Well, as it turns out, Mister Potato Head was the first ever toy commercial on national television. Guess we have Hasbro toys to thank for all our future ads on the tele.
How Mr. Potato Head Changed the Advertising Business
A story of goofy vegetables and the power of television.
BY ERIC GRUNDHAUSER JANUARY 16, 2018
IN THE 1950S, BOTH TELEVISION and toys were striking out in bold new directions. Television commercials were rapidly becoming the leading form of advertising, assuming dominance over radio. At the same time, a number of soon-to-be classic toys were making their way to market, including the frisbee, Barbie dolls, and the era-defining hula hoop. But in 1952, before all of those, Hasbro’s Mr. Potato Head hit store shelves.
Timing played a big role in the fact that in April of 1952, an ad for an anthropomorphized tuber became the first ever televised toy commercial. As a 2012 BBC article explains, up to that point toy ads had appealed to parents, since they were the ones doing the buying. But the Mr. Potato Head TV ad was aimed directly at children. It was a revolutionary advertisement, even if the concept of marketing directly to kids didn’t immediately catch on.
That original commercial is not online, but the video above, a mid-1950s Mr. Potato Head commercial available on YouTube, provides a pretty good idea of what that first commercial looked like: young kids showing their excitement for the toy. (Here is where I should also note that the original Mr. Potato Head package included 28 facial features that kids could practice with on a styrofoam head, but were meant to be stuck in an actual potato).
According to the 2003 book Spree: A Cultural History of Shopping, it wasn’t until three years later, when toy commercials began accompanying the wildly popular Mickey Mouse Club program, that toy advertisements meant to be viewed by children really took off. Of course this was just the beginning of a long-running debate about whether anyone should be advertising to children in the first place. But for better or worse, Mr. Potato Head was the first. Pretty impressive for a vegetable.
I used to have a Mr. Potato Head when I was a kid. Played with it quite a bit if I remember correctly.
Coffee out on the patio this morning for a change.
I had one, too. I remember all the faces, sort of.
ReplyDeleteHey Momlady...
ReplyDeleteI can remember some, but not all. Of course, my memory ain't what it used to be!
Thanks for stopping by today!
I had one too it was the toy of the time back then. I bet I only had the $1. set though and I sure don't remember the car or boat.
ReplyDeleteCoffee on the patio sounds good. Sure would like to know what happened to this big cold front they kept on warming us about all week, it's 50 degrees and that isn't cold.
Oh yes, I, too, had one of them and remember playing with it, making funny faces on a potato. We members of that generation had a lot of interesting toys that kept us occupied for hours and hours.
ReplyDeleteHey Jo...
ReplyDeleteMaybe if we don't mention it (the cold front) it won't show up. Fine with me!
Thanks for dropping by this morning!
Hey Dizzy...
Yes, we did. I think it kept us out of lots of trouble and helped to keep our imagination sharp and active.
Thanks for the visit today, buddy!