Stanley Steemer

From the Audiovisual Identity Database, the motion graphics museum

Background

Stanley Steemer is an American company that provides carpet cleaning, tile and grout cleaning, upholstery cleaning, hardwood floor cleaning and air duct cleaning. The company also does water damage restoration and sells a line of cleaning products for home and office use. It was founded in 1947 in Dublin, Ohio. Still headquartered in Dublin, it has been a leading carpet cleaning business for 70 years.

1st Logo (1999?-2011?)


Visuals: On a white background, a Stanley Steemer van drives into view at a close-up angle, consisting of the signature school bus yellow color and the Stanley Steemer logo in a font that resembles Playbill. After the van stops moving, the camera rotates around to face the side straight on and then zooms out. A disclaimer also fades in below as well before the van drives off-screen, causing "1-800-STEEMER" to pop in one-by-one in the Stanley Steemer font, and extra details may appear below it. The text then shines.

Variants:

  • Sometimes, the phone number rises up to give room for the details below.
  • Around 2007, the van would be rendered in CGI and adopted into a more modern shape. The van also appears in the distance driving towards the right before turning toward the side, resting in its usual position. A URL of sorts is also added below the text.
    • A variant exists where yellow swooshes follow the van as it drives into place and the letters are merely wiped into existance.
  • An early variant has a Stanley Steemer steam cleaner sweep across a dirty floor as "1-800-STEEMER" appears in a tall font below it along with a URL. The camera then zooms into the cleaner head as it fills the screen with steam, revealing the van as it zooms out and rotates into place.

Technique: Live-action and computer animation, later full CGI.

Audio: A upbeat jingle during the logo, introduced in 2002, with a group of female singers singing "Call 1-800-STEEMER! Stanley Steemer gets carpet cleaner!" in a rather uplifting tone. This version of the jingle continued to be used on carpet commercials after it was rewritten for commercials promoting just the company in 2007.

Audio Variants:

  • The tune may be played on a guitar. The vocals are also beat-corrected so they are more in-sync with the music.
  • Starting in 2007, the lyrics changed to "Call 1-800-STEEMER! Stanley Steemer gets your home cleaner!", possibly to reflect upon their other services besides carpet cleaning.
  • The early version had a female singer singing "Call 1-800-STEEMER! Tough on dirt, gentle on carpet!" in a slightly less upbeat tone.
  • From 1999 to 2001, a group of singers sing "1-800-STEEMER! Tough on dirt, gentle on carpet!" in a more pop music style. A choir is heard singing the "tough on dirt" part.

Availability: Can be seen on most of their commercials during the period. It's no longer on TV, though given its long run of nearly 12 years, it shouldn't be too hard to find on old off-air TV recordings.

2nd Logo (2010?-)


Visuals: There is the same van from the last logo on a yellow background. A sentence based off the ad is above, while "1-800-STEEMER" is below.

Earlier Variant: The logo starts with live-action footage of the Stanley Steemer van driving from a third-person point of view. A sentence based on the ad is seen above, while the "1-800-Steemer" is seen on the van.

Later Variant: Starting in either 2013 or 2014, the van is redesigned on some commercials and moves back to make room for the "certified asthma and allergy friendly" certificate.

Technique: CGI. Live-action for the early variant.

Audio: A redone version of the last jingle; "carpet" is replaced with "your home" in this version.

Audio Variants:

  • In the asthma and allergy-friendly variant, "gets your home cleaner" is replaced with "your certified cleaner".
  • Sometimes, the jingle is lower-pitched or recreated (sometimes both).
  • The early variant has the first seven notes of the Stanley Steemer jingle (minus the first one) and a group of singers singing "1-800-STEEMER!"

Availability: Seen on their modern commercials. You could possibly find it if you check big syndication channels during daytime and nighttime airings.

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