• by Sarah Mahoney , October 5, 2007

Times are tough in the appliance business, so Maytag is pulling out the big guns for its 100th birthday party. The brand has hired none other than Willard Scott to come to the fête. And proving that a good gimmick never gets old, the company has also found a way to incorporate the ever-idle Maytag repairman into the open-to-the-public event, scheduled for Oct. 13 at Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry.

Scott is the retired weatherman for NBC's "The Today Show," although he appears on it to wish centenarians a happy birthday. The event will include some giveaways, including $100 Home Depot coupons.

And the Maytag repairman will be busy reading "Maytag Moments,--entries submitted by consumers of their fondest brand recollections. He'll then take a tour across the country, and in four yet-to-be-disclosed markets, the Benton Harbor, Mich.-based company says the Maytag Man will deliver birthday cupcakes to people in their homes and listen to their "Maytag Moments" in person.

In between baking cupcakes, the Maytag repairman is still finding time to make a few commercials. The latest salvo began last May, via Publicis New York, after a nationwide search for a new actor. The spots have him standing in for the cable guy, and making repairs to whacked-out toy manufacturing equipment and tuning up office copiers, just to keep himself busy.

The anniversary comes at a rough time for Whirlpool Corp., which acquired Maytag last year for $2.6 billion. With the U.S. housing market in a slump, appliance sales have been soft, and in its most recent quarter, Whirlpool North America's revenues fell 6% to $3 billion, with unit shipments declining 1% for the quarter, and 5% for the first half of 2007. Whirlpool is the leading marketer of major home appliances, and its brands also include Whirlpool, KitchenAid, Jenn-Air and Amana.

The company is seeing some improvement, however: "Industry shipment trends began to improve during the quarter, following six months of high single-digit, year-over-year declines."