This was our dinner conversation last night:
In the 70’s and 80’s, spokespeople were all the rage. It seemed like any product had someone (or something) as its spokesperson.
Exmples:
Sunkist Tuna- Charlie Tuna (sorry Charlie!)
Mr Clean - duh, Mr Clean (who’s name is Maestro Limpio in Spanish, IIRC)
Charmin- Mr Whipple (don’t squeeze the Charmin, lady!)
Polmolive - Madge the manicurist (was it Madge?)
Bounty had both the lumberjack and Rhoda’s mom, the lady with a helmet of red hair (The quicker picker upper!)
Dow- Scrubble Bubbles
Mr. Bubble - Mr. Bubble!
Hamburger Helper - The Helpin’ Hand
The list can go on and on, as you can see.
You will notice, however, that there are almost none in this pantheon that are modern. Even the hateful Snuggle bear is from the late 80’s.
Can you think of any new spokes people that have consistantly been used by the brand? I would say the 7 up yours guy, but alas, he seems to not have lasted very long.
Here are the only ones I can think of:
Serta - those adorable sheep from the Wallace and Grommit Guy.
Arby’s - Oven Mitt guy
Add to my list of post 1990 spokespeople!
Also, some other commercials geared towards older people have one. Sam Waterson from Law & Order does commercials for some insurance company. For some reason, only the ads that seem to be aimed at the elderly say “COMPENSATED ENDORSER” on the bottom of the screen. I wonder what’s up with that.
See, I don’t know that you can count them. For starters, none of them remain in that position for very long. Didn’t Carrot-top replace David Arquette? Secondly, they usually just play themselves as a spokes person.
I want to hear about characters like the Maytag man. With Maytag, it’s not so much who the guy is, but rather that his is, indeed, ‘Mr Maytag’. The same is true of Mr Whipple. You’d never say “oh, that’s Dick Wilson, the actor”. You’d say “Oh wow, that’s MR WHIPPLE”.
Actually, you have a point. I think most of the spokespeople have very short life spans these days. I mean, Steve, the Dell Guy, was one of the most popular and he only lasted a few years.
How about the Energizer Bunny? That lasted well into the 90’s.
I think the Geiko Gecko would also count–he’s been around quite a while by now.
Jack from Jack in the box is still around…but he’s old isn’t he?
I guess the frogs from Budwiser didn’t last long enough, did they?
Does that guy who ate nothing but Subway and lost weight count?
How about Jared doing all those Subway ads? (I see Laurasia mentioned this one) We also had the Taco Bell chihuahua (sp?) for awhile. And who was that lady who did the Snapple commercials? They should have kept her on since the product seemed to lose its popularity after she was gone.
I dunno about Jared. To me, he’s just Jared, the guy who is annoying and eats at subway. It’s not like he’s…Mr. Subway or something!
It’s just odd how some icons can last for decades and decades (That Helpin’ hand is a good 25 years old, isn’t he?) while new ones just last for a year or so. Even ol’ Jared is being phased out.
Here are some more comforting faces in my pantry:
Aunt Jemimia - Even though she’s changed her appearance.
Betty Crocker - see above.
Uncle Ben - He rocks. Him and…
The Cream of Wheat Chef.
The Quacker Oats Man - I always thought he was Ben Franklin when I was little.
Then we have our gang of cereal icons:
Tony the Tiger
Snap Crackle and Pop
Trix
Sonny the Cuckoo bird
Now cereals just name themselves after some lame movie.
Man, if I worked on Madison Ave, heads would roll, I tell you. ROLL.
What’s this? No mention of Maytag’s lonely repairman? The actor’s changed (Jesse White gave way to Gordon Jump) and he’s acquired a hot young assistant, but he’s been around forever.
Me I keep hoping they bring back the Calgon “ancient Chinese secret, huh?” lady.
