In this photo taken in November 1984, artist Richard Black, left, works with his class at Rosewood Art Centre in Kettering, Ohio. (AP Photo/The Dayton Daily News)
KETTERING, Ohio (AP) --
The Ohio artist who created the Mr. Clean character that became a long-lasting advertising hit has died at age 92.
Fairmont Presbyterian Church in Kettering says services are planned Saturday for Harry Richard Black. The Dayton Daily News reports Black died Sunday at his home after a brief illness.
Consumer products maker Procter & Gamble Co. credits Black with creating the muscular bald man who cleans things up quickly. The company chose his depiction to represent its cleaner when it launched in 1958. Mr. Clean quickly became a popular brand and advertising character.
Black also was among artists behind depictions of Smokey Bear for U.S. Forest Service fire-prevention messages.
The Philadelphia native opened his own studio in 1950 and did illustrations for national companies and magazines. He was a longtime educator at colleges.
Icons for the smartphone apps Xiaohongshu and TikTok are seen on a smartphone screen in Beijing, Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
As the threat of a TikTok ban looms, U.S. TikTok users are flocking to the Chinese social media app Xiaohongshu – making it the top downloaded app in the U.S.
Some of the "TikTok refugees," as they call themselves, say the TikTok alternative, a Chinese app, is being chosen in protest of the TikTok ban.
The U.S. Supreme Court is due to rule on a law that stipulates TikTok must be divested from its Chinese parent company ByteDance by Jan. 19 or face a ban in the U.S. over national security concerns.
After the justices seemed inclined to let the law stand, masses of TikTok users began creating accounts on Xiaohongshu, including hashtags such as #tiktokrefugee or #tiktok to their posts. Since Monday, Xiaohongshu has become the top downloaded free app on Apple's App Store in the U.S.
Xiaohongshu, which in English means "Little Red Book" is a Chinese social media app that combines e-commerce, short video and posting functions.
The app has gained traction in China and other regions and countries with a Chinese diaspora such as Malaysia and Taiwan in recent years, racking up 300 million monthly active users, a majority of whom are young women who use it as a de-facto search engine for product, travel and restaurant recommendations, as well as makeup and skincare tutorials.
The #tiktokrefugee topic has racked up over 160,000 posts on Xiaohongshu, many of which are videos of American users introducing themselves and asking for tips on how to navigate the app, which they are calling "RedNote".
Xiaohongshu did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.
Alexis Garman is a 21-year-old TikTok user in Oklahoma with nearly 20,000 followers. She joined Xiaohongshu on Tuesday after seeing... Read More
