- Barbara Lippert

At last, a vacuum campaign that defies gender and every stereotypical demographic; this new work for Hoover, from The Martin Agency, offers a fresh and funny take on vacuuming by separating humanity into two clear camps: clean freaks and the not so neat (OK, slobs.) And it works for both: Clean freaks will get the point, if not the humor, and the messies will appreciate getting info that meets official clean-freakish standards, should they ever feel compelled to improve. (Another important breakthrough in tone: no judgments!)

The first spot, "Soul Mate," shows that these types are indeed born, not made. Twin toddlers sit in neighboring high chairs, and the neat freak looks at her food-covered sibling with eerie disdain. (OK, so that's not exactly credible, but it's awfully cute.) In another scene, we see a young boy playing in the dirt, detailing the wheels of his truck as his friend makes like Pig Pen, and so on.

The scene in a college dorm room, wherein the freak occupies one side of the space and the slob is on the other, seems really accurate, although the slob side is nothing compared to what I've seen in some dorm rooms. (It is a young woman -- no easy stereotypes here -- and she seems to be doing something disgusting with her toes as she inhales a Pop-Tart, so maybe they overdid it on the stuff-that-a-vacuum-can't-fix front. Also, most dorm rooms are not that generously sized -- freaks and slobs are more cheek by jowl.) The point is that those for whom clean is never clean enough tend to respond to certain cues, like dogs that can hear things humans can't. (One member of this club, by the way, is newly appointed Obama Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. A profile in last week's New Yorker explained that he tends to keep his office like a Marine barracks, and that his first grade teacher reported, "Rahm likes to clean up after clean-up time is over.")

By the end of the spot, we hear blasts of "At Last," the fabulous Etta James tune that's been watered down and overexposed lately by Beyonce. I would be put off by the abuse of a fabulous song if it weren't so clear that this is a joke, and that the passion of the music matches the insane lust of the woman shown -- for an array of vacuums that are placed, cleverly enough, on a pedestal in a Home Depot type store. "It's not easy being a clean freak, but eventually your higher standards are rewarded," the announcer says, after the "six revolutionary vacuums" in the Hoover Platinum collection are worshipped by the camera and the freaky female shopper.

"Clean freaks rejoice. Your vacuum awaits" is the clever tag. There's a tiny hint of Karl Marx in the Communist Manifesto in the cadence ("Workers of the world unite. You have nothing to lose but your chains.") I'm sure Marx would turn in his grave knowing that the almost hypnotic rhythm is being applied to selling a vacuum. But I heard that he was a bit of a slob, anyway.