• by Todd Wasserman , September 22, 2021

In recent years, household cleaner Pine Sol has sold itself as an aphrodisiac, an excuse to stay home during the Covid pandemic and as a lavender-scented take-charge type. 

But this is the first time the brand has evoked profanity.  

New ads from Pine Sol, working with FCB Chicago, present the cleaner as “Clean AF.” Though it doesn’t spell out what AF means, a quick Google search will do the heavy lifting for you.  

In the latest ad, a roommate is cleaning when his other roommate enters. “Man, it is clean AF in here,” the roommate says. The other roommate, who is mopping the floor, quickly clarifies. “Clean and fresh,” he says. The other man is unimpressed. “That’s not what I meant,” he says. 

The ad comes as many ads, including Kraft, Jell-O and Booking.com, have all referenced curse words. A 2018 poll found that one in four Americans can’t get past 9 a.m. without cursing, and most Americans swear before 11 a.m.. Cursing is the most popular way to express frustration, the survey found. 

Other playful uses of profanity in advertising include Kmart’s “Ship My Pants”, Big Gas Savings and Sofa King, a British furniture brand whose ads noted that their prices were “Sofa King low.”