This advertisement shifts from live-action footage of an English metropolis with heavy traffic and pedestrians crossing the road, all following the guiding white lines on the road surface, to an animated story of the potentially catastrophic consequences when road users do not obey the Highway Code. A male driver chooses not to observe the rule “Keep to the White Line”, and after ignoring a policeman, literally takes a turn for the worse by driving off “Lovers Leap” and falling into the backyard of a woman hanging her laundry. She tells him off, giving him the classic housewife finger-wagging, and as she pulls out a box of Persil Washing Powder, reminds him that everyone keeps to the white line, herself included. While the white line provides guidance for both women and men, it is moderated differently according to gender. The man isn’t confined by the boundaries, whereas the woman is meant to live within the domestic realm, looking towards household products such as Persil for direction in everyday life.
Famously known for its self-activating laundry detergent, Persil was introduced to the world in 1907 and continues to champion itself as the Number 1 household cleaning brand across the globe. In 1955 the product became the first detergent advertised on British television, with the famous slogan “Persil Washes Whiter”, featuring two attractive young women wearing spotless snowy-white dresses. Compared with Always Keep to the White Line, the women in the 1955 commercial had the option of choosing to have pristine white clothes, whereas in the 1925 ad the older housewife, dressed in her cleaning rags, has no choice but to uphold the laundry standards provided by Persil. Both commercials aimed at a circumscribed understanding of household consumerism, but in recent years Persil’s slogan has become “Dirt Is Good”, which they believe reflects and celebrates the modern-day narrative of childhood, sports, and cultural and social activities, allowing them to reach a more diverse range of consumers.

Shanice Martin