Kärcher cleans world landmarks for free and lets the spectacle sell its machines

By 2009 Kärcher had run about 80 pro-bono cleaning projects on famous monuments, a programme it started in the early 1980s as part of its growth strategy — and which helped the family firm become world market leader in cleaning technology.

The list reads like a travel poster: Brandenburg Gate and Christ the Redeemer in 1990, the colonnades of St Peter's Square in Rome in 1998 (the largest facade cleaning ever), the 3,300-year-old Memnon Colossi in 2003, and Mount Rushmore in 2005, where 15 people used five diesel hot-water pressure washers placed by helicopter, with pure water and no chemicals.

The marketing logic is explicit: media always cover famous monuments, so the action is automatically newsworthy; timing the Mount Rushmore clean to begin on 4 July multiplied American attention; and internationally known icons bring international coverage. The strategy delivers what would otherwise require expensive PR campaigns.