Not so long ago, most products on radio or TV had a clearly identificable spokesperson: someone endorsing it or personifying the product.
Some are forever on the product label: Mr. Clean, Aunt Jemima, Mrs. Butterworth. Cereals are closely identified with their characters: Tony the Tiger, the Trix Rabbit, etc.
But the trend is gone, making commercials disposable and totally unmemorable. I miss Mr. Whipple (Charman toilet paper), Josephine the plumber, ...
i totally agree! PLUS products had their own jingles, not taking songs we grew up and loved for a variety of personal reasons and then making them represent a product!
People REMEMBER the jingles, the spokespeople, the mascots.....it's something that once you have it, you just can use again and again. Like Empire carpets. Even when the guy didn't want to appear anymore due to health, they made him a cartoon.
1965 showing a 'lady' plumber was sort of progressive in a way---sadly....never considered that before until reflecting on the date, her occupation, etc
I was just going to post that! Josephine the Plumber was pretty progressive for the time. It's interesting how there are subtle subversions out there in pop culture that people don't realize at face value, but it sticks in their subconscious and does make a difference, even if only a minute one.
That's why Marlo Thomas in That Girl was groundbreaking in that Ann Marie was a single girl going for her own career in the Big Apple. She wasn't chasing after men in order to marry them. She and her boyfriend Donald had a good relationship, but neither one was in a hurry to get married. Pretty refreshing for the mid-Sixties!
Of course Josephine was breaking ground in a male-dominated profession (which it still is today) and she was shown as competent in an area that did involve the kitchen but, hey, she was a plumber, not a nurse or secretary or fashion magazine editor.
I miss when products had a steady indetifiable spokesperson
Some are forever on the product label: Mr. Clean, Aunt Jemima, Mrs. Butterworth. Cereals are closely identified with their characters: Tony the Tiger, the Trix Rabbit, etc.
But the trend is gone, making commercials disposable and totally unmemorable. I miss Mr. Whipple (Charman toilet paper), Josephine the plumber, ...
Re: I miss when products had a steady indetifiable spokesperson
People REMEMBER the jingles, the spokespeople, the mascots.....it's something that once you have it, you just can use again and again. Like Empire carpets. Even when the guy didn't want to appear anymore due to health, they made him a cartoon.
That's why Marlo Thomas in That Girl was groundbreaking in that Ann Marie was a single girl going for her own career in the Big Apple. She wasn't chasing after men in order to marry them. She and her boyfriend Donald had a good relationship, but neither one was in a hurry to get married. Pretty refreshing for the mid-Sixties!
Of course Josephine was breaking ground in a male-dominated profession (which it still is today) and she was shown as competent in an area that did involve the kitchen but, hey, she was a plumber, not a nurse or secretary or fashion magazine editor.