longest (since he's still here). He made his debut in 1958, when I was 11. I'm surprised I was that old because I still remember having at least one nightmare about him, and I would have guessed I was more around 8. Well, I always have been a scaredy-cat. No one had shaved heads or big muscles in those days and he looked kind of mean. He was supposed to be "tough" on cleaning; hence the image that evidently sunk into my psyche.

In September 2008, the European Parliament deemed Mr. Clean potentially offensive, because his build might imply that cleaning can only be accomplished by a muscular man (I'm not making this up - ref.Wikipedia). We all know that ain't true - cleaning can't be accomplished by most men, muscular or not, with apologies to all you men who do a good job at your chores, Bill included. I'm terrible. But, that's because I was permanently scarred early in life by Mr. Clean and now I'm "soft" on dirt.