We Steam Clean Our Bottles!

The screen fills with scenes of ordinary life: fries dipped into that unmistakable red hue, a glass bottle’s silhouette catching the light, an unmistakable squeeze of ketchup landing in a perfect dollop on a burger bun. It’s a love letter to brand identity itself: the kind of marketing that whispers instead of screams, trusting the audience to finish the sentence. (Storychief)

As the time the final frame lands, that classic Heinz bottle glinting like a wink, a hand grabs me by the shoulder, and I turn to look at my husband sitting beside me on the sofa. He laughs and says our favorite phrase.

“We steam clean our bottles.”

It’s not unusual, while watching tv, for either my husband or myself to turn to each other and say this phrase, in reference to a case study I’d read to him when I’d first returned to college. 

In the 1930s Claude C. Hopkins — the legendary copywriter — ran a campaign for Schlitz that highlighted the brewery’s cleanliness with lines like “We wash our bottles with live steam!” Schlitz Beer was struggling, it was in 15th place among U.S. breweries in terms of sales. (Heath Brothers) The ad worked exactly the way classic positioning theory predicts: Hopkins took a routine industry practice (steam-cleaning bottles) and made it the reason to prefer Schlitz, reframing competitors’ similar processes as suspicious by omission. The result: Schlitz’s sales jumped and the brand vaulted from a lower rank into a tie for first place in the U.S. market. (4Freethink)

The claim was true… but it wasn’t unique. The standard method of cleaning bottles in the 1920’s was… steam! Hopkins’ insight was to be the first to advertise it, turning an ordinary operational detail into a memorable positioning claim. (Freethink) The tactic is a classic example of a preemptive claim / positioning move: make a (small) feature the centerpiece of your brand story so customers reinterpret the whole category. 

Advertisements like these, ones that highlight features people might assume are true, but which aren’t necessarily advertised, build trust and visibility with viewership when effective. Ownership of something ordinary (cleanliness, shape, hygiene) but being the first to shout about it gives a competitive edge. Since features are common, the messaging tends to be about integrating into daily life. That makes it relatable. 

So now we look for advertisements like these, ones that tug at our emotions in such a way that we can’t help but recognize the tactic they’re employing. Look for yourself and you’ll see just how many steam-cleaned bottles we’re surrounding ourselves with today. How many can you find?

Sources:

Storychief: 26 Innovative Marketing Campaigns of 2025

Heath Brothers: The value of concrete details - Heath Brothers Heath Brothers

Freethink: For entrepreneurs, product positioning can be even more important than the product itself