I read a Blogging Baby entry about Got Milk? merchandise and decided to check out the Got Milk? site. They have a nice little store where you can buy the Cookie Monster Got Milk? poster and links to Got Milk? news. One item was a Salon article that explained how spokes-characters have strict brand usage guidelines — specifically how the Pillsbury Doughboy would never drink the last glass of milk.
"They didn't see him as being a bad guy. They saw him as a teacher, a helper, a friend, who was so overwhelmed by his desire for milk and cookies that he just had to do this."
Later on in the five-page article, they quote from Toons Sell, and Sometimes They Don't: An Advertising Spokescharacter Typology and Exploratory Study, a book co-authored by Patricia A. Alvey.
Alvey? Neat. I can't even name more than seven other Alveys and I am an Alvey.
The article doesn't spend enough time quoting Alveys, but it does reveal many of the secret personality traits of spokes-characters like why you'll never see Lucky the Leprechaun in a kid's kitchen. Mark Delahanty, director of leprechaun equity at General Mills, answers that last one. When I grow up, I'd like to be a director of leprechaun equity!
GrimJack
EZ Street
Jon Sable, Freelance
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