Top Five Anthropomorphic Mascots from the 80's with Futures so Bright, They had to Wear Sunglasses

The Energizer Bunny

Today this pink percussionist is synonymous with Energizer batteries, but did you know that the original Energizer Bunny commercial was actually a parody of a Duracell batteries campaign starring pink toy bunnies? Energizer mocked Duracell’s claim that Duracell batteries lasted longer because Duracell was only comparing the lifespan of their batteries to carbon batteries and not alkaline batteries like Energizer.

When Duracell allowed their trademark to expire on the pink bunny, Energizer swooped in and filed a trademark for their cottontail. You won’t see the Duracell bunnies stateside anymore, but those original pink battery bunnies can still be seen in Europe. However, much like the Johnny Cash cover of the Nine Inch Nails song “Hurt", most mistake the latter as preceding the former.

The original Energizer Bunny ad also predates the ubiquitous slogan “it keeps going… and going… and going” and instead proclaims “a word to the wise – Energize”. The current slogan is most appropriate, considering that, of the five mascots on this list, only the Energizer Bunny is still collecting checks as a mascot.






Cool Spot

7 Up has never been a realistic contender for the soft drink crown, but every championship team needs a solid bench to back up the all-stars. 7 Up markets itself as an alternative to Coke and Pepsi—the un-cola—for those who prefer their soda to taste more like fizzy water. Personal tastes aside, 7 Up is basically seltzer with a twist of lemon and lime, so it’s not unfathomable that a rather plain drink like 7 Up would have an equally plain mascot. And while the Cool Spot might not be much to look at—a red dot with shades—he was actually the inspiration for one of the better video games of the day.

Mascot-based video games are more of a rarity today, but the 80’s had no shame when it came to cross-promotions. I fondly recall mashing buttons as Ronald McDonald, the Noid (Dominos) and 7 Up’s Cool Spot. The Cool Spot game was engineered to play like Sonic the Hedgehog—one of the most popular titles at that time. The game challenged players to rescue other Cool Spots, all the while collecting “Spots”—Cool Spot’s equivalent to Sonic’s rings or Mario’s coins.

The Cool Spot game was well received and managed to earn its developer—Virgin Interactive—multiple video game awards. There was even a sequel to the Cool Spot game, but I don’t remember playing it and according to Wikipedia, “despite excellent visuals, its isometric perspective and unusual controls made it an exceedingly difficult game.”

I hate difficult games. Keep it simple—like the Cool Spot—a dot wearing shades.







Mac Tonight


Having already secured their dominance over children’s fast food, McDonalds sought out to carve up their slice of the adult crowd. Mac Tonight—a jazz singing, crescent moon-faced monstrosity—was the focus of McDonald’s late night dining campaign.

I don’t remember Mac Tonight’s commercials too well; perhaps because McDonalds saved Mac’s ads for older programming and not the cartoons on my television. When it came time to compile this list, I couldn’t even recall Mac’s proper name. Luckily “creepy moon man, McDonalds” was all the data Google required to provide my answer. I don’t think Mac would have made any impression on me if it weren’t for a local nursery that erected its own custom-built scarecrow that bore an uncanny resemblance to Mac Tonight. Coincidence or not, the two are indelibly linked in my mind.

Also worth noting, the Mac Tonight costume was worn by Doug Jones in 27 of the 29 Mac Tonight commercials. You might know Doug from his work as the weird creature in just about every movie ever, including his portrayal of Abe Sapien in both Hellboy films.





Joe Camel

When the American Medical Association accused Camel Cigarettes of using their cartoon camel to appeal to children, R. J. Reynolds swore up and down that they were not marketing their tobacco to kids. Eventually an internal memo was leaked that detailed R. J. Reynolds’ strategy for hooking the younger, more impressionable demographic—Oops! At that point Camel agreed to retire Joe and their camel mascot reverted back to the traditional quadruped.

For some time, I—as an impressionable youngster and a member of Camel’s key demographic— actually believed that Joe Camel had made a cameo in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. During one particular bus ride, two of my more Sci-Fi oriented classmates were discussing Yak Face; one of the weirdo aliens sprinkled throughout Jabba the Hutt’s dungeon; and how they were missing his action figure from their collection.

The original Yak Face action figure had been released towards the tail end of the original Kenner toy line. It was produced in lower quantities than previous figures and it became exceptionally sought after during the Star Wars renascence. Yak Face actually resembles a camel more than his yak namesake, hence his comparison to the anthropomorphic Joe Camel. In retrospect, I don’t believe my friends actually thought that Yak Face and Joe Camel were one in the same, but at the time, my knowledge of Star Wars and its boundless worlds were limited to hearsay.


The California Raisins

From the “throw it against the wall and see what sticks” category, the California Raisins were a befuddling success. I don’t know if the campaign helped the sale of actual raisins, but it certainly did gangbusters for the sale of California Raisins stuff—the first merchandise produced based solely on a commercial property. I can’t say for certain why anthropomorphic raisins appealed to me, but my collection of California Raisins toys would certainly indicate that they did.

The original commercials inspired several spin-offs, including an animated series and multiple Christmas specials. Perhaps the Raisins were so appealing because they were brought to life utilizing stop-motion animation. Today we’re used to our mascots interacting with real people and places thanks to computer animation, but there must have been something special about watching those jazzy Raisins occupying real space as opposed to the traditionally animated commercials.



16 comments:

  1. Thanks Michael, and you're right! I totally blanked on Chester. I may have to make a separate blog post just for him.

    ReplyDelete
  2. All of those mascots are awesome! The spot game for the nes/snes was a great, fun game with amazing visuals(at the time, still good nonetheless). I believe the sequel was Spot Goes to Hollywood. That was only released on the Genesis, Playstation and Saturn.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Howdу! I could have swοrn I've been to this website before but after checking through some of the post I realized it'ѕ new to me.
    Nοnеthelesѕ, I'm definitely happy I found it and I'll be bookmarkіng and checkіng back оften!


    Hеre is my web page - no hands seo blackhat
    My site > no hands seo review

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks in favor of sharіng such a gooԁ ideа,
    article is good, thats why i have read it completеly

    Feеl freе to surf tо my website
    - get cash for surveys legit
    Also see my web site: get cash for surveys real

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hello, I read your new stuff on а regulaг basis.
    Your humoristic style іs witty, κeeρ up the good
    woгk!

    Loоk at my weblog - http://www.howtofindppl.com/

    ReplyDelete
  6. Еxcеllent article. Kееp posting such kinԁ оf info on your blog.
    Im гeally impresѕed by уouг site.

    Hey there, You have ԁonе аn excellent job.
    I will definitеlу ԁigg it anԁ for my pаrt
    suggest to my friends. I'm sure they will be benefited from this site.

    Also visit my web site; gsa search engine ranker settings

    ReplyDelete
  7. I just liκe thе helρful information you supply for youг
    artіcles. I'll bookmark your blog and take a look at again here regularly. I'm rather suгe Ι will bе informed many
    neω stuff proper гight heгe! Best of luck for the next!


    Fеel freе to surf to my wеb-site disabled dating canada

    ReplyDelete
  8. What's up it's me, I am also vіsіting
    this web site dailу, thіs web page is genuinely gooԁ
    and the visitoгs are truly sharing good thoughtѕ.



    Vіsit my site ... Pure leverage Español

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hi there colleagues, how is everything, and what you want to say about this post,
    in my view its actually remarkable for me.


    My website ... Cheap Oakley Sunglasses

    ReplyDelete
  10. I was wondering if you ever thought of changing the structure
    of your website? Its very well written; I love what youve got to
    say. But maybe you could a little more in the way of content so people could connect with
    it better. Youve got an awful lot of text for only having one or two pictures.
    Maybe you could space it out better?

    Take a look at my website; Ray Ban Outlet

    ReplyDelete
  11. You really make it appear so easy together with your presentation
    however I to find this topic to be actually one thing that I think I'd never understand. It sort of feels too complicated and very wide for me. I am looking forward for your subsequent publish, I will try to get the grasp of it!

    Here is my webpage: ray ban sunglasses outlet

    ReplyDelete
  12. After I initially commented I appear to have clicked
    on the -Notify me when new comments are added- checkbox and from now on whenever a comment is added I get 4 emails with the exact same comment.

    There has to be a means you are able to remove me from that service?
    Cheers!

    My web-site: cheap ralph lauren

    ReplyDelete
  13. I like what you guys tend to be up too. This type of clever
    work and reporting! Keep up the terrific works guys I've included you guys to our blogroll.

    My webpage ... ralph lauren outlet

    ReplyDelete
  14. Wonderful blog! I found it while surfing around on Yahoo News.
    Do you have any tips on how to get listed in Yahoo News?
    I've been trying for a while but I never seem to get there! Thank you

    Here is my web site ... adidas jeremy scott

    ReplyDelete
  15. I know this if off topic but I'm looking into starting my own blog and was wondering what all is required to get setup? I'm assuming
    having a blog like yours would cost a pretty penny? I'm not very internet savvy so I'm not 100%
    positive. Any recommendations or advice would be
    greatly appreciated. Thanks

    my webpage; cheap ralph lauren polo

    ReplyDelete
  16. A person essentially help to make critically articles I would state.
    This is the first time I frequented your website page and to this point?
    I surprised with the research you made to create this actual publish amazing.

    Wonderful process!

    my webpage polo outlet

    ReplyDelete