Example of recreational cleaner useIt's a sad maxim of today that not every cleaning liquid inspires a cult. One such absconder from this rule of thumb is the fantastic - even if like the Poorhouse you've never used it - Reckitt Benckiser's Cillit Bang.

Why such a silly name? Well, because apparently upon application to LIMESCALE, RUST (strangely seemingly emenating from a rubber hose) or GROUND IN DIRT amongst other such filth-objects BANG and the DIRT IS GONE. Cillit…well, who knows, but it does sound slightly dirty.

Name aside, what really grabbed attention are the wonderful adverts, starring fictional character "Barry Scott". In more recent times he has joined up with his lovely friend Jill and together they have explored new ways to use Cillit Bang. The adverts were so appalling that it initially led many to question whether they were for a real product, but it turns out they were and moreover one you can probably get at your supermarket. But there's more...

Not content with the abstract beauty of the original advert some clever Flash-guru called Jakazid went one step further with the cheesiness and produced a dance-remix of the advert. Don't miss it.

LookWotItDuzToThePennyOne claim of the advert, that it will make rusty decrepit dirty pennies "GOOD AS NEW!" (aka "LookWhatItDoesToThePenny") has been extensively tested by Adam Welch who found that, in a first for TV advertising, the claims were indeed true. However according to the container one shouldn't actually try it out. However as he took the risk he fully documented such fascinating statistics such as that "It takes three litres of Cillit BANG! to 'clean' 1384 coins".

But there is a dark side to the Bang. Barry Scott (remember he's not real) has a blog, obviously dedicated to selling this wonder-juice. All OK there, very "progressive" of their marketing team we're sure. However, naughty Mr Scott apparently began spamming some other blogs with links to his site. This included an emotional story about an estranged father by Tom Coates of Plasticbag.org. Tom Coates was seriously offended by this shallow and cynical attempt at irrelevant product placement and went on a mission to find out who did this evil thing. Amazingly persistent that he was, he managed to kind of track them down, and it resulted in a formal apology (probably) from Cillit Bang team.

If despite this capitalistic evil, you still love Cillit Bang, why not buy the unofficial t-shirt and profess your love in public.