Favorite Cartoon Characters Make Commercials and Yes Some Were Banned
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Hershey's Snack Pack, I Gotta Get That!
Bullwinkle could use a Cheerios pick me up.
Since way back when, companies have been sponsoring cartoons, and cartoons have been sponsoring companies. Our favorite cartoon characters have been selling products to us since the early 1900's via the silver screen and the boob tube.
Is it any wonder? I mean what a fantastic marketing strategy. What a way to reach children of all ages. I'm surprised, actually, that it wasn't done more often. Their popularity was so great, that products were spawned from these cartoon charecters' popularity in commercialism that went beyond action figures, dolls, children's toys, and games, to suit a more general market of vitamins, cereals, drinks, light bulbs, insurance, The Holliday Inn, and the like.
I must say, I am surprised that some of our favorite cartoon characters accepted some of these roles, as role models you'd think they'd know better. Yes, some got banned, at some point. Some got away with it longer than others. Some got banned in some countries, but not in others.
Which ones? Well, you probably remember many of them, at least if you're as old as I am (and a bit older). Some of the bans I honestly don't get. You be the judge.
I've made a nice compelation for your viewing pleasure, a bit of info intermixed. So sit back, relax, and enjoy some memories of your most loved characters, and possibly even products.
You may find yourself running to the store for some tang, or breakfast cerial, beer, and cigarettes (naughty you). If you do, come back and enjoy your consumer goods while enjoying these fantastic videos, brought to you by YouTube.
So General Mills was a sponsor? Yes they were, and proud to be. What a great marketing strategy, pairing the best with the best.
Will Underdog save the day at General Mills?
I don't know. But one thing is for sure, General Mills did end up with quite a few Warner Brothers cartoon character favorites rooting for them throughout the years.
More than any other company.
Did Boris & Natasha ever catch the Energizer Bunny?
I'm afraid Wiley E. Coyote couldn't catch the bunny either.
Would you call 1-800-Beep-Beep?
Due to Wiley E. Cyote's mishaps, and Roadrunner's speed and smarts, this powerful animated team was the perfect match to represent many an Energizer battery, insurance company, moving company, and courier company.
There was even a Plymouth automobile named after the Road Runner.
Mr. Magoo sold lightbulbs for General Electric.
Mr. Magoo sold all kinds of lightbulbs for General Electric.
Ah, dear Mr. Magoo.
Blind as a bat and daft as ever.
Legally blind, even in his magnificent spectacles.
No one compared.
Many companies, it seems, had quite a sense of humor, and relied on the sense of humor of the public for these unlikely juxtapositions to make sales and to be remembered.
General Electric loved Mr. Magoo.
Did their commercials starring Mr. Magoo work? I'd say so. In these finely crafted commercials, General Electric plays an interactive game of sorts with their television audience. While you're laughing at silly, wacky, Mr. Magoo, you're also noticing what he really doesn't... the light bulbs, their brightness, some facts. You're paying attention to everything because the fun is in noticing just how ridiculously silly Mr. Magoo is by the fact that you've noticed what he, in his blindness, hasn't. Smart and clever you!
Here and there Mr. Magoo was kind enough to ablige eye doctors and eye glass places with his wonderful humor and support. You may have seen those as well.
Mister Magoo also sold beer. Not just any beer. Stag Beer. (That would explain a lot.)
Yes, Mister Magoo liked his Stag Beer. I'm afraid this one was banned. I honestly don't think Mister Magoo knew, to be honest.
Bugs Bunny sold bonds for the US Government. He was a true advocate. If you were in the theatre's around that time, chances are you would have noticed this one, or one like it.
This one banned? Yes. The reason? To put it bluntly... for its Negro/Nazi connotations. This wasn't the first, nor the last time Bugs, or many other animated characters, got into trouble due to racism and other politically incorrect issues.
Ah, Davey Jones... What? Banned?
Cool. Not. It was banned!
NOT banned?
The story of the banned Kool-Aid commercials.
So, uh, how could The Monkeys and Bugs Bunny be banned for this Kool-Aid commercial?
Well, I'm not certain they were ALL banned before I got to see this first one, because I remember it. But apparently it was. Could it have been a sneaky local channel guy put it in?
It wasn't the only Koo-Aid commercial to be banned. Bugs' "Doin' the Kool" (second video to the right), was also banned. As Kool-Aid was kind enough to sponsor Bugs, Bugs sponsored Kool-Aid with a great song and dance number.
Nothing seemingly wrong with that one, either.
So why did those get banned, and not this third Kool-Aid commercial?
It's simple really. It has to do with the product.
Apparently, there was a health issue involved concerning the fact that as opposed to being sweetened with sugar, Kool-Aid was instead being sweetened with cyclamates, an even bigger no no, in the sixties, than sugar. Cyclamates were banned in 1969 only for the ban to be lifted twenty years later. With much public notoriety, Kool-Aid was forced, at the time, to pull their wonderful adds, and Sweetened products, off the air and off the shelves.
The last video to the right here does NOT advertise this particular Kool-Aid, therefore passing inspection. But chances are, you saw one if not a few if not all of these Bugs and Monkees Kool-Aid commercials well before they were pulled.
Bugs Bunny also sold Tang, convincing Daffy Duck to contemplate killing/murdering a relative or two for a box of this tastey drink.
Bugs Bunny needs some ziplock storage bags. Do you?
Can Bugs Bunny save the day for the Trix Bunny?
Bullwinkle was the first cartoon character to sponser Trix cerial. But then General Mills decided to spawn a cartoon character of their own. One that would be cheaper to take care of. In the '80's, Trix was having a bit of trouble. So General Mills decided to bring in old reliable. Bugs Bunny. You know, to show Silly Rabbit how tricks were really done. Did it help matters? Would it get you to buy some Trix? Ask for it if you were a kid? Buy it if you were a parent?
Have you had your sugar free Bugs Bunny vitamin today?
Before Bugsy, the Flinstones had to make vitamins too. These were naturally sweetened, and yes, I ate mine every day. I was partial to the purple Dino's.
Of course before they had their own vitamins, the Flinstones were sure to prevent their vitamin shortage with One a Day Vitamins.
Found next to the Alka Seltzer in the medicine cabinet, as usual.
~
Fred Flinstone needed his Alka Seltzer.
They were always next to the One a Day Multi-vitamins.
Courtesy of his sponsors.
~
~
Ah, a cool refreshing Yabba Dabba Dew drink in a can.
Yum. (sarcasm).
Well, that didn't last long for Fred and Barney, now did it.
But you have to admit, it's a catchy commercial.
So, Fred and Barney were smokers... Yes, this commercial was another one o' them there banned commercials.
Fred and Barney also sold beer, Busch Beer; only they weren't banned. Poor Magoo, if only he knew.
Should have made an employees only promotional short like Flinstone and Rubble here.
Mind you, what you see here, is a small handful of the commercials our favorite animated cartoon characters starred in. Of course only a small handful of stars were shown. Yes folks there are plenty more where these came from. And their sponsors and products are bountiful.
Thankfully, their bans were left to a minimum; hower, the fact that there were any bans is about as funny as they were. I could see retirement of a commercial, but a ban? Fact is, those bans spoke plenty about our history and pop culture.
Thanks for watching.
CommentsLoading...
Your welcome Gypsy Willow. Come back and watch the vids any time. They're fantastic.
This is why I love HP - I learn new things everyday! Who would've thought? - or at least because the commercials didn't make it to the Philippines! And cool layout, btw :D
I loved the most talespin and all time best tom and jerry......a refreshing hub....
Thanks Chris. I know. North american nostalgia for the most part. Some canada. I believe it was Canada where the stag beer commercial with Mister Magoo was banned.
Hey there Kmadhav. Tom and Jerry had their share of commercials too, didn't they. I may add some in if I can find any, so be sure to come back.
I remember the Flinstones Winston Commercial. It did not affect me though. I smoke Camel. LOL. Great hub. ;)
Thanks Paper Moon. Back then? Good grief.
I don't remember any of these, and I was watching TV when alot of them were on... maybe it was the lack of programming we had. :)
Well, I hope you enjoyed them here! I'm willing to bet there were lots you saw that I didn't include here. Let me know if you remember any ones I didn't include. Honestly this should be a five part hub, so I had to narrow it down quite a bit. Thanks for coming by Ivorwen. Thankfully, I don't need your umbrella tonight. It's been a rainy June though. Unusual.
The work you put into hubs. full-on! We didn't get any of those commercials, sounds like they were restricted to the USA. Know the cartoons though.
Thanks Jewels. They probably were. Some I know were translated for other countries, stuff that was more international, like certain cheeses and chocolates, especially later on. Tom and Jerry did a lot of foreign ones.
"Only Stag beer is complete refreshment!" Not only are his eyes bad, his tastebuds were bad.. Poor Mr. Magoo. Now they just promote nasty cereal. We've come a long way baby!! Thanks Frieda!
Well said, Candie. Bad tastebuds lol, so true. Amazing how much is paid out so you can buy nostalgia in gross packages.
AY! I can read but can't see any of the comercials! And that's a serious pity because you put so much work into this one! At least I could read.
Some of the reasons for banning kinda make sense, such as the sugar thing, but then again, I think most bans just mean someone's got a big stick up their you know what. Political correctness is gonna be the end of the world, if it hasn't been yet!
I was going to but there were so many. I wasnt' sure if you were interested. I'll get them in tomorrow?
Yes, the sugar thing made sense. There's so many view on the rest of them, and I wonder how many people choose their verbal response based on political correctness. I think truth be told, it's the stick up the you know what person that starts it all because they have nothing better to do (like they can't just turn off their tv?). But then, who am I?
Let me youtube them -- a few of them anyway, this is too much to ask, and I'd feel terrible if you went to so much trouble! You gave me enough search words, so I'll fetch a few of them!
Oh no trouble. All I have to do is click on them and grab the url. No trouble at all. I'll add them to links at the bottom. Was just about to get started on them now.
Frieda - Road Runner for me. I'm not sure I liked the cartoon in my own right so much as my dad did. And what was good enough for him was good enough for me.
My absolute favourite (no influence from Pa) was and still is Pluto.
And I agree with Jewels. You certainly work hard Frieda. I know that a lot of the time the presentation is harder than the writing.
And how you do it with a family around you! Superwoman!!
Hey there froggy! You're right, the presentation took longer than the finding which took longer than the writing. I thought going into this it would backwards. I never learn. The great thing about hubbing is, you can set your computer aside. And you can make your kids come in and read out loud to you and make them think you're really listening when really your just keeping an eye on them. =). when there's a will, there's a way. Usually. Sometimes. Every once in a while. Of course right now they're in bed, like I should be!
Eleni, you're good to go. I got all the vids numbered and order linked at the bottom. Let me know if you have any trouble.
Cartoons have a great effect on kids; maybe that's why some were banned. Only if they've advertised just for cereals then it wouldn't turn out that way. =)
Excellent work Frieda, Thumbs up! and yes, me too I had my Flinstones vitamins :)
Great Hub very good. We (In the RSA) never saw any of these commercials as they were very USA and USA product centric. But I enjoyed seeing the ads and the stories around the banning. This could make the basis for a great thesis on marketing, banning and the growth of product banning and usage in the motion picture,video and cartoon media. Today, for instance, products are clearly displayed as props in sitcoms, movies and soap operas. Years ago the brand labels were not clearly visible but were obscured. Newspapers and Magazines in the plot were given fictitious names. This is very interesting and enlightening. Great Work!
What little we know of the history and "dark" past of our favorite cartoon characters.
Oh I liked this Frieda. Some I never saw and some I just forgot about but it was all fun and entertaining. Great job girl. I too remember Fred and Barney smoking, but that cartoon originally was made for adults and came on Friday nights and even Doctors were smokers. Remember Dr. Kildaire? LOL
An original and interesting hub - well done!
Hey there charia, thanks for stopping by. I know what you mean. But I must say that Loony Toons were geared towards adults initially and primarily. It's easy to see from the types of humor and situations that only adults could really appreciate. It wasn't until the latter part of the century that more and more new characters were geared towards children. Because they were mostly for adults, these animated characters were appropriately placed in commercials for adult products, and shown during adult shows and times. Who knew it would come to this? You know? Thanks for your comment, you touched on an aspect I ought to have added.
I loved Dr. Kildaire!! You def never saw Marcus Welby MD smoke, no siree!
Princessa, good to see you here. Thanks so much for the thumbs up. So did you have a Flinstones vitamines favorite?
sixtyorso, you bring up some excellent ideas. I know. As I was writing this, I wished I had more time and I really could have made a few hubs on this subject and really moved on. It is a great topic connected to so many other topics that really span the globe. Thanks for bringing those up. I do remember, actually, when they started using the fake magazines and whatnot. There was a bit of news about it too. Soap operas still have sponsors and love to show off those products. It's so funny. It's also why you see so many of the same products and commercials during the same shows. Thanks for the comment, sixtyorso!
RGraf, dark past indeed! Well put. How funny. =D
Charlie, you're quite right. Should have added that in. I remember when you could smoke IN hospitals, and grocery stores, and the hardware store, and anywhere you pleased. Dr. Kildaire. I've got to refresh myself of those movies. I just watched a trailer and forgot how absolutely cheesy and fun those are. Thanks for bringing him up! Paper Moon and I will have get our hands on some of those flicks and have a Dr. Kildaire weekend, with popcorn and Junior Mints and Twizzlers (for those edge of your seat scenes).
Rik, thank you much! Glad you enjoyed.
Hi Candie! Good to see you again =D.
Oh my, I never saw any of them advertised for beer or cigarettes before?! But I always love the Trix rabbit for some reason. I hope that he will finally get some trix cereal. Wonder if Bugs Bunny advice did any good? Hmm...
Hy mayhmong! Love your costume. Silly Rabbit, Trix are for kids! I agree, those were so funny. I'm not sure if it did any good or not. I didn't dig for documentation on how it turned out. Though I am curious. Beer and cigarettes, a hoot, isn't it!
Why thank you. I would die in my own sweat if I wore that costume too long.
Me too. I wouldn't last for 5 minutes before I ripped the darn thing off. Christoph used to wear one, one summer. He sweat buckets till there was nothing left of him.
What an awesome article. All these characters I grew up with, and some of the questionable roles they played!
Thanks Tom. I enjoyed the walk down memory lane myself. I rather enjoyed the questionable roles :)
I knew Fred Flintstone drank a beer or two but smoking as well? tsk tsk. I enjoyed the toons here...nice.
Heya, awesome Hub! Can we expect Favorite Cartoon Characters S-x Tapes next? LOL. I'm tweeting this hub now...
PS lovely profile pic ;)
AIDY, I know, I was in shock myself. I'd forgotten all about the commercial. Good thing they didn't smoke on the show or there'd be no telling what would have happened. Glad you enjoyed.
Hey marco, thanks for the tweet. I'll have to get on and retweet that one =D. What happened to the glasses? They're rather suave. I'm pretty sure no specially rated tapes. But I tell ya, if I dig them up, I'm posting! Real ones only though. No fakes.
LOL, I took my glasses off when I took my profile photo but I've left them on my twitter one. But someone requested I "go green" to "be cool" so i'm now also looking 'sickly' green there too...:)
By the way, I'm sure you can dig up some of those tapes from either Family Guy, South Park, Paris Hilton or other "cartoon" families and personalities! LMAO.
Yeah, I'm thinking I'm not going to go that kind of green. Puking on the environment doesn't sound too sanitary or eco friendly to me. Neither does looking that way. I was wondering about that and then I figured it out once I saw a bunch of green cartoon characters staring at me. I had to log off. lol.
Well, sex sells. But I'm not making any promices. I'm doing comediennes next. (light bulb) Aha, perhaps a way to fit this topic in? (doubling over lmao)
You know they just don't make cartoons like they used to, seriously, like you think they would be better with all this technology but nooo. This was great Frieda throw another shrimp on the barby.xo
Geez...loks like moose and Squirrel were quite the little sellouts, eh? "Shouldn't we cook it before we serve it?" lol long time since I heard that joke :) And, oh Mr. Magoo--knew the difference between regular and soft white light bulbs but didn't know he was eating a mail sandwich! lol
And PS I too ate my Flinstone's chewable every morning before school :)
blondepoet, you are sooo right. I mean, I used to think it was an age thing, but really no. Sure you can still find some great new ones, but overall, the classics are the best. I'm glad you agree. Can we have steak with that shrimp by the way?
Janetta, I know. lol Rocky and Bullwinkle kinda had to be sellouts, it was the thing to do back then (still is, really, it's just... smoother now). Money was money and sponsors were pushy! Yeah, you can't get any better than the Mr. Magoo commercials. What a hoot those all were. Sniff. I miss Mister Magoo. Good to know you stayed a healthy lass like me and Princessa! A favorite character or flavor per chance? I should have done polls.
Oh we sure can we can have anything you want for bringing all these cool cartoon classics back. You know all this Dragonball cartoon stuff they have happening now does not excite me at all, bring back Fred and Barney, even the Jetsons pleaseeeeeeeeee TV land. xo
Ah the Jetsons. I can hear the theme now. Wish one could sing comments. =D
lol I think I'd have to agree with you on the purple Dino's I'd say they were my faves :)
Oh you're welcome. Thanks for clarifying that with me. =)
Mr. Magoo is one of my favorites. I think good new ones could be Cyberchase with Cristopher Lloyd as the Frankenstein or were you thinking about one of those adult cartoons?
Ow wow! I don't remember any of these! And the things they were banned for! Compared to what's available on TV today, these are just lightweights!
Cool stuff, Frieda! I love the Flinstones and Looney Tunes!
Hey there Raven King. Cyberchase is excellent! I used to watch that with the kids all the time! Thanks for remindiing me about that. No, I wasn't thinking of those adult cartoons, lol. Was Christopher Loyd Frankenstein? I didn't know, duh.
Laughing Mom, they are lightweights, aren't they? Never thought I'd have to "ban" my kids from being able to watch cartoons, but yeah, here I am. Thankfully they listen to me. Not always easy to stear them the other way though.
I can't handle that 'Family Guy' cartoon. 'South Park' either. Now 'Beavis and Butthead' provided hours of entertainment in a former lifestyle, and I still love 'King of the Hill'. As for cartoons for the kids? I'm lucky mine stick to the classics. Even 'Spongebob' lends an occasional world view to my 4 year old leaving me with my jaw on the floor saying, "WHERE did you learn THAT?!?" But I can't keep them from everything!
We have a Looney Tunes DVD that has a 15 minute segment at the very beginning featuring none other than Whoopie Goldberg (which you can't skip past, by the way) explaining how there are racial undertones in the cartoons with the presence of 'Mammie' and that they are only included to show the racism of the time, not to encourage such behavior. My son will hollar from his room, "MOM!! Whoopie's gone. Can you start my video now?!"
Well now, there's a showstopper. Yes I LOVE King of the Hill. "That's my purse! I don't know you!" roflmao! HATE Family Guy with a Passion. Won't go close to that one. Sponge Bob is iffy, but I have to say, I love that one too and do let the kids watch it, cause it's a nice "naughty" alternative to much of the other crap.
Hey there CabinGirl. I sang that one all the time! It was one of my shower songs. I ought to reinstate it. Glad you enjoyed, thanks.
Hi Frieda, what a collection of youtubes. LOL I remember Flintstone vitamins and yabadabadoo...hahaha but all the other commercials, I haven't seen. As Cris said, we have an entirely different one over here. :-)
Hi ripplemaker. You guys need to do some of these of your own! I ought to have mentioned "from the states" I suppose. Hope you enjoyed. So the Flinstones did make it out there, huh? Now, I know you didn't have the commercials, but what about the characters?
Hi Frieda, many of these cartoon characters I am very aware of. LOL not just made into commercials. Well at least none that I can remember. Hehe The flinstone commercial song is ringing in my head as I write this. Hahaha
Okay. I just wanted to make sure I was clear on that. That's what I thought. I've got a cross between the flinstones theme song and the jetsons theme song. =]
very nice collection LOL
Thanks Lgali. Glad you enjoyed! Much fun, aren't they.
This is a stupendous collection, Frieda. I'm boomarking and will be coming back later to watch - maybe with some popcorn!
Awesome Christoph! Popcorn is a stupendous idea. I think I'm out, but I'm gonna watch my Comedienne's series with some Junior Mints later on, lol.
Frieda this was fab! I love these characters. Great hub!
Thanks earnest! i enjoyed some of these again myself tonight.
Boy do these bring back memories! Amazing what they let cartoon characters advertise in the "olden days".... what about that cartoon lion who used to get trampled everytime someone mentioned the name of his cereal (Post Crispy Critters)... remember that one?
John C in BC, yes! Yes I totally do. lol. Here's a link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5O4eNCTQkE You tube is so great for these vintage commercials. Thanks! I know, it is amazing what they used to advertise. They were so fun though. And I don't know, in my mind, for example Barney and Fred, they were adults, and older adults at that, and not necessarily the brightest in the bunch. So Winstons or beer or whatever, wouldn't have made me smoke. You know what I mean? Ahhh, the good old days. Thanks for sharing the walk down memory lane with us.
Oh gosh, that brings back memories!! Linus! That was his name! Thanks for the memories Frieda.. so much fun to see those old commercials again. Seems to me there was one where his girlfriend sneaks up behind him and keeps saying the name, just to watch the fun... lol (reminds me of someone I know!)
=) Thanks so very much John C in BC for coming back. Yes, sweet and hysterical memories. I think I remember the part you're talking about. I'm going to have to look for that one. Hysterical.
You're welcome Frieda... I've definitely enjoyed the memories you've brought back... and my girlfriend remembered Linus's girlfriend's name -- Lolita La Cheetah -- how could I forget that? lol
Really? I don't remember that! What a hysterical name. Doesn't bode we for Linus if you know what I mean, lol.
lol you're so right! As I remember, she could -- and did -- really rock his world with three little words!
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Gypsy Willow Level 5 Commenter 2 years ago
Love the Flintstones, thanks for atrip down memory lane.