Kool-Aid Man: Difference between revisions
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== History == |
== History == |
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== Headl |
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BROOKE LOVES CALEB |
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Before he was officially the Kool-Aid Man in 1975, he was the “Pitcher Man”. The Pitcher Man was created in 1954 by Marvin Plotts, an [[art director]] for a New York-based advertising agency. [[General Foods]] had just purchased Kool-Aid from the drink’s creator Edwin Perkins the year before, and Plotts was charged with drafting a concept to illustrate the copy message: “A 5-cent package makes two [[wiktionary:quart|quart]]s. " Working from his [[Chicago]] home on a cold day, Potts watched as his young son traced smiley face patterns on a frosty windowpane," recounts Sue Uerling, marketing and communications director for Hastings Museum of Natural and Cultural History. This inspired Marvin Plotts to create a beaming glass pitcher filled with flavorful drink: the Pitcher Man. From there on the joyful pitcher was on all the Kool-Aid’s advertisements. the voice of the man is John Fickley. |
Before he was officially the Kool-Aid Man in 1975, he was the “Pitcher Man”. The Pitcher Man was created in 1954 by Marvin Plotts, an [[art director]] for a New York-based advertising agency. [[General Foods]] had just purchased Kool-Aid from the drink’s creator Edwin Perkins the year before, and Plotts was charged with drafting a concept to illustrate the copy message: “A 5-cent package makes two [[wiktionary:quart|quart]]s. " Working from his [[Chicago]] home on a cold day, Potts watched as his young son traced smiley face patterns on a frosty windowpane," recounts Sue Uerling, marketing and communications director for Hastings Museum of Natural and Cultural History. This inspired Marvin Plotts to create a beaming glass pitcher filled with flavorful drink: the Pitcher Man. From there on the joyful pitcher was on all the Kool-Aid’s advertisements. the voice of the man is John Fickley. |
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Revision as of 16:36, 7 May 2009
Kool-Aid Man is the mascot for Kool-Aid, a popular drink. The character has appeared on television and print advertising as a fun-loving and jolly beverage-providing monster, appearing to children everywhere sharing his Kool-Aid beverage, and yelling "Oh yeah!". He is a gigantic anthropomorphic pitcher, filled with Tropical Punch Kool-Aid and marked with a fingerpainted smiley face. In 2005, the Kool-Aid Man celebrated his 30th birthday.
History
== Headl BROOKE LOVES CALEB Before he was officially the Kool-Aid Man in 1975, he was the “Pitcher Man”. The Pitcher Man was created in 1954 by Marvin Plotts, an art director for a New York-based advertising agency. General Foods had just purchased Kool-Aid from the drink’s creator Edwin Perkins the year before, and Plotts was charged with drafting a concept to illustrate the copy message: “A 5-cent package makes two quarts. " Working from his Chicago home on a cold day, Potts watched as his young son traced smiley face patterns on a frosty windowpane," recounts Sue Uerling, marketing and communications director for Hastings Museum of Natural and Cultural History. This inspired Marvin Plotts to create a beaming glass pitcher filled with flavorful drink: the Pitcher Man. From there on the joyful pitcher was on all the Kool-Aid’s advertisements. the voice of the man is John Fickley.
In 1975 Kraft Foods created the character’s first costume with arms and legs. He also became more of an action figure in commercials — performing extreme sports and bursting through brick walls. Kool-Aid Man is famously known for shouting, “Oh, Yeah!” as he is summoned by thirsty children with the phrase, "Hey, Kool-Aid!". Commercials of the era also featured a catchy jingle, always ending with the Kool-Aid Man's phrase.
Starting in the late 1980s, the character was given dialogue, and his mouth would be digitally manipulated to "move" while the voice actor talked. Sometime in the 1990s, the live-action character was retired; from that point until 2008, the character became entirely computer-generated (although other characters -- such as the kids -- remained live-action). In 2000, a new series of commercials were created for Kool-Aid Fierce and the actor chosen to play Kool-Aid Man was Jon Carr. The most recent Kool-Aid commercial features a new and different live-action Kool-Aid Man playing street basketball.
Hastings Museum in Hastings, Nebraska, which opened the first permanent Kool-Aid exhibit in 2002, has Kool-Aid Man’s original costume on display. Made of fiberglass, the costume featured a more prominent face, skinnier body and no clothing. Now, he is made of inflatable nylon and is dressed in a shirt, jeans and shoes.
Kool-Aid Man was the subject of two Kool-Aid man video games for the Atari 2600 and the Intellivision systems. He was also given his own short-lived comic book series, The Adventures of Kool-Aid Man, in the early-to-mid-1980s by Marvel Comics.
References in popular culture
The Kool-Aid Man character is used as a running gag on the American animated sitcom Family Guy, The Simpsons and has been parodied several times on Robot Chicken.
References
- http://www.kool-aiddays.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=26&Itemid=41/
- http://www.x-entertainment.com/articles/0861/
External links
- A website with a lot of facts about the Kool-Aid Man
- Jamie Knobler, "Kool-Aid: 75 years of smiles", The Loquitur, September 9, 2002
- Nancy Foster, "Pitcher this! – The Life and Times of an American Icon", Hastings Tribune, August 11, 2005
- Kool-Aid Man at MobyGames