At a certain point in your kid’s life they’re bound to develop an inexplicable aversion to good personal hygiene. Six-year-old boys - notorious. And like most parents you’ll consider bribery, begging and blackmail. Recently several products have made a valiant effort to coerce kids into cleanliness with notable gimmicks.

Consider Listerine’s Agent Cool Blue, a pre-brush rinse that turns the plaque in your mouth bright blue. Junior marvels at the foreign color in his mouth and then brushes until it disappears. And if that’s not motivation enough, it’s reinforced with a flashy interactive website and a cast of cartoon characters.

A personal favorite is Squid Soap hand soap. While pushing down on the dispenser an ink mark is stamped onto the palm of the hand requiring 20-30 seconds of scrubbing to get it off. Brilliant.

It’s also easier than remembering to sing Happy Birthday which is how we were told to gauge the appropriate length of washing time. Smart concept, comes with a rubbery squid toy which can removed for tub play or to reveal the lovely shaped bottle worthy of the adult bathroom.

And because I’m a sucker for this kind of thing I have to point out the clever hand/squid logo.

And then, god help us, there’s Tooth Tunes by Hasbro which, according to their website, streams sound waves through the bristles which then travel through the jawbone to the inner ear where the music is heard. Each brush has a chip embedded in the handle that plays two minutes of Hilary Duff, Queen, KISS or Kelly Clarkson among others. This leaves me completely conflicted. I mean, cool technology right? But do you really want High School Musical broadcast through your kid’s head?

UPDATE! It’s been brought to my attention by one of our members (thanks Carina!) that Agent Cool Blue was voluntarily recalled on April 11, 2007. Egad! Read the statement from Listerine. There are not allot of details cited but but what they are saying is that “the risk of illness in healthy individuals following use of this product is very low. However, there could be a significant health risk to individuals with weakened or suppressed immune systems.” So please be mindful and remove it from your bathrooms.

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