private industry cleaning products founded 1958 founder harry o hare headquarters saint louis missouri united states key people bill willert current ty d bol man bryan willert executive vice president website www.tydbol.com ty d bol an american brand of toilet cleaner was introduced in 1958 . in its original format the product is a blue cleanser disinfectant liquid released into the toilet tank from an automatic dispenser . the brand has changed owners repeatedly ; willert home products 1 of saint louis missouri which acquired the brand in 2010 currently manufactures ty d bol in south st. louis . 2 the company is best known for its nautical spokesperson the ty d bol man who piloted a boat inside the toilet tank in tv commercials from 1968 to 1984 . contents 1 history 2 ty d bol man 3 references 4 external links history edit originally developed in 1958 by inventor and cleaning product pioneer harry o hare ty d bol in its original form is a blue liquid cleanser disinfectant for the toilet bowl . other variants such as a solid tablet in a water soluble wrapper were introduced later . 3 in 1960 o hare sold ty d bol chemical to its other executives for less than 100 000 ; independently he pursued an assortment of inventions various detergents a swimming pool chlorinator a water softener . 4 revlon briefly owned the company as well as a shoe polish maker and a minority stake in schick as part of a diversification attempt which it quickly abandoned . 5 in 1978 competing in tank toilet cleaner 2000 flushes was launched initially as a jar of chlorine bleach crystals for the toilet tank . in 1987 sara lee household and body care purchased the ty d bol brand from near bankrupt papercraft holdings 6 operating it as part of its kiwi brands division in douglassville pennsylvania . 7 after years of selling core assets to stay afloat papercraft folded in 1991 . 8 in 1991 colour consultant james mandle advised ty d bol s new owners to change its packaging from a light blue and green to a bold colour scheme with bright white letters on a dark background . in the 18 months that followed sales of ty d bol jumped 40 % . 9 a twelve page booklet ty d bol guide to bathroom cleaning spring cleaning edition was offered free as a 1992 promotional gimmick to anyone who mailed a request and a self addressed stamped envelope . 10 the 1992 ty d bol spring cleaning report commissioned new york based public opinion polling firm research & forecasts to ask 1 006 american adults if they had the power to throw out what exists and start all over again what would they choose 49 percent picked the u.s. congress 23 percent the irs tax code . 11 as a 1995 winning entry in the washington post style invitational week 121 russell beland of fairfax virginia proposed a useless product new lemon yellow ty d bol . 12 13 mid 1990s magazine ads promoted ty d bowl as the only automatic bowl cleaner so powerful it goes beyond clean to kill 99.9 % of toilet bowl germs with every flush . and it s the only automatic cleaner you can buy that s registered with the united states epa 14 as both ty d bol and competing vendors introduced new products by 2000 the in tank ty d bol tablet competed head on with the sani flush puck the clorox bleach in every flush automatic toilet cleaner the 2000 flushes tablet and various lysol or vanish products almost all established names which originally identified non overlapping lines . in 2005 sara lee updated the ty d bol brand with a new logo package and slogan clean you can see . these remain in use by the brand s current owner st. louis based family owned private company willert home products which purchased ty d bol in 2010 . in 2014 ty d bol launched a natural toilet bowl cleaner that kills 99.9 % of germs and is safe for septic systems . ty d bol man edit ty d bol is best known for its nautical spokesperson the ty d bol man . nattily attired in a captain s hat blazer and turtleneck he piloted a toilet tank sized boat in tv commercials from 1968 to 1984 . a number of different actors including dan resin fred miltonberg larry sprinkle mr. w.d. bill willert and mark matheisen played the dapper character . resin who died at age 79 in 2010 was dr. beeper in the film caddyshack . 15 larry sprinkle is a reporter for nbc affiliate wcnc tv in charlotte north carolina . 16 mark matheisen s film credits include roles in forrest gump plan b a walk in the clouds and ocean tribe . steve levin of the dallas morning news once wrote he wore white slacks a blue blazer white shoes a captain s hat and he drove a motorboat in your toilet tank . he sang calypso threw tiny lemons and was a favorite topic for johnny carson bob hope carol burnett and george carlin . he was also the driving force behind a generation of kids peeking into toilet tanks to find the little man in the boat . he was the first to introduce the automatic bowl cleaner and the first to turn the water in the bathroom blue . he was the ty d bol man . 17 decades after the televised ad campaign ended the character continues to serve as a symbol of the excesses of the advertising industry . george carlin said on one of his comedy albums that they re approving some pretty weird things man . like the guy in the toilet is pretty strange . originally it s a rowboat . then he got a speedboat . then he was on a raft with two calypso guy musicians and two bushels of lemons singing we put the lemon in the ty d bol for you . in a 1997 syndicated column dave barry chimed in with also remember the ty d bol man the guy who used to float around the toilet tank in a little boat i hate to burst your bubble but he wasn t real either . he was just a professional actor who happened to be six inches tall . the real ty d bol man is only four inches tall and is always watching you via a little periscope . try not to think about it . 18 according to terry o reilly and mike tennant the admen of cbc radio s the age of persuasion it s not easy to take seriously the marketing neverland where cartoon bears pitch toilet paper where the ty d bol man patrols your toilet tank in a tiny rowboat and where a tin of folgers coffee can heal a marriage . yet the influence of marketing can t be ignored ; worldwide advertisers spend upwards of 600 billion a year trying to influence what you think do and buy . 19 references edit willert home products elliot weiler 2013 08 09 . ty d bol is made in st. louis . fox2now.com . retrieved 2014 07 26 . msds for ty d bol automatic toilet cleaner blue spruce evergreen lavender tablet sara lee corporation 2003 harry o hare hopes to turn water into gold ty d bol inventor plans to take on big guys with new filtration method . los angeles times . 1988 01 19 . retrieved 2014 07 26 . revlon inc. . lehman brothers collection library.hbs.edu . 1985 05 01 . retrieved 2014 07 26 . papercraft the pittsburgh press nov 17 1989 local kiwi operation sold reading eagle pennsylvania aug 31 1999 former papercraft holding in chapter 7 bankruptcy the pittsburgh press oct 19 1991 nathalie nahai 2014 04 22 . website branding for small businesses . retrieved 2014 07 26 . hints for homemakers rome news tribune nov 23 1992 ty d bol spring cleaning report congress needs a good spring cleaning . 1992 03 19 . retrieved 2014 07 26 . the blots of beland a sampling of the no. 1 loser s 1 500 drops of style invitational ink . the washington post . 2011 06 22 . retrieved 2014 07 27 . yellow dye for toilets is manufactured but solely as a novelty practical joke device ; peepuck.com is one such vendor . germ warfare advertisement jet magazine 25 july 1994 ty d bol man dan resin dead at 79 . upi . 2010 08 02 . retrieved 2014 07 26 . larry sprinkle bio on wcnc tv ; larry joined wcnc tv in 1985 . kiwi brands inc. ty d bol man campaign judson knight encyclopedia of major marketing campaigns volume 1 2000 pp. 911 915 vanish lady s toilet available for sniffing dave barry syndicated column kentucky new era may 19 1997 the age of persuasion how marketing ate our culture terry o reilly mike tennant knopf canada oct 27 2009 external links edit official website retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title ty d bol & oldid 743638483 categories companies established in 1958american brandscompanies based in st. louismultinational companiescleaning product brandsprivately held companies based in missourimanufacturing companies based in missourihidden categories pages using infobox company with unsupported parameters navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages add links this page was last modified on 10 october 2016 at 14 19 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; additional terms may apply . by using this site you agree to the terms of use and privacy policy . wikipedia is a registered trademark of the wikimedia foundation inc. a non profit organization . privacy policy about wikipedia disclaimers contact wikipedia developers cookie statement mobile view