The Pillsbury Dough Boy and Other Icons of My Youth

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As a boy, I adored advertising icons. Something about them just clicked with me. They were always right up there with my favorite cartoon characters (Bugs Bunny, etc.) and super heroes (Batman, etc). I still love them today and I think it’s fair to say that my early fond association with these fun icons played a big role in my chosen career as an advertising copywriter. Tony the Tiger, Toucan Sam, The Trix Rabbit (yes, a LOT of them were breakfast cereal characters, and yes, I still find great joy in a bowl of cereal), The Jolly Green Giant, and of course, the Pillsbury Doughboy. Poppin’ Fresh, to be more precise.

So it was with great pleasure that I read a short piece in AdWeek about the unusual staying power of the Doughboy – and it's with great pleasure that I share it here:

How the Pillsbury Doughboy Has Stayed Fresh (Hoo Hoo!) for 50 Years

One copywriter's enduring idea By Robert Klara December 7, 2015
 

Rudolph Perz first saw the dough boy in his own kitchen. It was 1965. The Leo Burnett copywriter, working on the Pillsbury account, was at his Chicago home preparing Crescent Rolls, a new ready-to-bake product that required the user to hit the canister on the edge of a table to release the dough inside. Perz did this. Then he had an idea: What if a character popped out of the container instead?

So it was that Poppin' Fresh—better known as the Pillsbury Doughboy—was born.

Ever seen him? Of course you have. He's starred in over 600 commercials as "a cute little anthropomorphic embodiment of fresh dough" (to quote the Chicago Tribune) who talks up Pillsbury's products and winds up with a human finger pressing his belly, coaxing his signature, high-pitched "Hoo hoo!" The character and his half-adorable, half-annoying routine has barely changed for half a century.

"Doughboy's look, signature giggle and mannerisms are iconic," said home and lifestyle blogger Heather Taylor, who admits to having been a Pillsbury Doughboy fan since she was in the first grade. "He resonates with all demographics in terms of appearance and age groups. I genuinely don't think he'll ever outlive his usefulness."

Probably not. It's worth noting, though, that the recipe for Doughboy was pretty much a lucky guess. Originally, the character was to be drawn as a cartoon character. But concerns that Doughboy looked too much like Casper the Friendly Ghost prompted Leo Burnett to render him in 3-D. And in 1965, that meant stop-motion animation. The original Doughboy had five bodies and 15 heads, and it took 24 shots to create just one second of animation. (CGI took over in 1992.)

The name Poppin' Fresh never caught on, but the character did—and his run has been remarkably consistent. Three years after his debut, 87 percent of Americans recognized him, and countless millions still do. As recently as 1998, Doughboy received 200 fan letters a week and 1,500 requests for autographed photos. In 2014, when Doughboy guest-starred in a Geico ad (he got a security pat down at the airport), his high-pitched "Hoo hoo!" still delivered the goods even though there wasn't a baked good in sight.

All brands must change with the times, but Doughboy's stubborn sameness might be the reason he's endured. "The Pillsbury Doughboy lives in a kind of cultural permanence category in people's minds, like Mickey Mouse or Charlie Brown," said Charlie Hopper, principal with ad shop Young & Laramore. "Nobody has ever convinced the Pillsbury brand manager to inject irony or actual punch lines into his shtick, and that's been good for his longevity. Doughboy comes in and says his spiel with the same sincerity he had when we were kids. He's simple and boring, but incorruptible." 

Parade: Ben Hider/Getty Images

This story first appeared in the Dec. 7 issue of Adweek magazine. Click here to subscribe.

 

Rudy Perz & his beloved creation

I admire ad men, especially those like Rudolph Perz who can create such lasting, iconic characters. What a creative mind to imagine a little puffy guy popping out of the dough canister!

I also love that Doughboy has survived for over 50 years now, with only slight modifications and evolution over the years. He’s pretty much the same youthful boy he was back in 1965. And how remarkable that he has an 87% recognizability among Americans. The dude gets hundreds of fan letters a week (OK, now that’s a little weird) and thousands of requests for autographed photos. The guy's got staying power. How many celebrities in 2016 would kill-die for that kind of recognition and popularity? I love how Robert Klara in AdWeek suggests that it’s his very “stubborn sameness” that might be the reason for his survival. He’s achieved a level of recognition and permanence on par with characters like Charlie Brown and Mickey Mouse. And it all stemmed from an ad. 

Yee-haw. I love it when advertising can provide such a fun, lasting impact on culture, no matter how trivial it may be. This dude has legs. They’re round and doughy, but they are not going away. He may be "simple and boring," but he is certainly "incorruptible” and everlasting.

Live on, Doughboy. You always will in my mind.