| The Bronx Journal-September 2000
Entertainment
Pets Sell || Crossword
Puzzle || Horoscope
Pets Sell: Advertising with Animals
Pity poor Dinky, the bug-eyed
Chihuahua, who saw his currency plummet along with burrito sales at Taco
Bell when he was fired this past July.
Such is the lot of the animals that labor as icons in our culture,
touting everything from beer to batteries. Their fortunes can be as
mercurial as a Hollywood starlet’s. Here’s a look at the fate of
some of the most famous:
Name:
Dinky.
Species:
Chihuahua.
Shill for:
Taco Bell.
Length of
service: July 1997 to July 2000.
Career high:
13 million Chihuahua plush toys sold.
Memorable
quote: “Yo quiero Taco Bell.”
Name:
Charlie.
Species: Tuna
fish.
Shill for:
StarKist Tuna.
Length of
service: First ad debuted in 1961; resurfaced big time in late Nineties.
Career high:
Slimmed down in early 1980s.
Memorable
quote: ‘Sorry, Charlie.’
Name:
Energizer.
Species:
Bunny.
Shill for:
Eveready Batteries.
Length of
service: 1989 to present.
Career high:
One of Advertising Age’s Top 10 ad icons of the 20th century.
Memorable
quote: “Keeps on going and going ...”
Name:
Spuds Mackenzie.
Species: Bull
terrier.
Shill for:
Anheuser-Busch’s Bud Light beer.
Length of
service: 1984; retired in 1989.
Career high:
Being served pate and hanging out with babes.
Memorable
quote: None.
Name:
Chester.
Species:
Cheetah.
Shill for:
Frito-Lay Chee-tos.
Length of
service: 1986 to present.
Career high:
Is the central figure in two video games.
Memorable
quote: “Dangerously cheesy.”
Name:
Morris.
Species: Male
orange tabby cat.
Shill for:
9-Lives cat food.
Length
of service: 1968 to present.
Career high:
Ran for president in 1988 and 1992.
Memorable
quote: None.
Name:
Frank and Louie.
Species:
Iguanas.
Shill for:
Budweiser beer.
Length of
service: 1997 to present.
Career high:
Beating out frogs to become Bud-wiseacres at Super Bowl 1998.
Memorable
quote: “We coulda been huge.”
Name:
Tony.
Species:
Tiger.
Shill for:
Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes.
Length of
service: 1952 to present.
Career high:
Son Tony Jr. won Kellogg’s Frosted Rice account in the lateSeventies.
Memorable
quote: “They're Grrrreat!”
Name:
Smokey.
Species:
Bear.
Shill for:
U.S. Forest Service.
Length of
service: 1944, to present.
Career high:
Had own ZIP code.
Memorable
quote: “Remember ... only YOU can prevent forest fires.”
Name:
Elsie.
Species:
Jersey cow.
Shill for:
Borden’s dairy products.
Length of
service: 1939 to present.
Career high:
Featured live at the 1939 World’s Fair.
Memorable
quote: “If it's Borden’s, it’s got to be good.”
Name:
Nipper.
Species:
Black-and-white dog.
Shill for:
RCA.
Length of
service: 1929 (the year RCA bought Victor) to present.
Career high:
Laps up Evian, eats filet mignon, and travels via limos and in a
first-class seat on airlines.
Memorable
quote: Speechless.
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