Vacuum Van Gogh: Mary Poppins is the Nation’s Number One Cleaning Icon and Has Been Celebrated in First-of-its-Kind Vacuum Portrait

Samsung has honoured the UK’s love for vacuuming, with an unusual set of portraits, created by award-winning artist, Nathan Wyburn, using only its vacuum cleaner.

Faces of the nation’s favourite cleaning icons, as voted by the public, have been cleaned onto home surfaces – utilising the Samsung Bespoke JetTM AI vacuum.

Alongside Mary Poppins, the icons also featured entertainment classics like Mrs Doubtfire and Hogwarts caretaker Argus Filch, as well as real-life domestic idols such as Mrs Hinch and Stacey Solomon.

More than a quarter (26%) of Brits admit that vacuuming is their ‘guilty pleasure’, with the average person spending over two and half days a year battling dust and dirt on their beloved floors.

LONDON, United Kingdom – August 8, 2024 – According to research by Samsung UK, more than a quarter (26%) of Brits consider vacuuming their ‘guilty pleasure’, with 30% claiming it as their all-time favourite chore.

To celebrate the nation’s passion for vacuuming, Samsung has therefore unveiled the country’s top cleaning icons. It has teamed up with renowned artist, Nathan Wyburn, to create unique dirt-based depictions of their faces using the powerful Bespoke Jet^TM AI vacuum. Nathan is known for his creative pop culture portraits using unexpected supplies, previously working with materials as diverse as marmite on toast and glitter.

Top reasons for the nation’s vacuum obsession include it being super satisfying (48%) and relaxing (33%), and 24% stating they love the exercise they get from this household task. It’s just as well we’re a nation of vacuum fanatics, with almost half (48%) of UK households being carpeted – equating to 2481km² of soft flooring to keep clean.^[1]

While sculpting each portrait, Nathan was tasked with using the Bespoke Jet^TM AI vacuum’s wide range of attachments and features across a variety of surfaces, including the Active Dual Brush to powerfully clean carpets and the Slim LED Brush+ which thoroughly cleans hard floors. As the art developed, the flexible tool – normally used for cleaning the tops of fridges and cupboards – also came in handy for those finishing touches without disturbing the rest of the work.

 In a nation-wide poll, Mary Poppins was crowned the number one ‘cleaning icon’ surpassing the likes of Mrs Hinch and Cinderella, as well as other fictional characters including the adored undercover nanny, Mrs Doubtfire, and clean-obsessive, Friends fan-favourite, Monica Gellar, all of whom have been celebrated in special works of art.

Britain’s top 10 cleaning icons:

1. Mary Poppins
2. Mrs Hinch
3. Mrs Doubtfire
4. Stacey Solomon
5. Cinderella
6. Monica from Friends
7. Kim Woodburn
8. Marie Kondo
9. The Janitor (Scrubs)
10. Argus Filch (Harry Potter)

Real-life cleaning inspirations Mrs Hinch, Stacey Solomon, Kim Woodburn and Marie Kondo, all made the list with one in four (28%) respondents saying that they selected their icons because they inspired them to keep their homes in tip-top condition.

Our fascination for floor care even extends to our daily dose of social media, with 28% admitting they love to watch carpet cleaning content and 24% saying they could watch it ‘for hours’.

The Harry Potter fandom also came through for Hogwarts janitor Argus Filch, who was amongst the top ten, and fans of the popular comedy show Scrubs also voted for the mischievous Janitor. With so many beloved fictional characters on the list, it’s no wonder nearly half (48%) of respondents chose their favourites because they ‘made chores more fun’.

Artist, Nathan Wyburn, comments: “I’d never thought of making art with a vacuum cleaner, so I jumped at the challenge! Who wouldn’t want to recreate legends like Mrs Doubtfire?! As an artistic tool, the Bespoke Jet AI’s precision and power gave me a lot of creative freedom, so I’m chuffed with the outcome. With more than two hours of battery life, it also meant I didn’t have to wait to recharge the battery while creating each portrait. Now that I’ve seen the depth of clean in my artwork, I can’t wait to create more art when vacuuming with it in my home!”

Dan Barfield, Director – Head of Digital Appliances Division, Samsung UK & Ireland, said:

“Thanks to advancing technologies such as AI, vacuuming has evolved to a chore that we can take pride and enjoyment from. Nathan’s portraits are a testament to the Bespoke Jet^TM AI’s capabilities and how it’s raising the bar on cleaning as Samsung’s most powerful vacuum to date, with 280W of suction and super-charged battery life.”

“With such illustrious cleaning icons leading the way alongside our intuitive, easy to use vacuum cleaners we believe vacuuming will continue to wipe the floor with any other cleaning chore.”

On the more practical side, a key culprit to the obsession with vacuuming stems was our love for pets, who were identified as the top contributors to unclean carpets by 40% of the respondents. The Bespoke Jet AI Pet Tool+ which removes pet hair without tangling ensures pet lovers can vacuum with ease just like the rest of the nation.

The Bespoke Jet™ AI vacuum is designed for every lifestyle, with world-class suction power and AI-based cleaning services, which are capable of automatically optimising to each environment. For further information on this clever appliance visit here.

To celebrate the nation’s love for vacuuming, customers can enjoy 15% off the powerful Bespoke Jet™ AI or any other Samsung vacuum using ICONS15 code on Samsung.com until 15^th August^[2]. Plus, get up to £200 off selected vacuum when you recycle your old one for free^[3].

Research data:

The research was conducted by Censuswide, among a sample of 2000 UK Respondents (Nat Rep). The data was collected between 17.07.2024 – 19.07.2024. Censuswide abides by and employs members of the Market Research Society and follows the MRS code of conduct and ESOMAR principles. Censuswide is also a member of the British Polling Council.

About the Samsung Bespoke Jet™ AI

The Samsung Bespoke Jet^TM AI is the most powerful Samsung vacuum cleaner to date. Thanks to two batteries, it offers up to 160 minutes of uninterrupted cordless vacuuming. The wide range of attachments includes a dedicated Pet Tool+ which picks up pet hair without tangling thanks to a rubber nozzle and bristles. Thanks to AI mode, the vacuum classifies complex cleaning environments, such as floor type and saves energy by reducing battery power by 14%. £899 from Samsung.com.

[1] Calculated based on the average total floor area of a dwelling in the UK (94m² according to English Housing Survey 2018-2019) and a total of 26.4 million dwellings in the UK (based on ONS 2021 Housing report).

[2] Purchase from Samsung.com by 15/08/24. Apply discount code at basket. Not in conjunction with any other offer except Trade Up.

[3] Only available at Samsung.com. Customers must apply Trade Up discount on product page, before checking out. Recycled products are non-returnable and have zero value. You must fully uninstall (including disconnecting and draining of water, or wiping all data, as applicable) your appliance, laptop, monitor, or television, and make sure it is ready for collection at the same time we deliver your new product. We reserve the right to refuse the delivery if you fail to do so. You will be required to pay a surcharge equal to the amount of the discount you received, if you do not recycle or have your product ready for recycling. Offer cannot be combined with multi-buy promotions for Home Appliances. Each household may only recycle one of each type of product and will receive only one Trade Up discount for each product type recycled. The Trade Up discount is an incentive to recycle it is not a Trade In value for the recycled product.