They’re bubbly. They’re brave. And they’ll clean your bathroom like a squad of miniature superheroes. The Scrubbing Bubbles mascots—those smiling, wide-eyed, foamy little bathroom champions—have been scrubbing their way into households since the 1970s. With their tiny bristle feet, jetpack boosters, and eternal optimism, these bubbly mascots are some of the most unexpectedly delightful figures in the world of cleaning products. But there’s more behind those sudsy smiles than you might expect. Here are the Top 10 Things You Didn’t Know About the Scrubbing Bubbles Mascots—fun facts and behind-the-scenes details that prove these guys are more than just bathroom foam.
#10: They Were Created by the Same Minds Behind the Green Giant
The Scrubbing Bubbles weren’t just random happy faces with soap trails—they were the brainchild of Leonard/Monahan, the same advertising firm responsible for other iconic mascots like the Jolly Green Giant. The goal? Make cleaning fun, visual, and energetic. Instead of showing a sparkling toilet (boring), they created a fantasy team of animated bubbles that actually do the work. The idea of “you don’t have to scrub, because they do it for you” flipped the script and gave bathroom cleaning some serious cartoon flair.
#9: They Originally Had a Human Mascot Named “Scrubby”
Before the bubbles became stars, the brand was fronted by a cartoon janitor named Scrubby in the 1960s and early ‘70s. He was a bald, smiling, mustached man in overalls who would explain how the product worked. But by 1978, the bubbly crew stole the spotlight. Scrubby quietly retired, and the animated bubble squad took over. Still, hardcore ad history fans remember him as the forgotten OG of the brand.
#8: The Original Animation Was Done by Hanna-Barbera
That’s right—the legendary animation studio behind Scooby-Doo, The Jetsons, and The Flintstones worked on the early Scrubbing Bubbles commercials. The animation had that distinct Saturday morning cartoon feel, complete with energetic movement, sound effects, and expressive faces on the bubbles. It helped cement the characters in pop culture memory and gave a dull chore some serious Saturday-morning magic.
#7: Each Bubble Had a Unique Design and Personality
While they often appear as a swarm, eagle-eyed viewers will notice that not all Scrubbing Bubbles look the same. In certain ads, you can spot subtle personality traits—one wears goggles, one has a deep voice and acts like the “leader,” another is a jokester. Though they’ve never been officially named, the team has long been portrayed like a cleaning squad, with each bubble contributing its own bubbly expertise to the task at hand.
#6: They Were Voiced by Veteran Cartoon Voice Actors
Throughout the years, various professional voice actors have lent their talents to the bubbles—including some who worked on major cartoons like Transformers, Tiny Toon Adventures, and The Real Ghostbusters. Their voices helped bring warmth and energy to what could’ve been forgettable blobs of foam. Their iconic, cheerful “We do the work, so you don’t have to!” slogan was delivered with such pep that it became one of the most memorable taglines in cleaning history.
#5: They’ve Starred in Over 100 Commercials
Since their bubbly debut in the late 1970s, the Scrubbing Bubbles have appeared in well over 100 different commercials, ranging from hand-drawn animation and stop-motion to CGI and even live-action hybrid spots. They’ve been flying through toilet bowls, battling soap scum, and zooming across shower tiles for decades. Each generation of the brand has updated their look slightly, but the basic concept—cleaning with style and smiles—has stayed the same.
#4: They Made a Brief Comeback in Toy Form
During the early 2000s, SC Johnson released a series of Scrubbing Bubbles-themed promotional toys in select cleaning kits. Some of them were collectible suction cup characters you could stick on your tub, while others were small figurines of the mascots. They were never mass-released in toy stores, but they’ve since become niche collector’s items for fans of retro brand memorabilia.
#3: Their CGI Makeover Was Controversial
In the late 2000s, the Scrubbing Bubbles received a full CGI makeover, turning them into more realistic 3D characters. While some appreciated the slicker animation, many longtime fans missed the hand-drawn warmth and charm of the original designs. Despite the visual upgrade, the new bubbles retained their personalities, jet-powered scrubbing, and trademark enthusiasm. And after some initial backlash, the updated look eventually won people over—because clean is still clean, no matter how digital the bubble.
#2: They Had a Video Game Crossover Moment
In one of the stranger brand crossovers, Scrubbing Bubbles made a brief appearance in a cleaning-themed mini-game featured in a promotional CD-ROM for kids in the early 2000s. The game let kids “pilot” a Scrubbing Bubble through a bathroom maze, blasting grime and picking up power-ups. It was simple, weird, and surprisingly fun—and showed that these mascots could scrub their way into gaming just as easily as they scrub a bathtub.
#1: They’ve Been Parodied in Pop Culture
The Scrubbing Bubbles have been spoofed in everything from Family Guy and Robot Chicken to SNL sketches, where they’re reimagined as a crime-fighting squad or sci-fi cleaning commandos. Their catchy slogan and unmistakable design have made them easy targets for parody—and proof of their lasting cultural relevance. Even when they’re not scrubbing tiles, the bubbles are busy making people laugh.
The Scrubbing Bubbles mascots are more than just animated cleaning foam—they’re cleaning legends. From their cartoon origins to their CGI adventures, they’ve made scrubbing a shower feel like a team sport with charm, energy, and just the right amount of bathroom bravado. Whether you grew up watching them zip around tile grout or just appreciate their clean-cut charisma, these bubbly mascots continue to prove that even the messiest jobs can be tackled with a smile… and a whole lot of fizz.
