While out and about the other day, I spotted this cute, 5-sided Charlie Tuna cube clock from the 70's. I remember these cubes being everywhere when I was a kid, each with a multitude of different imagery (we even had a couple in our house filled with family photos.) But boy, did I ever love the hilarious StarKist commercials, brilliantly animated by DePatie-Freleng who were of course most famous to the world for the original classic Pink Panther cartoon series. And while I totally remember Charlie's little yellow fish chum, errr friend I mean (he was the one constantly explaining to Charlie that just because you had "good taste" didn't mean you'd make a good tasting tuna fish sandwich lol-- sorry, Charlie!), I don't really remember any of the other characters featured below on the clock. So CLICK HERE for a great youtube channel featuring nearly 30 of the Charlie Tuna tv spots, and see if you spot any of them!
To me, there was always something weird about buying a product that has advertising mascots on it, I mean, you are supposed to be paying to get ads to me, not the other way around!
ReplyDeleteOf course, as a kid I had a hair bear bunch poster that my grandparents got me so what do I know?
Spokestoon merch or not, that is a very appealing and attractive item.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of the DFE studio, the Star Kist campaign seems to have provided "inspiration" for their later characters Misterjaw and Catfish, both of whom bear more than a passing resemblance to Charlie and his pal.
I must have just missed the cube clock fad; I don't really remember them from my childhood at all, which is a pity. I'm sure there were plenty of corporate marketing characters I would have loved to snap right up: Raid bugs, Scrubbing Bubbles, cereal monsters, Cavity Creeps. Or, to keep it strictly in the canned tuna family: the Chicken of the Sea mermaid.
ReplyDeleteI mean, before music videos, televised commercial advertising was just where cutting-edge animators made their bones. It's a treasure trove.
Do these light up?
Not sure if it lights up, but the clock face might. The cubes we had when I was a kid didn’t, they were just small boxes you could slide photos into
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