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TechnographThe Pillsbury Doughboy is real
By U-Wire
Posted: 9/16/07 Section: Opinion Columns
Here's something crazy: To Pillsbury, the Doughboy is just as real as you or me. This highlights a real problem - I don't think our generation can tell the difference between what's real and what isn't. In fact, I'm not sure that the distinction even matters anymore.
I know that the Doughboy isn't real. The good people at Pillsbury disagree, however. At some point during the past few decades, the Doughboy became far more than a cartoon character and marketing tool - he became more real than Jay-Z and more of a diva than Rihanna.
This became apparent to Jeff Manning, architect of the Got Milk? marketing campaign, when he tried to work with Pillsbury to cross-promote milk with cookies. His vision was a domestic scene featuring both milk and cookies. The Doughboy was the star of the show, an impish rogue who drinks the last bit of milk.
Test audiences loved it. It was a hit. So why didn't we ever see these ads?
The Doughboy cited creative differences and refused to do the commercial.
Manning lamented this fact to Salon.com, a popular online magazine. "It was a fabulous spot, really interesting and contemporary. Unfortunately, the Doughboy couldn't do it."
I'm sure you're thinking what I'm thinking - how can a cartoon cite creative differences? After all, he doesn't freaking exist, right?
But that's not really true, either, because the Doughboy does exist. We've been watching him on TV for generations. The Doughboy is always around to make those cookies extra special. He is the real mother's little helper, Rolling Stones be damned; mommies love cookies more than Valium, and probably more than daddy.
Pillsbury gets it. "The Pillsbury guidelines stipulate that the Doughboy must always be a helper, a teacher or a friend," Manning noted to Salon. "Our spot showed the Doughboy drinking the last of the milk. Therefore he wasn't being a helper. He wasn't being a teacher. And he certainly wasn't being a friend."
I never knew that Doughboy paradigm was "helper, teacher, friend." Maybe it makes the cookies taste better. Alas, it didn't help them sell cookies. Pillsbury's Director of Brand Development, Brad Ready lays down the law: "It might be a real funny thing for him to do. But not the Doughboy. He doesn't trick people. He doesn't take advantage. It's not in his character to do that."
I know that the Doughboy isn't real. The good people at Pillsbury disagree, however. At some point during the past few decades, the Doughboy became far more than a cartoon character and marketing tool - he became more real than Jay-Z and more of a diva than Rihanna.
This became apparent to Jeff Manning, architect of the Got Milk? marketing campaign, when he tried to work with Pillsbury to cross-promote milk with cookies. His vision was a domestic scene featuring both milk and cookies. The Doughboy was the star of the show, an impish rogue who drinks the last bit of milk.
Test audiences loved it. It was a hit. So why didn't we ever see these ads?
The Doughboy cited creative differences and refused to do the commercial.
Manning lamented this fact to Salon.com, a popular online magazine. "It was a fabulous spot, really interesting and contemporary. Unfortunately, the Doughboy couldn't do it."
I'm sure you're thinking what I'm thinking - how can a cartoon cite creative differences? After all, he doesn't freaking exist, right?
But that's not really true, either, because the Doughboy does exist. We've been watching him on TV for generations. The Doughboy is always around to make those cookies extra special. He is the real mother's little helper, Rolling Stones be damned; mommies love cookies more than Valium, and probably more than daddy.
Pillsbury gets it. "The Pillsbury guidelines stipulate that the Doughboy must always be a helper, a teacher or a friend," Manning noted to Salon. "Our spot showed the Doughboy drinking the last of the milk. Therefore he wasn't being a helper. He wasn't being a teacher. And he certainly wasn't being a friend."
I never knew that Doughboy paradigm was "helper, teacher, friend." Maybe it makes the cookies taste better. Alas, it didn't help them sell cookies. Pillsbury's Director of Brand Development, Brad Ready lays down the law: "It might be a real funny thing for him to do. But not the Doughboy. He doesn't trick people. He doesn't take advantage. It's not in his character to do that."
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