San Francisco Airport Museum is exhibiting advertising icons

Pretty cool, this. In San Francisco's Airport museum, there is an exhibition of advertising Icons. From Mr Peanut to the Jolly Green Giant, these advertising mascots create instant nostalgia. This exhibit runs until January 4th of next year, but if you won't be in San Francisco you can see it online right here. The collection, by the way, is owned by Warren Dotz.

Some characters originated from Madison Avenue’s top agencies while others evolved from napkin sketches by company employees caricaturing a friend or colleague. The characters and their taglines became instantly recognizable: Tony the Tiger’s (1951) “They’re Grrrrrreat!” in reference to Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes; “Sorry Charlie,” delivered to StarKist’s Charlie the Tuna (1961), who didn’t have “the taste” to make it into their cans; even the giggle elicited from Pillsbury’s Poppin’ Fresh Doughboy (1965) became part of the public’s consciousness. The most popular characters were produced as figurines and special-offer promotional items such as toys, telephones, coin banks, and cameras. Despite a decline in the use of animated characters as brand ambassadors, our connection to twentieth-century advertising icons remains strong, and there is an enduring appreciation for the characters in their classic forms. A World of Characters presents more than three hundred examples of advertising icons from the collection of Warren Dotz.

The Warren Dotz Collection is located pre-security in the International Terminal Main Hall Departures Lobby, San Francisco International Airport. The exhibition is on view to all Airport visitors from June 28, 2014, to January 4, 2015.