If you've ever lamented the absence of business-savvy and hygiene-obsessed superheroes at your local community barbecue, today is your lucky day. From 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. this afternoon, the Clean Freak Patrol will be on duty in Allan Gardens, making sure attendees of Health Minister George Smitherman's barbecue "spread the word, not the germs." What word do they want us to be spreading? A look at their ironically cluttered website explains it all.

Clean Freak Patrol Ltd. claims that their mandate, as a cause-related marketing company, is to "find fun solutions to serious problems." Their website, which at first glance looks like your average Barbie and GI Joe style electronic playground with a touch of OCD, gets a little weird when you click on the "learn" button and find, alongside a link to their "ten principles of networking" handbook, an explanation of cause-related marketing. It describes how socially-conscious consumers are more likely to buy things from a company that. is working with them towards a common goal—in this case, improved health through better hygiene.

Trailing off into vague prose, the site continues: "A long term partnership emerges which, when executed properly, morphs the brand and the cause into a common spirit. To the consumer this spirit is transparent and forever blends into one, the brand and the cause, linked together in a mutually beneficial relationship." In other words, they want you to think of Clean Freak Patrol Hand Sanitizer when you think of better hygiene for kids.

Of course, finding new and creative ways to educate children about good hygiene is a noble cause, but Clean Freak Patrol's good intentions are dirtied somewhat by their choosing to dispatch marketers in superhero costumes to ply their trade at a community barbecue in public space.

Image taken from the Clean Freak Patrol's website.