Over at Saturday Morning Archives, we mentioned that Ralston-Purina had used a scarecrow as a mascot for their Chex line of cereals (now made by General Mills). Only one commercial is available online, and here it is.
It is believed, but not entirely certain, that actor-singer and future game show host Bobby Van played the Scarecrow. Unfortunately, the ad campaign was gone by the end of the decade.
It's Bobby Van, all right.
ReplyDeleteWhen this ad was in first run, Ray Bolger threatened legal action against Ralston-Purina; he'd been friends with Bobby Van, and the resulting rift was years in the healing (although the two men did eventually patch things up).
Thanks, Mike. When I found this video, one commentator on YouTube asked if it was Bolger reprising his role from Wizard of Oz, but another assumed, correctly, it was Bobby Van.
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