3069. Pillsbury Doughboy

Poppin' Fresh, more widely known as the Pillsbury Doughboy, is an advertising icon and mascot of The Pillsbury Company, appearing in many of their commercials. Many commercials from 1965 until 2004 (returned in 2011) conclude with a human finger poking the Doughboy's stomach. The Doughboy responds by rubbing his stomach and giggling (Hoo-Hoo!, or earlier on, a slight giggle).
The Pillsbury Doughboy was created by the Leo Burnett advertising agency's copy writer, Ryan Tanttila , as he was sitting in his kitchen in 1962, under pressure to create an advertising campaign. Tanttila imagined a living dough boy popping out of a Pillsbury Crescent Rolls can. To distinguish the dough boy from the rolls, he gave it a scarf, a chef's hat, two big blue eyes, a blush, and a soft, warm chuckle when poked in the stomach. The Doughboy was originally drawn by Martin Nodell and brought to life using stop motion clay animation. Today, CGI is used. The first CGI commercial was directed by Tim Johnson who at that time was working for PDI.
Perz originally conceived the Doughboy as an animated figure, but changed his mind after seeing a stop motion titling technique used in the opening credits for The Dinah Shore Show. A three-dimensional Doughboy doll of clay was then created at a cost of $16. Paul Frees was chosen to be Fresh's voice. Since then, Pillsbury has used Poppin' Fresh in more than 600 commercials for more than fifty of its products. He also appeared in a MasterCard commercial, with the Jolly Green Giant, the Morton Salt Girl, and Count Chocula, as some of the ten merchandising icons, depicted as having dinner together.