Consumer-products giant Procter & Gamble has created some of the advertising industry’s most durable icons, from Mr. Clean and Mr. Whipple to, more recently, a family of cartoon bears for Charmin.
The company hopes to add something new to the list.
Weed-killers don’t usually rely on animated spokes-characters to make their pitch to consumers, but P&G aims to change that with the introduction of “Bruce,” a happy-go-lucky canine who will initially appear in basketball togs along with a pack of famous college canines on behalf of Spruce, one of the newer products in the company’s portfolio — the better to attract attention as March Madness draws closer. One of Spruce’s points of appeal is that it is pet friendly.
“We have a lovable looking mascot,” says Jessica Ettelson, senior brand director for Spruce, during a recent interview. But the machinations behind his debut were detailed, she says. “We had debates. Does he wear a leash? Does he wear a collar? We decided no. He’s part of the family, so he gets to loosen the tie a little bit, be collarless.”
Spruce’s Bruce will initially appear in four new ads during March and April in which he will square off against dog mascots from four NCAA teams: Fresno State, Gonzaga, University of Tennessee and University of Connecticut. The spots are meant to be seen as the NCAA March Madness men’s basketball tournaments take up much of the national conversation. Kirk Herbstreit and his golden retriever, Peter, will also appear in the commercials.
Madison Avenue mascots were, in a different decade, all the rage. Some of the biggest national advertisers, including Kellogg’s, General Mills, McDonald’s and PepsiCo, thrived while their cartoonish ad characters worked to make a splash across dozens of TV ads. Such creations have been in shorter supply in recent years, as marketers swing from trying to generate awareness and recall of their products and services to working harder with interactive media — including streaming and social — to get consumers to close a transaction. More ads ask viewers to visit a website, call a doctor, request information via email, and, most important, make a purchase. Once an advertiser has cash in hand, crafting a story with a character might not loom as large in modern pitch-craft.
But some advertising practitioners love their characters. The insurance sector, filled with big spending names like Geico, Liberty Mutual, Progressive and State Farm, keeps gaining momentum with creations like Jake and Flo, and animated figures like the Gecko and Limu Emu. Recent Super Bowl commercials for Planters and Instacart have been crammed full of old-school ad mascots interacting with one another.
Bruce will help remind consumers that Spruce can be used around pets, which “are part of our family, but haven’t really had a voice or a sway in the products that are used in the outdoors spaces where they play and interact” with owners, says Ettelson. He can also serve to add a happier note around a product category that often spurs conversations that can carry negative sentiments. Some people regard weed-killers and herbicides as dangerous for consumers and the environment, an attitude lent ballast by lawsuits filed against the makers of Roundup, owned previously by Monsanto and now part of Bayer.
The new mascot isn’t free to act in any way he chooses. He’s not to be portrayed actually using the product, says the executive. “That’s not a dog’s job, right?” she says. And he is meant to communicate feelings through action and expressions, not words. “He does not actually speak, but rather uses his interactions, physical comedy – in a way that’s similar to a real dog, she adds. “We want to stay true to what the pet experience is, while still giving him a way to express and articulate himself.”
Procter is applying tried-and-true marketing methods to a category that has not been a traditional one. The company is better known for toothpaste, detergent and deodorant than it is for lawncare. But it made its first marketing foray into the category in 2025, using Spruce commercials placed in specific southern markets in the U.S. during Super Bowl LIX, hoping they’d attract consumers in warmer climates who were just starting to focus on taking care of their property for the year. The company used a similar strategy in 2026.
The company thinks there are new sales to be made. “We see that the category is largely underrepresented as we look at households of color, as we look at female households as we look at younger demographics, says Ettelson. As people buy their first homes, “they have their first outdoor space to take care of, and we do think that is a big opportunity for growth,” Bruce may look carefree, but he certainly seems to have a lot of work to do in months to come.
English (US) ·