Here for the big party? Let the Chick-fil-A Cows provide directions on where to park! (Don’t worry if they’re a little hard to read or follow.) You’ll know you’re at the right place when you can hear the California Raisins crooning their hit cover of “Heard It Through the Grapevine.” Betty Crocker teamed up with the Pillsbury Doughboy to bake a cake together — which Tony the Tiger has already proclaimed to be “gr-r-reat!” Get ready for a toast from The Most Interesting Man in the World, an “Oh yeah!” from the Kool-Aid Man, and insurance protection from Allstate’s Mayhem — just in case. The gang’s all here as we celebrate our icon blog’s first birthday in style on Advertising Week.
Summing up the year that was with this many characters is never easy, but here’s a look back at some of our greatest hits:
- Throwbacks to beloved characters past and present including Quisp and Hawaiian Punch’s Punchy.
- A peek at how concept presentation and designs have evolved for icons like Mr. Clean to Cap’n Crunch.
- Interviews with the creators of infamous mascots like Mayhemand with the characters themselves like Hamburger Helper’s Lefty.
- The ad industry shares their two cents on which mascots deserve their own emojis and their favorite holiday ad campaigns from icons.
- Cleatus the FOX Sports Robot and Woodsy Owl get inducted into the 2016 Madison Avenue Walk of Fame.
- Travelling around the world with Rio 2016 Olympic mascots Vinicius and Tom, the characters of Sanrio, and Homepride’s Fred.
- And road trips ‘round the U.S. inside the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile – with a pit stop for a tour inside the Keebler Hollow Tree.
What can you expect from the Icon Blog in the year to come? We’re hard at work collaborating with your favorite faces in advertising, with even more looks at their designs, interviews with ad industry professionals and agencies, and glimpses into the backstories for these characters. If you can’t wait to see what happens next, join us on Wednesday April 12 at 8amPT/11amET for an #AWChat Twitter chat all about these icons! And if you represent any characters that you’d like to see featured, give our esteemed icon blogger Heather Taylor (yours truly) an email shout out at howveryheather@gmail.com.
Cheers to the year ahead and thank you for joining us each week on this adventure — you never know who might be profiled next!