You're Soaking In It

"I was watching a game show the other night," said Mr. Ginley. "They were talking about Madge. Remember Madge, the Palmolive lady? Did you know she did her commercials in a bunch of different languages?"

No, I did not. But I wanted to know more. So off I went, down the rabbit hole.
Long before Progressive's Flo, there were a number of iconic spokespersons. Mrs. Olsen for Folgers. Mr. Whipple for Charmin. ("I think he had a fettish," speculates Mr. Ginley.) And Madge for Palmolive Dish Soap.

(screen capture, fair use image)

Long before dishwashers became a common household appliance, dish washing soap was a big seller. For those of you in the younger set, you probably don't know that Madge (played by actress Jan Miner) shilled for Palmolive.

The Madge character was a manicurist, and the schtick was that ladies would come into her shop, she'd tsk tsk over their dry hands and stick them in a bowl to soak. She'd then tell them they should ditch their cheapo dishwashing liquid and switch to the hero brand. (Which was conveniently located on her table, so the camera could do a close-up.) Once Madge delivered the pitch, she'd then quip, "You're soaking in it." The client would express disbelief and pull her fingers out of the bowl (because she had inexplicably never seen the commercial, although it ran for 27 years). At which point, Madge would press the woman's hand back into the soapy mixture and reassure her that all would be well now that she'd learned the secret to softer, smoother hands. Each ad ended with a super* that read "two weeks later," and the happy dishwasher returning to tell Madge that Palmolive was all that Madge said it was.

Unlike other spokespersons who worried about typecasting, Jan Miner embraced her role. She even learned to perform her character in French, German, Dutch and Italian so she could recreate her role in various countries:

• France (as "Francoise")
• Germany, Switzerland and Austria (as "Tillie"),
• Finland and Denmark (as "Marissa")
• Italy

A different actress did the part in Australia and New Zealand.

How persuasive was Madge? The fact that they kept her around so long as a spokesperson must mean something.

All I know is, Mr. Ginley uses Palmolive, and he never complains about dishpan hands, so there you have it!

Take a trip down memory lane – you can watch one of the original commercials here.

*Type that appears over the image on the screen.