The Onion

My low stakes conspiracy theory is that this advertising campaign (the original one) is what's responsible for people thinking that pouring vinegar onto baking soda is a legitimate way to clean things.

Baking soda + water = good cleaner! It's a mild abrasive and slightly alkaline.
Vinegar on its own = good cleaner! It's a mild acid.

Baking soda + vinegar = bubbles, salt water, and an excess of either your mild acid or your baking soda. Any cleaning is going to be in spite of the reaction, not because of it.

But now because of Big Bubble here, generations of Americans have been conditioned to think that bubbles have some sort of cleaning power. Damn bubbles.