Given the British public’s love of TV, it’s no secret that starring in some of its most iconic adverts can be an unexpected path to stardom.
From Joan Collins turn promoting Cinzano and Howard Brown’s Halifax musical numbers, to Maureen Lipman’s ‘ologies’ for BT, featuring in a famous campaign can turn you into an overnight sensation.
Such is the case for Barry Scott, who was the brash and enthusiastic face behind the cleaning brand Cillit Bang.
Famous for his catchphrase: ‘Bang! And the dirt is gone,’ his ads were known for their enthusiastic demonstrations of the hard-hitting products, showing viewers how to make their kitchens and bathrooms sparkle without hours of scrubbing.
Barry starred in Cillit Bang’s adverts from 2006 to 2006, and again to 2013 to 2016, but in recent years has swapped the role for an unlikely career path.
In fact, his name isn’t even Barry Scott, it’s Neil Burgess, and he now works as a quizmaster at The Raglan pub in Walthamstow, London.
Barry Scott was the star of the iconic Cillit Bang adverts, famous for his catchphrase ‘Bang! And the dirt is gone’
But the star behind the campaign isn’t even called Barry, and since being axed from the ads in 2016 he’s swapped the role for an unlikely career path
For £2 teams of six can take part in the quiz, with a total prize fund of £350, and the pub even advertises it as being hosted by Barry himself.
Neil also reprised his role as Barry for a new range of adverts for high protein cereal Surreal, featuring a new version of his famous catchphrase.
He has also regularly shared skits in character on his YouTube channel, as well as stage monologues displaying his acting work.
One 2021 video, showed ‘Barry’ poking fun at influencers travelling to Dubai during the Covid pandemic using the government loophole that it was ‘essential work,’ while another showed him hitting out at the Conservatives’ handling of the crisis.
Prior to his star turn as the cleaning enthusiast, Neil had also starred as Brian McFadden’s manager in the music video for his song Real To Me, as well as Male Paramedic Number One in Waking the Dead and Removals Man in Life Begins.
But it was his divisive performance as cleaning favourite Barry that he found nationwide recognition, even if some viewers shared their dislike of them.
The adverts sparked a string of memes, even a dance remix which attracted over one million views on Youtube.
He has also been the subject of a death hoax, when student website Oxygen.ie published a story in 2014 claiming Barry had been found dead.
Barry’s name is really Neil Burgess, and he now works as a quizmaster at The Raglan pub in Walthamstow, London (pictured)
Neil also reprised his role as Barry for a new range of adverts for high protein cereal Surreal, featuring a new version of his famous catchphrase
In the piece, they claimed Barry was discovered after he failed to attend the 7th Annual Cillit Bang Convention, with a tongue-in-cheek statement from police saying: ‘It is difficult to know the nature of the death because Scott’s apartment does not appear to have any fingerprints in it.
‘After speaking with close friends of Scott, we suspect this is because he regularly cleaned it with Cillit Bang.’
Neil’s Cillit Bang ads also faced their own controversy, when one was banned by the Advertising Standards Agency for being misleading.
In the ad Scott declared: ‘Wow, that’s fast! It powers through soap scum and watermarks. Look, go faster stripes!
‘No other leading cleaner speeds through grime like that! Cillit Bang Limescale and Shine, with Turbo Power. Bang and the dirt is gone.’
Five viewers complained that the ad misleadingly exaggerated the capabilities of the product, including one scene showing the effect of the cleaning product on taps and kitchen surfaces.
The brand’s owner Reckitt Benckiser insisted the ‘Limescale, gone in seconds’ claim had been substantiated by video evidence provided to Clearcast, although acknowledging the level of limescale shown would probably require 20 seconds to dissolve in reality.
The ASA then ruled that the ad could no longer be broadcast in the current form.
A campaign by Reckitt Benckiser also backfired when the company set up a virtual blog run by ‘Barry,’ in 2005.
Neil also regularly shares skits in character on his YouTube channel, as well as stage monologues displaying his acting work
Barry was axed from the Cillit Bang adverts in 2016, and replaced by hunky Daniel Cloud Campos, who previously performed as a backing dancer for Madonna
When blogger Tom Coates shared an emotional post to his own blog about his long-estranged father, one of the replies appeared to be from ‘Barry’, and featured a link to Cillit Bang’s website.
Furious at his emotional struggles being used as a form of ‘spam advertising,’ Tom hit out at the move, and Reckitt later apologised.
Barry was axed from the Cillit Bang adverts in 2016, and replaced by hunky Daniel Cloud Campos, who previously performed as a backing dancer for Madonna.
His adverts were a stark contrast to with the sexy new ads showing him as a mechanic with little more than Cillit Bang to clean the garage.
