Spokestoon

2025-07-17T22:17:30Z

149.108.177.63:

{{Short description|Cartoon character endorsing a product}}
{{Not to be confused with|text=[[Lists of advertising characters|characters created specifically for advertising purposes]]}}

A '''spokestoon''' is an established [[Character animation|cartoon character]] who is hired to endorse a product.

When the [[United States]] entered [[World War II]], well-known celebrities already highly placed in American popular culture, such as [[Donald Duck]] and [[Bugs Bunny]], joined the war effort, donating their highly visible images for patriotic and informative cartoons. [[Bambi]], loaned by [[Walt Disney]] during 1943 to the [[US Forest Service]], was the precursor of the purposely-created [[Smokey Bear|Smokey]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=1943 |title=Walt Disney's Bambi: "Please, Mister, don't be careless. Prevent Forest Fires. Greater danger than ever!" |url=https://www.nal.usda.gov/exhibits/speccoll/items/show/457 |access-date=2025-06-06 |website=U.S. Forest Service Smokey Bear Collection}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Swenson |first=Kyle |title=Did Smokey Bear help fuel catastrophic fires? |url=https://www.newsleader.com/story/news/2018/08/15/did-smokey-bear-help-fuel-catastrophic-fires/997959002/ |access-date=2025-06-06 |website=The News Leader |language=en-US}}</ref>

Spokestoons have also lent their celebrity status to individual events, such as [[Pogo (comics)|Pogo]] for [[Earth Day]] in 1970,<ref>http://www.thisdayinquotes.com/2011/04/we-have-met-enemy-and-he-is-us.html This Day in Quotes 04-2011</ref> or [[The Smurfs]] to [[UNICEF]] in 2005.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/10/08/wsmurf08.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/10/08/ixhome.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051024011114/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/10/08/wsmurf08.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/10/08/ixhome.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=2005-10-24 |title=Latest News, Breaking News and Current News from the UK and World |publisher=Telegraph |date= |accessdate=2009-05-07}}</ref>

Since then, many high-profile cartoon characters have turned their skills to corporate product placement. Though [[fast food]] franchises have used gimmicks to tie-in temporarily with current releases of [[animation|animated feature]]s since the 1950s, a few cartoons have become more permanently associated with a product or service offered by [[corporate culture]], similar to that of a mascot, and may be considered genuine spokestoons.

Early recorded usages of the term "spokestoon" include a March 25, 1995, feature in the Portland, Maine ''Press Herald'', noting "Buster Brown, the comic strip character who became the 'spokestoon' for the children's shoe line", and an October 1995 article about the Disney Corporation's use of characters from ''[[The Lion King]]'' to promote good nutrition in children.<ref>{{Cite news |last=McAllister |first=Bill |date=October 8, 1995 |title=Disney School Lunch `Spokestoons' Leave Lawmaker With Sour Taste |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1995/10/09/disney-school-lunch-spokestoons-leave-lawmaker-with-sour-taste/e65897b9-a789-439a-9f23-d9b5170f0dc4/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240411033703/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1995/10/09/disney-school-lunch-spokestoons-leave-lawmaker-with-sour-taste/e65897b9-a789-439a-9f23-d9b5170f0dc4/ |archive-date=April 11, 2024 |access-date=April 11, 2024 |work=[[Washington Post]]}}</ref>

Some examples of spokestoons and the products they are identified with include:

*[[Dennis the Menace (U.S. comics)|Dennis the Menace]] for [[Dairy Queen]] until 2002<ref>[http://www.dairyqueen.com/us-en/Company/FAQ/ Dairy Queen: FAQ]</ref>
*[[Donald Duck]] for [[Donald Duck (orange juice)|Donald Duck orange juice]]
*[[Fred Flintstone]] and [[Barney Rubble]] for [[Winston (cigarette)|Winston cigarettes]], [[Post Cereals|Post]]'s [[Pebbles (cereal)|Pebbles]], and [[Flintstones Chewable Vitamins|Flintstones vitamins]]
*[[Little Lulu]] for [[Kleenex]]
*[[Bugs Bunny]] for [[Tang (drink mix)|Tang]], [[Kool-Aid]], and [[Weetabix]]
*[[Gumby]] for [[Cheerios]]
*''[[Peanuts]]'' characters for the [[Ford Falcon (Australia)|Ford Falcon]] car, [[Dolly Madison]] snacks, and [[MetLife|Metropolitan Life Insurance]]
*[[Mickey Mouse]] for Disney Mickey's Magix breakfast cereal
*The [[Pink Panther (character)|Pink Panther]] for [[Owens Corning]] [[fiberglass]] [[thermal insulation]], and [[Sweet'n Low]] artificial sweetener
*The [[Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner|Road Runner]] for [[Charter Communications]]'s [[Spectrum (brand)#Internet_service|Road Runner]] (now Spectrum) internet service and [[AutoNation]]
*''[[Rocky and Bullwinkle]]'' characters for [[Family Fun Center]], [[General Mills]], and [[Taco Bell]]
*''[[The Simpsons]]'' characters for [[Nestlé]]'s [[Butterfinger]] candy bars and [[Procter & Gamble]]'s Vizir laundry detergent
*''[[The Smurfs]]'' characters for [[Post Cereal|Post]] for [[Smurfs Berries Crunchy]]
*''[[Underdog (TV series)|Underdog]]'' characters for [[Family Fun Center]]
*''[[Winnie the Pooh]]'' characters for [[Disney Hunny B's Honey-Graham]] breakfast cereal
*''[[Yogi Bear]]'' characters for Yogi Bear Toastee Tarts
*''[[Huey, Dewey and Louie]]'' for Nestle's Trio

==See also==
*[[Mascot]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Animated characters]]
[[Category:Advertising]]
[[Category:Mascots]]

{{animation-char-stub}}

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Spokestoon