Mr. Sparkle
Mr. Sparkle (ミスタースパーコル Misutā Supākoru) is a Japanese dishwashing detergent mascot who bears a strong resemblance to Homer.
When Homer takes Bart and Lisa to the Springfield Dump to dispose of a Christmas tree, they find a Mr. Sparkle box. Homer thought that the company was using his likeness without his permission until a video from Mr. Sparkle's parent company explains it came from combining the logos of the companies who produced Mr. Sparkle as a joint-venture: a cartoon fish (representing Matsumura Fishworks) and a lightbulb (representing Tamaribuchi Heavy Manufacturing Concern), proving the resemblance was sheer coincidence. The whole thing is summed by what Bart tells his dad, "There's your answer, fishbulb."
Mr. Sparkle was voiced by Sab Shimono in the episode "In Marge We Trust". When the episode was dubbed in Japanese, Mr. Sparkle was voiced by Bin Shimada.
Trivia
- The three dancing women in the commercial were fashioned after the three members of Japanese pop/rock band Shonen Knife.
- The Mr. Sparkle commercial was the inspiration for the Fruity Oaty Bar commercial in the movie Serenity.
- In one scene during the commercial, the audience sees a large grey toy aircraft whose design heavily resembles Thunderbird 2 from the popular British Sci-Fi puppet television series, Thunderbirds.
- There is a blade in the game Fruit Ninja named Mr. Sparkle.
- The visual programming software Grasshopper 3D has a component arrangement/distribution feature named Mr. Sparkle.
- In "Married to the Blob", Kumiko mentions Homer looks like Mr. Sparkle, and that the detergent is a popular means of suicide in Japan.