Maytag Introduces New "Lonely" Repairman

(CBS)  Some characters from commercials, such as the "Where's the beef?" ladies and Dunkin' Donuts' baker have become more than just advertisements. They are part of American pop culture.

Maytag's "ol' lonely" repairman campaign is 40-years-old and is the longest running real-life advertising character on network television. Three different actors — Hardy Rawls, Jesse White and Gordon Jump — have played the role.

Maytag went in search of an everyman to take over the role and nearly 2,000 hopefuls showed up at open casting calls across the nation.

But only one man had what it takes to fill the uniform. Former real estate agent Clay Jackson of Richmond, Va., was named the new face of Maytag. He auditioned for the part on a whim and impressed the judges with his improvisation.

"There's such great heritage — big shoes to fill," Jackson told The Early Show co-anchor Russ Mitchell. "I think you'll see some changes. He might get out of his office a little bit."

Jackson said he plans to continue promoting Maytag's values of being dependable and reliable so that everyone "can fall in love with (the repairman) all over again."

Jackson, 33, has a 2-year-old daughter and his wife will give birth again in August. He said it was a family decision for him to assume the role.

Clay has a theater background and began acting at North Carolina Wesleyan College where he majored in theatre. He graduated in 1997 and acted professionally in New York City until 2000 when he began working for his family-run business.

"It was a good combination of my skill sets," he said. "I had the professional acting background, but for the past many years I've been in a client-based job and spokesperson part is really connected with that. So there's not many jobs out there that can combine those two skills. And I'm excited to use them."

[xfredmenzies]

Hey look, free advertising for Maytag!

[muns_2000]

I guess I missed the part of the article where it says "Post Complaints Below"

[jolsonbear]

I have a $650 Frigidaire washer/dryer set that I bought 5 years ago to replace the $1800 Maytag Neptune set that required $450 in repairs in 1 year. My Frigidaire set was made at the Electrolux plant in Georgia (USA) where Roper and some of the Kenmore products are made. It is a nice looking set, but doesn't have all the stylish swoops and chrome like the fancier Maytag, cost a lot less and the Funny thing is, my clothes are just as clean when they come out?!? I have used them daily for 5 years with no problems.

I used to use the old addage "you get what you pay for" to explain why I would agree to pay a bloated price for something just because it has the best name recognition and reputation. Well I guess it is true---if you buy a maytag you are paying extra for the name so you can just remove the name plate from the machine when you send it out the door for repairs---then you've got what you paid for--the stupid name!!!!!

[asor1-2009]

Boy, you folks are really unlucky. I have a Maytag washer/dryer set and they don't know when to quit. Narry a problem after 15 years of daily service.
P.S. I AM knocking on wood!

[lizsmiley]

I haven't had my Maytag drier for TWO WEEKS because it broke down (oh, did I mention it is only 2 years old?). Maybe Mr Maytag should get off his keester and visit me instead of complaining about being lonely.

[tyranmex8810]

my last maytags were bought in 1971 .they were harvest gold but still working well .i replaced them in 2006 when we moved to a new home just because of the color. my new maytags have already given me trouble ,and i am so disappointed in them '.

[hansellb]

I wish I could contact Maytag Vice President Jeff Davidoff personally. Anyone in my age bracket remembers the Maytag commercials and wishes they could own one. Well....I finally got a Maytag. I have had my refrigerator worked on by five repairmen in the last three months. None could correct the problem. The warranty is as worthless as these repairmen. I'll never buy or recommend that anyone else buy a Maytag!!!

[chubby96]

Always wanted a Maytag, so a year and ahalf ago we bought ine. Biggest mistake we ever made. We were told these were made in the US, and 3 months after we had it the dryer broke, and called the repairman in. Found out the store lied Maytag is amde in SE Asia and Mexico and is most of the trouble that customers are having with Maytag's are not covered under the warranty. We got a bad deal on this and luckily the repairman that we called in was honest enough to fill us in on all the problems that Maytag has been having over the last few years. If we had known that we would of never bought ours. He fixed our dryer, and who knows when our washer will go out, I'm disapointed in how it operates also. Where does this repairman live? SE asia or Mexico and can he come fix mine everytime it breaks?