Maytag Introduces New "Lonely" Repairman

Some characters from commercials, such as the "Where's the beef?" ladies and Dunkin' Donuts' baker have become more than just advertisements. They are part of American pop culture.

Maytag's "ol' lonely" repairman campaign is 40-years-old and is the longest running real-life advertising character on network television. Three different actors — Hardy Rawls, Jesse White and Gordon Jump — have played the role.

Maytag went in search of an everyman to take over the role and nearly 2,000 hopefuls showed up at open casting calls across the nation.

But only one man had what it takes to fill the uniform. Former real estate agent Clay Jackson of Richmond, Va., was named the new face of Maytag. He auditioned for the part on a whim and impressed the judges with his improvisation.

"There's such great heritage — big shoes to fill," Jackson told The Early Show co-anchor Russ Mitchell. "I think you'll see some changes. He might get out of his office a little bit."

Jackson said he plans to continue promoting Maytag's values of being dependable and reliable so that everyone "can fall in love with (the repairman) all over again."

Jackson, 33, has a 2-year-old daughter and his wife will give birth again in August. He said it was a family decision for him to assume the role.

Clay has a theater background and began acting at North Carolina Wesleyan College where he majored in theatre. He graduated in 1997 and acted professionally in New York City until 2000 when he began working for his family-run business.

"It was a good combination of my skill sets," he said. "I had the professional acting background, but for the past many years I've been in a client-based job and spokesperson part is really connected with that. So there's not many jobs out there that can combine those two skills. And I'm excited to use them."