Advertising Mascots

      Mascots don't have to be just from food, it can be anything. From Pep Boys to Michelan Man, even the Kool aid guy. Where did they come from? Why are they so popular? Does having a mascot make the product of what they are selling more appealing, or just annoying? Well...here are a few.

 

 CHARMIN BEARS- Charmin is a brand of toilet paper that had more than one mascot. The first was of a baby which was always on the Charmin toilet paper rolls. They soon, around the 80's had another character named Mr. Whipple. It was of a human being who would go to stores asking women to stop "squeezing the Charmin."

      He gets caught though most of the time. The actor that portrayed him, Dick Wilson, was close to retiring by the early 2000's. They needed a new Mascot and that's when those bears started to come. They were simple ads at first created by a company in Britan. Now, not only are the bears in third dimension, but their ads are so.... screwed up. It comes from the old saying, "does a bear s**t in the woods?"

  PEP BOYS- Pep Boys is known for automotives and fixing parts. They're also known for three men, Manny, Moe and Jack. Who are they? Well, they had a famous slogan which was, "Go to the boys for Pep." Never using this company, and not being able to drive, these mascots are useless to me. But they have a catchy jingle and even three men with big heads that were based on real men.

   Manny, Moe and Jack were based on the founders of Pep Boys. All men gone, but it seems Pep Boys, although not well known as it used to be, is still around helping fix car parts when needed.

   CRACKER JACKS/Jill- If you like molasses/caramel coated popcorn from the early 1910's then you would remember Cracker Jacks. Getting its name from someone shouting out, "This is a Cracker Jack" which meant this is a winner.

   They soon had a mascot of a boy carrying Cracker Jacks round. He had a small dog with him named Bingo delivering boxes of Cracker Jacks to all the boys and girls desperate for a snack that was sweet and salty. The mascot was inspired by a young boy who passed away at the age of eight. 

    Now, they have a new branding called 'Cracker Jill' which depicted the sweet/salty snack with female sailors. Boy times have changed.

 MICHELIN MAN- Another mascot from a car company that makes interesting tires. This mascot was created by tires from an old warehouse.

   For some people, this Mascot looks creepy and might give their kids nightmares. Others just look at it what it's supposed to represent for their company. I feel it's just about a company that makes good tires. If Good Year tires have a show with wings, why can't this hideous thing exist? God only knows

  JOLLY GREEN GIANT- created by the General Mills company to promote their frozen vegetables, this company created a green giant to get kids to eat vegetables. What did this giant look like when they first brought him on.... a nightmare.

    Test screenings of the first Jolly Green Giant were of a huge caveman carrying peas in his hand. Kids were frightened of this thing, and the company eventually listened. Later revisions made the caveman better in appearance. Turning him green and arching his back up. Today, he's still there, but not in many ads as he used to be, but his voice still is heard in those ads. "Ho, ho, ho!"

 MR. PEANUT- If you like Peanuts, then you have heard of the famous Mr. Peanut. Coming from the Peanuts company, the idea of this mascot came from a young boy who drew a peanut with arms, legs and a manacle. He was designed in different formats throughout the years. Voiced by different men, including Robert Downey Jr.

    He was killed off in a Super Bowl ad, and brought back to life as baby Peanut, then Peanut Jr. He might be back to his old self, but I'm not sure. Now, Mr. Peanut is here to stay thanks to people's obsession with peanuts.

  COUNTING SHEEP- Ever tried counting sheep when you were just tired but couldn't fall asleep? Serta thought the same thing. As their sales were starting to get low with mattresses, they made some mascots called the Counting sheep.

    Voiced by male actors, they were trying to get people to go to sleep, even threatening at times. Discovering the person has not bought a Serta Mattress. Those Sheep were created by the same people that have given us Wallace and Gromit. 

   Today, the sheep are still around but they don't talk much anymore.

 BUDWEISER CLYDESDALES- I don't drink beer, and our family's not fans of Budweiser beer. Yet almost every Super Bowl, like Doritos and other companies, these Clydesdales come out to play and pull carriages of Budweiser Beer.

   They started adding these Clydesdales to their product like the Polar Bears do with Coca Cola. Believing an animal as interesting as that would be able to get people's thirsts quenching. Back in the 1930's Budweiser Clydesdales were used to pull carriages that contained Budweiser brand beer to give to people that were thirsty for a cold one.

     Mascots can entice people from food, to mattress, to cars to.... anything actually. Even if they were created to get the person's attention to buy their product, it seems to work. We still have the Kool Aid guy, that salt girl, Flo....

    I've studied marketing in high school and learned whatever product people want to produce, using a mascot would help increase their productivity, or just have a cuddly character to boost sales. Sometimes, some companies don't do that, and it works. 

   For me...I rely on the product, not the mascot, but it doesn't hurt to see a smiling face of a character when you go into a restaurant or open the product itself.