Logos are practically everywhere in the world. But have you ever asked yourself who actually came up with them? Some of these faces & figures are connected to real people or weird moments in history. Here are the people behind eight well-known brand icons. Do you know any other odd brand stories?
Featured Image Credit: Shutterstock.
Aunt Jemima
In 1893, flour mill owners hired Nancy Green to flip pancakes at Chicago’s World’s Fair. She also had to play the live version of “Aunt Jemima.” This was a character that came from a minstrel tune. She kept doing appearances long after the fair, and turned the song lyric into a living, breathing brand.
Colonel Sanders
Harland Sanders created fried chicken. But he also did so much more than that, as he became the walking ad for the brand. Sanders wore that white suit & black string tie everywhere. He shook hands & posed for photos, even after selling the business in the 1960s. Sanders visited franchise openings just to keep the image alive.
The Michelin Man
It sounds strange, but a French illustrator named O’Galop sketched the Michelin Man way back in 1898. The first version looked like a stack of bicycle tires raising a glass of nails. It had the Latin phrase “Nunc est bibendum” next to it. The phrase means “Now is the time for drinking,” and it’s thanks to this that people started calling the Michelin Man “Bibendum.”
Jolly Green Giant
The Jolly Green Giant wasn’t actually born green. He started as a grumpy caveman character who was meant to sell peas in the 1920s. It wasn’t until the 1930s that he became the taller & greener character that we all know. He was also a lot friendlier. By the 1950s, the Minnesota Valley Canning Company leaned into the brand by renaming themselves after him.
Miss Chiquita
Bananas weren’t common in American kitchens during World War II. As such, United Fruit invented a character to explain how to ripen & eat them. The character’s name was Miss Chiquita & she was a cartoon banana with a Carmen Miranda-style fruit hat. She sang on the radio before ever appearing in print ads.
The Marlboro Man
It’s hard to believe, but people didn’t see filtered cigarettes as masculine in the 1950s. The fix was to put a cowboy on the box. Starting in 1955, Marlboro began photographing Marlboro Man on horseback in a ranch, cigarette in hand. The cowboy idea worked pretty well. So much so that the rugged imagery lasted for decades.
Mickey Mouse
Walt Disney was the one with the big-picture idea. Yet it was his animator, Ub Iwerks, who was the one who created thousands of drawings to bring Mickey Mouse to life. Their first big break was “Steamboat Willie” in 1928. They managed to sync the cartoon to sound & make Mickey a star practically overnight.
Mr. Peanut
Planters ran a contest asking kids to design a mascot. The winner was a 14-year-old named Antonio Gentile, who doodled a peanut with arms & legs. A different artist later added the top hat, monocle & cane. It was thanks to Gentile’s little drawing that we have one of the longest-running food mascots around.
The following sources were consulted in the preparation of this article:
- Aunt Jemima Explained
- Colonel Sanders and the American Dream
- The Birth and Baptism of Bibendum
- Green Giant Company
- Banana (Mis)Representations
- Enticing the New Lad: Masculinity as a Product of Consumption in Tobacco Industry
- A Mickey Mouse Reader
- Mr. Peanut, the Oldest Legume, Turns 100
