A content analysis of animal spokes-characters in print advertisement

We are all familiar with spokes-character advertisements. Our mothers fed us baby food from bottles featuring the Gerber Baby, and we now eat foods promoted by the Keebler Elves and the Pillsbury Dough Boy. Spokes-characters, also referred to as trade characters, have been used in advertising in the United States for over 100 years. These colorful characters help customers remember advertisements and branded products, thereby creating a relationship between advertiser and consumer.

Spokes-characters are a little researched genre of advertising. There is even less research that exists on the use of animal spokes-characters. Because so many spokes characters are animals, this research study will analyze those characters by type and purpose.