• by Les Luchter , Yesterday

Friday, July 3, marks the official federal holiday for Independence Day. Saturday is the 4^th of July.

And Sunday, July 5? It’s “Address the Mess Day,” by declaration of Reckitt’s Lysol brand of cleaners, sanitizers and disinfectants.

To promote observance of “Address the Mess Day,” Lysol turned to long-time “Modern Family” star Jesse Tyler Ferguson, who in this video declares that he’s “no more Mr. Neat Guy” and this July 4, he’ll be celebrating with barbecues, block parties, backyard fun, and embracing all the mess that comes with it….You see, making a mess is just a sign that you've had a really great time.”

And, of course, he’s able to do that because July 5 is now “Address the Mess Day, a full day to refresh and reset” -- and to use Lysol.

"The best celebrations are the ones that get a little messy, but no one looks forward to the cleanup the next day," Benoit Veryser, Lysol’s vice president of U.S. Marketing, said in a statement.

Explaining the reasoning behind the campaign to Marketing Daily, Brad Eshgh, global brand director, Lysol Cleaners & Wipes, said, “We know that nearly two-thirds of U.S. adults have missed out on time with friends and family at gatherings because they were busy cleaning. Since holidays are an important time to connect with loved ones, our goal was to empower consumers to embrace all the mess that comes with hosting, from spills and splashes to splatters and more— and leave the cleanup with Lysol until the next day.”

The “missing out” figure provided by Eshgh comes courtesy of an April study of 1,000 U.S. adults it commissioned from Wakefield Research, which also found that “more than three-quarters (76%) would prefer a dedicated post-holiday cleaning day to truly enjoy the celebrations.”

Besides social media postings by Ferguson and Lysol, the hero video also ran as a boosted Instagram post earlier this month, and Ferguson also posted his own Instagram story touting “Address the Mess Day.”

Lysol has also tied in with Walmart -- which offered special edition packs of such products as Lysol All-Purpose Cleaner, Lysol Disinfecting Wipes, and Lysol Laundry Sanitizer  -- through such tactics as display banners, along with one-day homepage and product page takeovers on Walmart.com.

Earned media strategy and outreach, including social media postings and an audio news release was handled by Hunter, with the paid boosting and Walmart coordination done in-house.

The effort has also included a dedicated website at www.AddressTheMessDay and a $5-off coupon for All-Purpose Cleaner Twin Packs or Disinfecting Wipes Multipacks.

Separately, Reckitt Brands including Lysol and automatic dishwashing product Finish announced a commitment to donate product to nonprofit  Feeding America’s network of local food banks.