Gorton's
Fisherman - The nautical
mascot for the Gorton's seafood company based in Gloucester,
Massachusetts.
Their company slogan reads: "Trust the Gorton's Fisherman."
Since the 1990s, actor Denny Miller has portrayed the Gorton's
Fisherman in a series of print and TV advertisement. The
Fisherman always wears a traditional yellow rain slicker
complete with hat and galoshes. Gorton's actually changed the Fisherman's appearance on their
product logo to resemble Denny Miller (as mentioned in his 2004
autobiography Didn't You Used To Be What's His Name?).
The origins of the Gorton's company trace back to Slade Gorton
(born 1832)
who worked for Annisquam Cotton mill. However, when his place of
employment burned down on December 9, 1883, Gorton turned to
fishing for salt Cod and Mackerel as a past time. However, at
one point, his second wife, Margaret Ann announced.
"You have been without work long enough. Now we are in the fish
business."
Using money, which
she had saved from
managing a boarding house, Margaret Ann rented a fish house in Rockport,
Massachusetts, purchased a fishing boat and put her husband to work. When Slade
died in the 1890s, his sons, Nathaniel and Tommy took over the
operation of the company. In 1898, an enterprising co-worker at
the fishing plant named Thomas J. Carroll was made a junior
partner of the company.
A few years later
on Friday March 31, 1906, the executive officers of Slade
Gorton & Co. joined forces with John Pew & Son, David B. Smith & Co. and Reed & Gamage
to form the Gorton-Pew Fisheries Co. Gorton-Pew then
became Gorton's of Gloucester in 1954, and in 1965, the company
officially became The Gorton Corporation.
Actor Denny Miller portrays
Gorton's Mascot
Based in
Gloucester, Massachusetts, Gorton's
developed the industry's first linear fish block cutter and
first automated batter mixer. In 2001,
Unilever PLC sold Gorton's to Japan's Nippon Suisan Kaisha, Ltd,
one of the worlds' largest seafood businesses. In 2003, Gorton's
introduced seafood mail-order "overnight" services (
www.gortonsfreshseafood.com
).
The Gorton's brand in the U.S. (and the BlueWater brand in
Canada) markets high quality, frozen seafood such as "Grilled
Fillets", "Shrimp Bowls" and "Tenders", along with traditional
Fish Sticks and Fish Fillets.
TRIVIA NOTE: Like many corporate
mascots, like as the Eveready Bunny and the Pillsbury Dough Boy,
the Gorton's Fisherman has earned a few pop culture kudos over
the years.
For instance, the "trust" factor in the Gorton's slogan was strained a bit with the
introduction of a
new cult killer in the teenage slasher films
I Know What Your Did Last Summer (1997) and sequel I Still Know
What you Did Last A Summer (1998). Starring Jennifer Love
Hewitt, the movies featured a killer who wore a yellow “gorton's
fisherman" rain slicker
and carried and a large menacing hook. Now there's a guy you
definitely don't want to trust.
On
the January 8, 1998 installment of LATE SHOW WITH DAVID
LETTERMAN, the number five spot on the "Top
Ten Surprises in 'Titanic'" read: "Number
5. Graphic love scene between Kate Winslet and the Gorton's
Fisherman."
MasterCard "Advertising mascots at dinner" Commercial
On Sunday, February 6, 2005, the Gorton's Fisherman appeared in a Super
Bowl XXXIX commercials
for MasterCard Debt Card. The ad featured a dinner table
surrounded by a group of advertising icons, namely Mr. Peanut,
Chef Boyardee,
Count Chocula,
The Pillsbury, Doughboy,
Charlie the Tuna,
The Jolly Green Giant,
The Morton Salt Girl,
Mr. Clean, and
The Vlasic Stork. The face of the Fisherman was discretely
hidden from view.
In the movie
redux of the classic TV series Bewitched (2005), Nicole Kidman plays a
witch named Samantha Stephens. During a trip to supermarket, Sam
opens the door to a frozen food section to reveal a box of
Gorton's Seafood. Suddenly, the image of the Gorton's Fisherman
on the package comes to life and begins to talks to her. Man,
now that's what I call product placement.
