Quaker Oats Man - One of
the oldest advertising mascots in America,
the Quaker Oats Man became the first
registered trademark for a breakfast cereal in 1877. Through the
years, many have mistaken
The Quaker Oats
Company mascot as William Penn or Ben Franklin, but in truth,
the
image of a
man dressed in the Quaker garb was purposely chosen to reflect
the "Quaker" faith and its values of honesty, integrity, and
purity.
Surprisingly, the actual Society of Friends (a.k.a. the
"Quakers") went to court to have their association with the
cereal removed, but they lost the court battle.
The portrait of the Quaker man on the Quaker Oats popular red, white and blue
package has been updated just three times
since its creation - once in 1946, again in 1957 and most
recently in 1972. The
original
1877 image was a
full-length picture of a kindly Quaker man holding a scroll with
the word "Pure" on it.
In 1946, graphic designer Jim Nash
developed a new Quaker identity by introducing a black-and-white
version of the now-familiar smiling head portrait. In
1957, Chicago artist and
illustrator Haddon Sundblom updated Nash’s line drawing to a
full-color portrait of the Quaker man, and in
1972, John Mills painted
the stylized blue and white graphic image that appears on
packages today.
The Quaker
Oats Company was officially formed in 1901 when several American
grain pioneers came together to incorporate the now familiar
name. These pioneers were Ferdinand Schumacher, John Stuart,
George Douglas and Henry Parsons Crowell.
Besides being the first registered
trademark for a breakfast cereal, the Quaker Cereal company has
spawned many other firsts in the field of cereal products. They
included:
|
1882: |
Quaker Oats was featured in the first
national magazine advertising program for a breakfast
cereal. |
|
1885: |
Quaker Oats were packaged in square boxes after years of
being sold in bulk. |
|
1891: |
Quaker Oats was the first brand to feature
a recipe on its package (for oatmeal bread), as well as
the the first cereal to offer a
packaged premium (chinaware) in its package.
|
|
1915: |
Quaker Oats was the first cereal to offer a
premium on its package (a cereal cooker).
Later, in 1915, the familiar round Quaker
Oats package was introduced. |
|
1922: |
Quaker Oats was among the first convenience
products with Quaker "Quick Oats". |
|
1966: |
Quaker Oats introduced the first instant oatmeal. |
Slogans over the
years have included "Nothing is better for thee, than me";
"Live Well, Be Well"; "Warms your heart and soul"; "Does it make
sense to jump out of a warm bed into a cold cereal?" and "It's
the right thing to do" (Wilfred Brimley, 1987).
In 1996, the
Quaker Oats Company celebrated their 120th year with the book
Quaker Oats Favorite Recipe Collection:
Celebrating 120 Years of Great
Tasting Family Classics
(Time-Life Custom Publishing ISBN 0-7835-4863-X), a collection
of more than 70 recipes for everything from cookies to meat
loaf.
TRIVIA
NOTE: In 2005, The Quaker Oats recruited their
18th century Quaker gentleman mascot (a life-sized statue of the Quaker Oats
man) to appear in their ad campaign. Standing silently in various sites around the country
(at a school or along a roadside), their statue holds a tray
filled of Quaker Oats goodies (Chewy Granola Bars and
Fruit and Oatmeal cereal bowls) as gifts to passer-byers who
greedily snatch up multiple samples.
At the end of one spot, an
enterprising family stops for samples and then sticks the statue
in their car (through the sunroof) and drives off down the road.
The 2005 Quaker Oats
campaign was very similar to a Burger King ad campaign
created in 2004. As
for any intentional theft of intellectual property, Ad
Week (4/18/2005) reported
"Rob Reilly, acd for CP+B, said both characters are brand icons,
so it's natural to use them in ads. 'I don't think anyone
[would] intentionally copy [the 'King'],' he said." See also
-
Burger King
