• by Aaron Baar , November 30, 2017

In the eyes of the law, Swiffer — an 18-year-old brand — is an adult. And with adulthood comes adult responsibilities, like cleaning. 

Thus, the brand has launched a new digital effort titled, “Art of Adulting.” Featuring actress and comedienne Abby Elliott (who has been going through some of her own personal adulting milestones, like getting married and moving across the country), the videos take a humorous look at what it means to be a grown-up in your own living space. 

“When Swiffer launched in 1999, it reinvented the way Americans cleaned,” a brand representative tells Marketing Daily. “As we were brainstorming how to bring our new campaign launch to life, the idea of adulting came up and we realized that people often view cleaning as an ‘adulting’ moment.”

One video, which is on Swiffer’s YouTube channel, begins with Elliott sitting alone in an unkempt and dusty living room (and shot in drab colors). In a voiceover, she identifies herself as “overwhelmed,” thinking someone else would clean up her mess (at one point, she even calls for “mom,” before realizing she doesn’t even live there). Eventually, she discovers Swiffer, returning the color to her world and the joy to her life. “I discovered ‘Adulting’” she says. “I just do the things I don’t want to do faster, so I can do the things I do want to do longer. But I do enjoy the Swiffering.” A second film takes place in the kitchen, and highlights the brand’s WetJet cleaner. 

“The video series helps us bring those relatable moments to life in a unique way and shows consumers that while adulting may be hard, Swiffer make it easy,” the representative says. 

The “Art of Adulting” series is meant to build on a campaign the brand launched earlier this year, that showed off how Swiffer fit into the normal chaos of everyday life. The campaign used the line, “If you’ve got ____ [filling in the blank with something messy], you’ve gotta Swiffer.” 

“The campaign is based on the insight that families these days are time-starved, and are looking for the fastest and easiest way to enjoy a clean house without spending their lives cleaning it,” the representative says. “The ‘Art of Adulting' video series shows some authentic every day scenarios where people use Swiffer to get a quick clean and get back to the business of living.”

The ‘Art of Adulting’ videos will be available on the brand’s YouTube channel, which is appropriate for an audience looking “to get video advice in different formats,” and also will hopefully foster social sharing, the representative says.