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Home > Index Advertising > Mascots (Objects) > Mrs. Butterworth
       
  Advertising Mascots - Objects    
       
 

Click for Mrs. Butterworth Web SiteMrs. Butterworth - The grandma-shaped bottle with its label doubling as an apron that holds the golden goodness of Mrs. Butterworth's pancake syrup.  The TV commercials portray Mrs. Butterworth as a lovely elderly woman who is as sweet as the syrup inside her bottle. Of course, it takes a little getting used to an inanimate syrup bottle suddenly coming to life and talking to people at the breakfast table. But, in general, Mrs. Butterworth's conversations or winks of the eye were met with appreciation, as with the now classic TV spot when a cute 12-year old black girl  (Kim Fields a.k.a. "Tootie" from THE FACTS OF LIFE) exclaims "Mrs. Butterworth, I Loooovvve you."

The voice of Mrs. Butterworth in the TV commercials was provided by Mary Kay Bergman, an actress and Los Angeles native who sadly, took her own life at age 39 on Thursday November 11th, 1999.

The stop-motion animation sequences (for example, the scenes of Mrs. Butterworth winking her eye) were supplied by David Allen who later died from cancer on Monday August 16th, 1999 at age 54. His professional work included animation for television series and commercials such as GUMBY, DAVEY AND GOLIATH, the Pillsbury Doughboy, and The Planter's Peanuts mascot. 

Overtime, the Mrs. Butterworth character [now owned by Pinnacle Foods] has  become a pop culture icon.  Her character  was turned into a large hot air balloon and even spoofed in numerous comedy skits telling tales of Mr. Peanut bedding Mrs. Butterworth or featuring fist fights between Poppin' Fresh Doughboy or Aunt Jemima.

In February 2001, there was an exhibit at The Chicago Athenaeum entitled "Art Scene Chicago 2000" that offered up a painting by artist Dick Detzner called "The Last Pancake Breakfast" with the image of Christ replaced by the figure of Mrs. Butterworth. Gathered at the table were such TV mascot disciples as [left] Snap, Crackle and Pop, Cap’n Crunch (as Judas), Tony the Tiger, and Aunt Jemima; [right] Toucan Sam, the white-haired Quaker Oats man, Quisp, the propeller topped alien, the Sugar Crisp Bear, the Lucky Charms Leprechaun; and the Trix Rabbit.

Detzner intended his parody of Leonardo di Vinci's "The Last Supper" to be a protest of our idolatry of commercials and the products they promote, but the painting offended many Christians.

Other painting in the series called “Corporate Sacrilege” showed the Pillsbury Doughboy nailed to a cross, Ken and Barbie in the Garden of Eden, Jesus on a Wheaties brand cereal box and the overalls-clad child mascot of Big Boy restaurants receiving “Ten Big Commandments.”

Another media manipulation of the Mrs. Butterworth character occurred in 2002, in the motion picture 40 Days and 40 Nights with Josh Hartnett. In the movie, Harnett portrayed a dot-commer named Matt Sullivan whose self-imposed sexual abstinence leads him down the road to temptation. Towards the end of the  film, Matt lewdly fondles a Mrs. Butterworth syrup bottle. 

TRIVIA NOTE: The original Mrs. Butterworth's brown glass bottles with the distinctive yellow twist cap were later replaced by a brown plastic bottle so as to prevent broken glass accidents. Mrs. Butterworth bottles are manufactured by Pechiney Plastic Packaging's Global Bottles Group. They designed the world's first squeezable ketchup bottle for Heinz in 1990.

In addition, the spy fantasy THE PRISONER/CBS/1968-69 featured a Mrs. Butterworth character (played by Georgina Cookson) on episode "Many Happy Returns." She appears as a kindly, wealthy widow (alias Number 2) who at first befriends Number Six (Patrick McGoohan) but, in the end, betrays him. Home of Mrs. Butterworth Products  Sample of Mrs. Butterworth's Original Glass Bottle  Image of 'Last Pancake Breakfast' 

Mrs. Butterworth Ad Script

Young Girl Mrs. Butterworth.
Mrs. Butterworth Yes?
Young Girl How come this tastes so good?
Mrs. Butterworth Well, my syrup is very thick and rich
Young Girl Thick and rich?
Mrs. Butterworth Just watch. See how the leading syrup just runs over this stack while Mrs. Butterworth takes her own sweet time. Now my syrup has got to be thick to pour this slow. Truth is Mrs. Butterworth is twice as thick as the other syrup. Thick and Rich and...
Young Girl Mmmm...Mrs. Butterworth, I Loooovvve you
Mrs. Butterworth Oh!
 

--1979 Mrs. Butterworth's TV Commercial

 
 


                       Excerpt from the "Mrs. Butterworth" song
 

I'm gonna open myself up a flea market
And you're gonna wish that you did
And retire on the profits
First off
I'm gonna empty out all of my Mrs. Butterworth jars
And I'm gonna put 'em on a shelf with my 800 dollar a month tax free Century 21 shop
And then I am going to put my Mrs. Butterworth syrup jars on the shelf
Next to all the commemorative fast food chain glasses and cups I've accumulated over the past 62 years...
 

Lyrics for "Mrs. Butterworth" song by Nirvana
from their "With the Lights Out" album (2004)

 

 

                    
 

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