Fisher Foods Stokely Ad – March 18, 1954

Advertising mascots of the past are one of my specialities here on the blog, with such old friends as Reddy Kilowatt, Speedy Gas Flame and Willing Water making regular appearances. National advertising mascots such as Sparky the Fire Dog, Smokey Bear, Tony the Tiger, and Sugar Bear also show up, since they were featured in ads in the Journal.

But every once in a while, I see a mascot that is completely new to me – like the guy in the ad above for Fisher Foods promoting a sale on Stokely products. The full page ad appeared in the Lorain Journal on March 18, 1954.

Here's a closer look at him. Who is he – a shirttail cousin to 'Pop' of Rice Krispies fame?

No, his name is Easy (good thing he's a guy mascot) and he symbolizes the 'Easy Does It' philosophy of Stokely and its food preparation convenience. He seems to have first appeared in the late 1940s.

Here's Easy in a short clip from a 1948 Stokely Van Camp promotional film (and here's the link to the whole film). 

One online blogger identified Easy's voice as voice artist Dick Beals, who also did Speedy Alka-Seltzer and various voices for animation studios.

Easy didn't seem to be utilized very much, and it's not very, uh, easy to find him in 1950s ads. Magazine ads rarely featured him. Here's one that did, for Stokely Van Camp's Pork & Beans.

However long Easy's reign was as a symbol of Stokely, he was apparently well-known enough to be immortalized as a ceramic advertising figure.

By the 1960s, Easy seems to have been retired. Here's hoping the little guy is 'taking it easy" in the Retired Ad Mascot Hall of Fame.