How many times have you heard that commercial? So just where did this great giant come from....since he's green, maybe he's related to the Incredible Hulk who was also green.
But no, this Green Giant appearing as a smiling green-skinned giant wearing a tunic, wreath and boots made of leaves and his friend, a young green giant named Little Green Sprout are representatives of a food company owned by General Mills.
The company is one of the largest sellers of frozen and canned vegetables both under the Green Giant and LeSueur brands. The name Green Giant was introduced in 1925 to help market the company's canned peas....since it was well received, it was decided to adopt the Green Giant name.
The original commercial featuring the Jolly Green Giant first aired in 1953. It featured a green puppet stalking through the valley. He stopped near a small farm and displayed two cans of Green Giant vegetables, the famous Niblets and a can of peas. He walked towards the camera holding them as the camera slowly backed away.
Whoa Nellie! This commercial was deemed way too scary for younger viewers and was quickly pulled off the air. (remember, this was in 1953, children were not as worldly as they are now. Instead of being scared, they would think it was really dumb!)It also featured a somewhat scary jingle...sung by a group of singers providing "Fe fum fi fe" as the backing rhythm. It also got the deep six because it could frighten little children....."potential nightmare-causing song could alienate mothers and cause them to boycott the Green Giant line".
In addition to having a scary jingle, it was found that when the Green Giant walked, he looked even more menacing and scary. The poor guy couldn't do anything right.
As a result, the second commercial, aired in 1960, featured a friendly and smiling Green Giant standing in the distance, hands on hips, supervising Keebler-like elves working to produce green beans on an assembly line. (And you wonder why your kids think vegetables grow in cans!)
Several 1970s commercials used "From the valley of the Jolly (ho, ho, ho) Green Giant!" as the their jingle and starting in the 1980s the "Ho, ho, ho, Green Giant!" has been a part of all GG commecials.
I doubt that the Ho, ho, ho's or the Green Giant walking through the valley would faze children now-a-days.
After all, they practically grew up with Shrek!
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