The
Fruit
Guys - Personification of the
corporate logo for the Fruit of the Loom underwear company
which features a bunch of fruit (two grape clusters, a fig
leaf and an apple). In their ad spots, human actors wear
life-size costumes that represent
the same pieces of fruit. The apple character wears the body of
an apple and hat shaped like a core; the two
grape guys (green and purple) wear costumes that
resemble a stripper covered with balloons at a burlesque
house, and closing out the fruity quartet is a guy dressed in a
fig leaf costume. The fig leaf, of course, is a tongue-in-cheek reference to the fact that
historically (in art history circles) the fig leaf has been used
to cover the genital areas of famous statuary/painting representing nude
men and women.
The roster of actors to play Fruit of the Loom characters (who
first appeared in 1975) include veteran actor F. Murray Abraham as the talking Fig Leaf; comedian
Joey Faye (died 1997) as the dancing Green Grape in the
1980s commercials;
Harry Goz (died 2003) as the Big Apple.
"I'll tell ya', my wife never went for me, I'm not a sexy guy - I
know I'm not sexy! What, this morning when I put on my
underwear, I could hear the Fruit-of-the-Loom guys giggling! I
get no respect."
-- Rodney Dangerfield, SNL
March 8, 1980
"Sometimes I feel as though I’ve been blessed
Because I’m doing what I want so I never rest
Well, I’m not coming out goofy like
the Fruit of the
Loom Guys
Just strutting like the meters with the look-ka py py
-- "Root Down" lyrics by the Beastie Boys
In 2002, to capture the
women underwear market, the Fruit Guys appeared in
ads that as they visited backstage at a fashion show mingling
with the models.
In 2004, the ad spot "Firehouse" (produced by The Richards Group
in Dallas) the Fruit Guys visit a firehouse to get
feedback from firefighters about their new cotton stretch
briefs. As the rotund Big Apple guy slides down the fire pole,
he gets stuck.
In 2005, a
sad ballad entitled "You
Can't Over Love (Your Underwear)" on the
3-Pak Records album "Ripe for the Pickin'" spoofed country music
videos with the following lyrics (sung by
Collin Raye):
Daddy wears his
tee shirt in the cold Kentucky rain
While a boy in pure white briefs looks out
The foggy window pane
And even though his hamster died
He find comfort, this I swear
'Cause you can't over-love your underwear
'Cause comfort ain't just found in teddy bears
There are no labels hanging anywhere
No you can never over-love, over-love,
your
underwear
For the 2005
Christmas season, the Fruit Guys starred in "Holiday Lights"
that featured them decorating their house with colorful lights. After some
pratfalls and near electrocutions, the Guys plug in the lights
which spell out "Comfort and Joy."
TRIVIA NOTE: The
Fruit of the Loom
company is owned by Berkshire Hathaway headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, USA Controlled
by Warren Edward Buffett (a.k.a. "Oracle of
Omaha"), Berkshire Hathaway manages a number of subsidiary
companies including Borsheim's Fine Jewelry, Nebraska Furniture Mart, The
Pampered Chef, See's Candies; Geico, Dairy Queen
and BVD –. BVD stands for Bradley, Voorhees & Day, the New York City firm
(founded 1876) that manufactures underwear commonly referred to
as "BVDs"
In 1976, the company produced an ad featuring a
junior version of
their product with four little kids. One of those kids
(seven years old Eugene William, Jr.) who played the role of the
grape. grew up to write the book "The Raisin-In-Milk Syndrome:
Ten Survival Tips for Black Students at Predominantly White
Colleges and Universities."
