I always knew my mom was onto something truly cultural every time she scolded me and my sisters about our messy rooms. Thanks to Clorox now I know this was nothing but a rite of passage; something grandmothers and mothers do to keep our Latinoness -not necessarily our cleaningness– in check.
According to a Clorox press release:
Man, it’s all coming back to me now! I kind of remember begging my mom not only the perfect quinceañera, but for a 2-liter-bottle of Clorox that I could eventually pass on to future generations. How culturally relevant we all were back then!
MI BLOG ES TU BLOG 
Oh my goodness. Found this via twitter. I’ll be interested to see the reactions.
“Four in ten Latinas listen to the same type of music as they clean as their mothers.” jajajajajajajajajaja
PRICELESS!! I bet Schwarzenegeer s mistress will agree
I figure you’re being sarcastic :P. Nevertheless, is cleaning a right of passage for Latinas. I think mi abuelita would argue that it is. My hermanita would likely disagree.
I know it all sounds a little crazy, but actually I do agree with some of those things. I don’t think learning cleaning tricks or styles is any different than learning recipes or how to apply make-up or any of the things we learn from our moms. And there are things she learned from her mom (not necessarily clorox, but things like how to scrub something a certain way or remove a certain stain, etc.) And I have very clear memories of the kind of music my mom would listen to while cleaning (Carly Simon, Julio Iglesias, Juan Gabriel, etc.). I didn’t think of it so much as a rite of passage, but definitely of passed down traditions. The press release is a little patronizing/cheesy, but I do recognize the truth behind it. I just don’t think they presented or packaged it properly.
we need to move up the ladder and pay someone to clean. and teach our daughters to pay someone to clean. THAT is the best rite of passage
I saw this and thought- hey! at least a brand is putting money into researching the Hispanic market. Far too many brands take the ostrich approach which is short-sided: the changing demographics of this country are undeniable.
That’s amazing how advertising is able to give a “cultural” spin to entrenched conservatism, just to sell a few more of miserable bottles of detergents…When I think that so many women in the world – and a few enlightened men- do not know that they are going trough a rite of passage when they clean with Clorox…
“Oh yeah, they know us latinas. In fact I’ve always rehearsed my Oscar acceptance speech holding a bottle of Clorox”.