Roto-Rooter

Infobox_Company
company_name = Roto-Rooter
company_
company_type = Public
company_slogan =
foundation = 1933 by Samuel Blanc
location_city = Des Moines, Iowa
location_country = United States
key_people = Kevin J. McNamar, CEO & Chairman
num_employees = 3,000 [http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/history2/10/Roto-Rooter-Inc.html]
industry = Plumbing
products =
revenue = $314.2 million (2002)| operating_income =
net_income =
homepage = [http://www.rotorooter.com/ www.rotorooter.com/]

Roto-Rooter is a United States company which originally specialized in clearing tree roots and other obstructions from sewer lines. It is the largest plumbing and drain-cleaning company in North America. [cite web
last = Abrams
first = Paul
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = Roto-Rooter Information Sheet for Reporters
work = Roto-Rooter Plumbing and Drain Service
publisher =
date =
url = http://www.rotorooter.com/company/newsrelease.php?id=92
format =
doi =
accessdate = 2006-10-08 ]

History

In the late 1920s, Samuel Oscar Blanc (1883–1964) was motivated by a stubborn clogged drain in his son's, (Milton L. Blanc) Des Moines, Iowa apartment to seek a better solution.

By 1933, Milton & Samuel Blanc had fashioned a sewer-cleaning machine from a washing machine motor, roller skate wheels and a 3/8" steel cable. The cable rotated sharp blades to cut tree roots out of sewer lines, eliminating the tedious and expensive need to dig. Blanc's wife, Lettie, called his invention, a heavy-duty plumber's snake, the "Roto-Rooter."

By the mid-1930s, Blanc was selling "Roto-Rooter" machines for $250. Many who were eager for work in the midst of the Great Depression started their own Roto-Rooter businesses throughout the upper Midwest, the Great Plains and the Northeast.

Roto-Rooter guaranteed results without having to dig up the lawn to reach underground sewer pipes.

In 1980, the Blanc family sold Roto-Rooter Corporation to Cincinnati-based Chemed Corporation. Chemed began purchasing some independent Roto-Rooter franchises and operating them as company-owned locations under the newly formed Roto-Rooter Services Company.

Advertising

Roto-Rooter has carved a niche in advertising history and pop culture.

At first, service vehicles bore the slogan: "Roto-Rooter's patented cutting blades slice through roots and cut them away...Razor-Kleen!"

By the 1950s, however, radio jingles began to dominate advertising, and Roto-Rooter created one of the longest-running musical jingles in history:

"Call Roto-Rooter, that's the name, and away go troubles down the drain."

The memorable bass voice in the commercial was that of Tom Fouts, more widely known as Captain Stubby of "Captain Stubby and the Buccaneers".

The jingle's melody has been used for commercial parodies in the "Mr. Plow" episode of "The Simpsons" and the "Patriot Games" episode of "Family Guy".

Roto-Rooter is featured in the Sci-Fi show Ghost Hunters as the two founders of TAPS work for Roto-Rooter as plumbers in the company's Providence, Rhode Island Branch. There are segments featuring Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson working as plumbing technicians in their day jobs at Roto-Rooter in between paranormal investigations.

Recent

In the 1980s, some Roto-Rooter franchises and company-owned locations began to offer around-the-clock service and general plumbing repair for both residential and commercial customers. Today, plumbing service represents approximately half of the company's business, while the other half is sewer and drain-cleaning work.

Roto-Rooter is North America's largest provider of plumbing and drain-cleaning services. Most of the work is repair and replacement for both residential and commercial customers. Some Roto-Rooter work is done for municipalities as well. Roto-Rooter does very little new-construction plumbing work. The company estimates that they offer services to 90% of the U.S. population and 41% of the Canadian population through more than 110 company-owned locations (Roto-Rooter Services Company) and 500 independent franchises.

International franchise operations have been established in Japan, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Indonesia, and Singapore.

Roto-Rooter Corporation, based in West Des Moines, Iowa, maintains a manufacturing plant, which produces Roto-Rooter tools and machinery for the plumbing and drain-cleaning industry. The company also produces two lines of commercial drain-care products, which are available through Roto-Rooter locations and select retailers.

2005 marked the company's 70th anniversary.

Employees of Roto-Rooter are mostly non-union. The CEO of Roto-Rooter Group is Spencer Lee. The CEO of Chemed Corporation, Roto-Rooter's parent company, is Kevin J. McNamara. Charles Scavo is President of Roto-Rooter Corporation in West Des Moines. Rick Arquilla serves as President and COO of Roto-Rooter Services Company, based in Cincinnati.

Humor

*The animated television show Futurama parodied the Roto-Rooter jingle in an advertisement satire for a robotic drain-clearing service: "Call robo-rooter if you flush a towel. We can also help with that impacted bowel."

*The "Mr. Plow" jingle from The Simpsons episode of the same name also greatly resembles the Roto-Rooter jingle.

*In a Ctrl+Alt+Del strip (a spoof of Battlefield 2142), a soldier tries to convince the enemy to turn off a force field by claiming he's a plumber. When asked why he has a gun, he replies "It's the 22nd century, this is what our Roto-Rooters look like now".

*Cheech & Chong parodied Roto-Rooter on their album "Los Cochinos" with a short pseudo-commercial (complete with jingle) for "Peter Rooter", a service that helpfully rids one of "the steady drip, drip, drip of gonorrhea."

Images courtesy Roto-Rooter

Notes

Bootsy Collins has a song on his player of the year album called "roto-rooter"

External links

* [http://www.rotorooter.com Roto-Rooter] - company website