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Along Life’s Way
Who’s Who?
By Lois E. Wilson
Over the years, animals and representations of them have been used to
promote organizations, products, causes and concerns. The donkey first
became associated with the Democratic Party in the 1820’s. However, in
the 1870’s, Thomas Nast’s political cartoons permanently locked the two
together and provided an elephant which linked to the Republican Party.
Animal characters have been used in Disney’s licensed products such as
toys and clothing and in the building of their parks. Favorites are
Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and Pluto. Other dogs of note are RCA’s
Nipper and McGruff the Crime Dog.
There are the Charmin bears, Coca Cola’s polar bears and Smokey the
bear. Cows in ads have gone from Elsie for Borden products to the cows
in Chick-fil-A ads with their self-serving pleas for you to eat more
chicken.
The Energizer Bunny and the Blue Bunny of ice cream sundaes are seen in
many ads. In the cat family there are several prominent examples: MGM’s
Leo the lion, Frosted Flake’s Tony the Tiger, Morris the cat, and
Cheetos’ Chester Cheetah.
No one can forget the Anheuser-Busch Clydesdale horses. The teams and
wagons are seen in parades throughout the country. More unusual product
promoters are the Car Fax fox, the Geico gecko, the Aflac duck, and the
Lacoste crocodile.
I’ve decided if I were to become an agent to secure outlets for the
talents of an animal, I would choose to represent the owl. That may
seem a strange choice to you, but have you seen how many owls are now
being featured in advertisements? The industry claims “that bird
is the word.”
It is currently the spokesbird for Trip Advisor, America’s Best glasses
and Xyzal. Western Governors University (WGU) in Utah has adopted
the owl as its logo. The environmentalist Woodsy Owl urges us to stop
pollution.
One cartoon commercial for Tootsie Pops has a child asking, “How many
licks does it take to get to the Tootsie roll center of a Tootsie Pop?”
He asks different animals—a cow, a fox, a turtle, until he is referred
to the owl. He poses his question. The owl takes three licks then
swallows the Tootsie Pop in one gulp. The ad’s answer to the child’s
question: “the world may never know.”
Well, it is said my client is wise—working with him should be a hoot!
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