Maytag Choses A new "Maytag Repairman" For Ads

Clay Jackman, a 33 year old 6 foot 6 inch man who was selling real estate only last week , was chosen as the latest actor to play the role made famous by actor Jesse White in 1966 by Maytag, the appliance maker. While the role is hardly as important as the next actor to play James Bond, it still provides an important image for the company which was acquired by Whirlpool in 2006, which began closing plants and laying off workers.

The classic Maytag repairman role is an important image to this newest incarnation of Maytag, which bears little resemblence to the original company founded in 1893 by Fredrick Louis Maytag in Iowa as a farm implement company. The new company founded on a combined $2,400 by investment of relatives of Maytag introduced a safer threshing machine feeder later in 1893 to cut down on the high number accidents from this very dangerous piece of farm equipment. In 1907, Maytag introduced their first version of a washing machine called the "PASTIME", the model was a crude hand cranked model with a wooden tub. Today's modern Maytag washers are almost computer-like with programmable digital timers and multiple water level and water temperature settings that are driven by processors instead of mechnical timers like the models of the past. The Maytag line of Whirlpool washers are largely the luxury line of Whirlpool, with such features as stainless steel tubs and more elaborate digital programmable timers.

The Whirlpool corporation now owns many brands including Amana, Magic Chef, Hoover Vacuum, Litton, Crosley and other name brand products, and has been selling off unprofitable brands owned by Maytag to increase profitability including selling off to a Chinese company a popular vacuum cleaner line last year. The playful ads featuring the Maytag repairman gloss over the serious issues of bigger corporations acquiring smaller ones, closing plants and eliminating jobs, and selling off unprofitable brand names to Chinese investors.