One of Bert Lahr's last appearances, shilling for Lay's (1966)

In the 60's, Frito-Lay decided on a star-driven ad campaign to promote Lay's potato chips (you can see the apostrope in the logo, can't you?).

Bert Lahr ("The Wizard of Oz") appeared in at least two ads, in each case playing two characters. One had Lahr being tempted by the devil. Here, Bert is Christopher Columbus and a Native American who tempts Columbus with the chips, even though they really wouldn't come along for nearly 500 years.



Cartoon fans can tell that Lahr was the inspiration for Daws Butler's characterizations of Snagglepuss and the Funky Phantom for Hanna-Barbera. Lahr passed away at the end of 1967 while filming "The Night They Raided Minsky's".