Comments on: Where Are They Now, And Who Were They Then?—Advertising Icons Edition

By: M

Tue, 24 Feb 2009 23:27:00 +0000

I remember Shadoe Stevens as the announcer on “Hollywood Squares.”

By: Sid

Sid — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 01:09:00 +0000

I work with the original Oscar Mayer Wiener girl. She is now a pastor in Indiana.

By: Goliath The Pickle

Goliath The Pickle — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 18:54:00 +0000

Different actors who have played Ronald McDonald in commercials over the years?

Mr. Whipple passed away recently… R.I.P.

.. and who does the voice of Jack in those Jack-N-The-Box commercials?

By: Mercy me

Mercy me — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 03:58:00 +0000

How about giving it up for Shadoe Stevens who played “Fred R. Rated” in the 80s for the Federated chain of consumer electronics stores? He was a popular West Coast version of “Crazy Eddie” but he then went on to much bigger and better gigs. (Hint: He’s working with Craig Ferguson now.)

By: jmfausti

jmfausti — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 19:10:02 +0000

I thought Jodi Foster was the Coppertone baby.

By: Heather

Heather — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 04:27:54 +0000

Shouldn’t that be WKTU?

By: Kara

Kara — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 18:40:34 +0000

Stephen, your story is interesting, do you have any sources to cite? I’ve checked under both Ben Washam and Benny Washman (another name he used), and can’t find any documentation that he was partners with Robert Wian or a partner in Bob’s Pantry. I’m intrigued, though, and would like to hear more of the real story.

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 16:15:19 +0000

Holy heart disease! “Wendy takes her kids to the restaurant that bears her name every day. Just like her father.”

By: Stephen Worth

Stephen Worth — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 07:29:02 +0000

This isn’t the full story of Big Boy. It’s a whitewashed fictionalization of the real story. Ben Washam was a wanna-be cartoonist and partner to Bob Wian in the hamburger stand. It was Ben’s idea to create the Big Boy hamburger. The concept was, if you take the same amount of meat, and split it into two patties… and you take the same bun and cut it twice instead of once… people would think they were getting more for their money. Washam also sketched the mascot character, Big Boy. People loved it. But just as the stand was beginning to take off, Washam received an offer to work for the Warner Bros cartoon studio. He quit the stand and turned over his interest in the business to Wian. Soon after, Wian started franchising the hamburger stands and became VERY wealthy. Meanwhile, Washam was still working at Warner Bros making a piddly weekly salary. His co-workers used to razz him, saying “Gee Bennie… You coulda been a HAMBURGER BARON!”

See ya
Steve

By: Kara

Kara — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 06:08:22 +0000

Marilyn Chambers was the woman holding the baby on boxes of Ivory Snow in 1972. Contrary to a popular rumor, the baby wasn’t Brooke Shields; she did appear in some print ads for the detergent, but was never on the box.

The Oscar Mayer weiner kid? I’m showing my age here, but the weiner ads I remember (”Oh I wish I were an Oscar Mayer weiner…”) were animated. Andrew Thompson sang the song in a 1997 commercial, but he’s only 14 years old in 2007, so I doubt he is a member of a college fraternity. Perhaps you’re thinking of the Oscar Mayer bologna kid? (”My bologna has a first name, it’s O-S-C-A-R…”) His name is Andy Lambros, and he has his own website now, if you care to Google him.