The Pillsbury Doughboy is a popular mascot for The Pillsbury Company, created by Rudy Perz in 1965. Originally meant to be animated, a 3-D clay model was made for stop-action tilt technique. The character has had multiple voice actors and has won advertising awards.
Poppin’ Fresh, the Pillsbury Doughboy, is not a person. He is a character that is used by The Pillsbury Company in many of its commercials and baked goods. In essence, the Pillsbury Doughboy can be described as a mascot or an icon. Far from being banal or unimportant, this character has grown to become the face of The Pillsbury Company. In fact, it’s so popular that most people can identify the company by seeing it, never seeing or hearing the Pillsbury name.
The Pillsbury Doughboy is a white, blue-eyed, rotund, dough-like creature who wears a white scarf and white chef’s hat, with a small Pillsbury logo right in the center of it. He blushes when kissed and giggles when poked in his wide midsection. Rudy Perz, creative director of an advertising company called Leo Burnett, invented Poppin’ Fresh while sitting at his kitchen table in 1965. He imagined this character popping out of tubes of refrigerated rollers. His idea led to a successful advertising character who appeared in hundreds of commercials.
Pillsbury Doughboy was originally going to be animated. One day, however, Perz saw an example of a technique called a stop-action tilt on a television show and decided he wanted it for his character. To create a character that could be used with this technique, a 3-D Poppin’ Fresh was made from clay. While this may seem like a cheap way to make such a popular character, the clay doll actually costs $16,000 US dollars.
Once the Pillsbury Doughboy was created, it was time to find an artist who could give it a voice. More than 50 different actors were auditioned in 1965 and Paul Frees was cast, who was also the voice of Boris Badenov in The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle.
Sadly, Frees died in 1986, and it was time for a new voice actor. Jeff Bergman, also the voice of Charlie the Tuna, took the job. Next to voice the character was JoBe Cermy who was also seen in commercials about detergents. Regardless of who is giving the Doughboy the high-pitched giggles of him, he has been and remains a popular advertising icon. In fact, the character has even won advertising awards.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
