He is America's preeminent pitchman. George Foreman, twice the heavyweight boxing champ, has lent his name and smiling mug to mufflers, grills, exercise equipment, and more. But now, the heavyweight champion of the endorsement-world is in a new licensing agreement that takes him out of the electric frying pan and into the fiery competition of household cleaning products.

Mr. Foreman is licensing his name to startup Knockout Group, which will connect Foreman to virtually every recent trend in household products. The George Foreman Knockout system of environmentally friendly cleaning products will be launched during summer of 2004 during 30-minute direct-response infomercials featuring the famous boxer.

The four-item line of spray cleaners, priced in line with existing brands and bearing the likeness of the boxing grillmaster, is environmentally safe and includes a thyme-based disinfectant approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for use on food-contact surfaces, as well as all-purpose bathroom and window cleaning varieties.

Marketers behind the agreement expect the Foreman brand strategy to land a knockout punch on the $2 billion-plus household cleaning market.

(JuLy, 2004)