Pep Boys
- The
commercial mascots of PEP BOYS, the $1 billion
automotive parts and services company based in
Philadelphia since 1921. The Pep Boys included
Manny, (dark-rimmed glasses and cigar), Moe
(mustache) and Jack (clean shaven) all fashioned
after the company's founders, Emanuel "Manny"
Rosenfeld, Maurice "Moe" Strauss and W. Graham
"Jack" Jackson.
Actually, it should be Manny,
Moe and Izzy. When W. Graham "Jack" Jackson left
the partnership soon after it was established,
his face was replaced with the face of Izzy
Strauss, Moe's brother. For years, their images
have adorned PEP BOYS storefront entrances
nationwide.
On April 13, 1987 3-dimensional
latex rubber figures of Manny, Moe and Jack
debuted in three commercials created by
Broadcast Arts of New York, the same company
which made the clay animation on PEE WEE
HERMAN'S PLAYHOUSE on the CBS network.
In the TV
spots the Pep Boys mascots drive up in a
cherry-red 1920s convertible and proceed to walk
into the Pep Boys Stores. The character "Jack"
was cast as the clumsiest, bumping his face into
the entry door.
In 1991, in an attempt to
portray the company as "more modern," Mitchell Leibovitz
(the company's president) announced that the Pep
Boys characters would be phased out of their
advertising catalogs, and other promotional
material but as of 2002 the Manny, Moe and Jack
mascots still represent the company in ads. Pep
Boys currently have over 300 locations in 18
states.
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