{{Short description|Mascot for the Pillsbury Company}} {{Infobox character | name = Pillsbury Doughboy | image = Pillsbury doughboy.jpg | image_size = | caption = | first = November 7, 1965<ref name="Pillsbury.com">{{Cite news|url=https://www.pillsbury.com/doughboy|title=How Well Do You Know the Pillsbury Doughboy?|work=Pillsbury.com|access-date=2018-10-16|language=en|archive-date=2019-05-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190506144214/https://www.pillsbury.com/doughboy|url-status=live}}</ref> | last = | creator = Rudy Perz | portrayer = | voice = {{ubl|[[Paul Frees]] {{small|(1965–1986)}}|[[Peter Hawkins]] {{small|(1976, UK)}}|[[Jeff Bergman]] {{small|(1986–2014)}}|Peter New (briefly)|Fred Young (briefly)|[[JoBe Cerny]] {{small|(2014–2024)}}|Jeremy Geller {{small|(2018)}}}} Rich Orlow {{small|(2024–present)}} | full_name = Poppin' Fresh | nickname = | species = Anthropomorphic [[dough]] | occupation = | gender = Male | title = Mascot of [[Pillsbury (brand)|Pillsbury Company]] | family = [[#Pillsbury family|See section below]] | spouse = | significant_other = | children = | relatives = }} '''Poppin' Fresh''', more widely known as the '''Pillsbury Doughboy''', is an advertising [[mascot]] for the [[Pillsbury (brand)|Pillsbury Company]], appearing in many of their commercials. Many commercials from 1965 until 2005 (together with some for [[GEICO]] between 2009 and 2017) ended with a human finger poking the Doughboy's belly. The Doughboy responds by giggling when his belly is poked (''Hoo-Hoo''!, or earlier on, a slight giggle "tee hee").<ref name="Pillsbury.com"/>
== History == The Pillsbury Doughboy was created by Rudolph "Rudy" Perz, a copywriter for Pillsbury's longtime advertising agency, [[Leo Burnett Worldwide|Leo Burnett Company]].<ref>{{Cite news|last=Roberts|first=Sam|date=2015-04-04|title=Rudolph Perz, Creator of Pillsbury's Doughboy, Dies at 89|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/04/business/rudolph-perz-creator-of-pillsburys-doughboy-dies-at-89.html|access-date=2021-12-20|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=2021-12-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211220133030/https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/04/business/rudolph-perz-creator-of-pillsburys-doughboy-dies-at-89.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Cross |first1=Mary |title=A Century of American Icons: 100 Products and Slogans from the 20th-Century Consumer Culture |date=2002 |publisher=Greenwood Press |isbn=978-0313314810 |access-date=4 September 2020 |url=https://archive.org/details/centuryofamerica00cros/page/143/ |pages=143–146}}</ref> Perz was sitting in his kitchen in the spring of 1965, under pressure to create an advertising campaign for Pillsbury's refrigerated dough product line (biscuits, dinner rolls, sweet rolls, and cookies). His copywriter, Carol H. Williams,<ref name=what/> imagined a living doughboy popping out of a Pillsbury refrigerated dough can and wrote the campaign, "Say Hello to Poppin' Fresh Dough". Williams was inducted into the [[American Advertising Federation Hall of Fame]] in 2017.<ref name=what>{{Cite news |last=Maheshwari |first=Sapna |date=2017-04-25 |title=An Ad Woman at the Top of an Industry That She Thinks Still Has Far to Go |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/24/business/carol-williams-advertising-hall-of-fame.html |access-date=2022-06-20 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=2022-06-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220620071003/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/24/business/carol-williams-advertising-hall-of-fame.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
==Character== Poppin' Fresh was given a scarf, a chef's hat, and two big blue eyes to distinguish him from the rolls, as well as a faint blush and a soft, warm chuckle when poked on the belly. The Doughboy was originally designed by Milt Schaffer.<ref name="Pillsbury.com"/>
Stop-motion animator [[Jim Danforth]] was hired to animate him. The first Poppin' Fresh commercials aired in November 1965. Since then, [[Pillsbury Company|Pillsbury]] has used Poppin' Fresh in more than 600 commercials for more than fifty of its products. He also appeared in a [[Mastercard|MasterCard]]'s "Icons" commercial in 2005 during [[Super Bowl XXXIX]], alongside the [[Green Giant|Jolly Green Giant]], the [[Morton Salt]] Girl, the [[Vlasic Pickles|Vlasic]] stork, [[Charlie the Tuna]], [[Mr. Peanut]], [[General Mills monster-themed breakfast cereals|Count Chocula]], the [[Gorton's of Gloucester|Gorton's]] Fisherman, [[Chef Boyardee]], and [[Mr. Clean]]; the ten merchandising icons are depicted as having dinner together. He has also appeared in ads for [[Got Milk?]], [[Sprint Corporation|Sprint]], and [[GEICO]]. He also made a cameo appearance in the 1987 animated film ''[[The Puppetoon Movie]]''.{{cn|date=October 2024}} On February 9, 2025 during [[Super Bowl LIX]], he appeared in an ad for [[Instacart]] alongside the Jolly Green Giant, Mr. Clean, [[Kool-Aid Man]], [[Isaiah Mustafa]] (The "[[Old Spice]] Guy"), [[Chester Cheetah]] ([[Cheetos]]), the [[Energizer Bunny]], [[Mountain Dew]]'s PuppyMonkeyBaby, and the [[Heinz]] Wiener Dogs.
===Voice actors=== Over 50 different actors auditioned to be the first voice of the Pillsbury Doughboy, among them was [[Paul Winchell]], who is best known for voicing [[Tigger]] in the ''[[Winnie the Pooh (franchise)|Winnie the Pooh]]'' franchise.<ref name="Pillsbury.com" /> Ultimately, [[Paul Frees]] was the first actor chosen to be the voice of the Doughboy and would continue to provide his voice for 21 years.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Dotz |first1=Warren |title=What a Character! 20th Century American Advertising Icons |last2=Morton |first2=Jim |date=1996 |publisher=Chronicle Books |isbn=0-8118-0936-6 |page=109}}</ref> After Frees' death in 1986, [[Jeff Bergman]] took over the role, and held it until 2014.<ref name="Pillsbury.com" /> The high-pitched giggles were done by [[JoBe Cerny]] after 2014.<ref name="ctribune">{{cite news |last=Giangrasse Kates |first=Joan |date=2012-08-01 |title=Fern Persons, 1910-2012, Worked for decades as actress in radio, TV, films, commercials and stage |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2012/08/01/fern-persons-1910-2012/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120802231546/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-08-01/news/ct-met-fern-parsons-obit-20120801_1_chicago-actor-chicago-story-actors-union |archive-date=2012-08-02 |access-date=2012-08-02 |work=[[Chicago Tribune]]}}</ref> In recent years, he has also been voiced by Peter New, Fred Young, and Jeremy Geller.<ref name="Mashed.com">{{Cite news|url=https://www.mashed.com/432083/this-is-who-originally-voiced-the-pillsbury-doughboy/|title=This Is Who Originally Voiced The Pillsbury Doughboy|work=Mashed.com|access-date=July 31, 2024|language=en}}</ref> In two advertisements made for the UK in 1976, British voice actor [[Peter Hawkins]] voiced the character.{{cn|date=October 2024}} Currently, Rich Orlow voices the Doughboy.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.richorlow.com/voice|title=The Man with a Thousand Voices|work=Richorlow.com|access-date=February 7, 2026|language=en}}</ref>
==Animation== Perz originally conceived the Doughboy as a cartoon animated figure but changed his mind after seeing a stop-motion technique used in the opening credits for ''[[Dinah Shore#Early television career|The Dinah Shore Show]]''. Cascade Pictures was hired to create a three-dimensional Doughboy puppet at a cost of $16,000.{{cn|date=October 2024}}
The Doughboy was brought to life with [[Stop motion|stop-motion]] [[animation]], using foam rubber puppets with ball and socket armatures inside.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Taylor |first=Heather |date=2022-08-28 |title=What Was It Like to Work on the Last Pillsbury Stop-Motion Animated Commercials? |url=https://advertisingweek.com/what-was-it-like-to-work-on-the-last-pillsbury-stop-motion-animated-commercials/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230602085627/https://advertisingweek.com/what-was-it-like-to-work-on-the-last-pillsbury-stop-motion-animated-commercials/ |archive-date=2023-06-02 |access-date=2024-04-25 |website=advertisingweek.com}}</ref> The heads were typically made of resin, each with different mouth shapes or expression and animated using a replacement animation technique whereby the head would be swapped out frame-by-frame to match the mouth movements to the dialog.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Fletcher |first=Joel |title=The End of the Stop-Motion Doughboy |date=2011-10-16 |work=The Crucible of Transmutationanecdotes about the creative process |url=https://www.joelfletcher.com/creative-process/?post=stop-motion-doughboy |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240426042356/https://www.joelfletcher.com/creative-process/?post=stop-motion-doughboy |archive-date=2024-04-26 |url-status=live}}</ref> In 1992, the animation technique was changed to [[Computer animation|CGI animation]], which continues to be used in new ads.{{cn|date=October 2024}}
==Pillsbury family== {{more citations needed section|date=October 2025}} In the 1970s, a Pillsbury Doughboy family was created and sold as dolls individually and in the form of various playsets.<ref name="stargate1">[http://users.stargate.net/~glshir/PLAY.HTM] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060515154050/http://users.stargate.net/~glshir/PLAY.HTM|date=May 15, 2006}}</ref>
Included in the family are: *Poppin' Fresh<ref name="stargate1"/> *Poppie Fresh, described by the Advertising Icon Museum as forming a couple with Poppin' Fresh beginning in the early 1970s .<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.advertisingiconmuseum.com/inside/c5/3265067b.html |title=Pillsbury Dough Girl-Poppie Fresh-Pillsbury Co |publisher=Advertisingiconmuseum.com |access-date=2015-08-16 |archive-date=2021-07-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210716195742/http://www.advertisingiconmuseum.com/inside/c5/3265067b.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> *Granpopper and Granmommer (grandparents)<ref name="stargate1"/> *Popper (boy) and Bun-Bun (baby, girl)<ref name="stargate1"/> *Flapjack (dog) and Biscuit (cat)<ref name="stargate1"/> *Uncle Rollie<ref name="stargate1"/>
==Trademark conflict== In May 2010, Pillsbury's lawyers served a cease and desist notice to My Dough Girl, LLC., a Salt Lake City, Utah cookie retailer.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cityweekly.net/utah/article-11641-my-dough-girl-in-trademark-trouble-with-pillsbury.html |title=My Dough Girl in Trademark Trouble with Pillsbury |work=[[Salt Lake City Weekly]] |date=2010-07-06 |access-date=2015-08-16 |archive-date=2013-11-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131109182208/http://www.cityweekly.net/utah/article-11641-my-dough-girl-in-trademark-trouble-with-pillsbury.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Some reported that an attorney for [[General Mills]] instructed her not to talk to the press.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100802/22585310464.shtml |title=Pillsbury Sends Cease & Desist to 'Dough Girl' Bakery |publisher=[[Techdirt]] |date=2010-08-03 |access-date=2015-08-16 |archive-date=2015-09-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150910060659/https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100802/22585310464.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref>
==References== {{reflist|33em}}
==External links== *[https://web.archive.org/web/20070101092824/http://www.uspto.gov/go/kids/soundex/76163189.mp3 Audio file] ([[MP3]] format) of the Doughboy giggling *[https://web.archive.org/web/20110320205943/http://www.pillsbury.com/doughboy Character's official site] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20111101232724/http://www.blog.generalmills.com/2011/09/the-creation-of-poppin-fresh/ Official history of Poppin' Fresh from General Mills website] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20110723012110/http://www.oldphoneman.com/DBourpics1.htm Pillsbury Family]
{{General Mills}}
[[Category:Corporate mascots]] [[Category:Fictional characters from Minnesota]] [[Category:Fictional chefs]] [[Category:Anthropomorphic foods]] [[Category:Fictional humanoids]] [[Category:Male characters in advertising]] [[Category:Food advertising characters]] [[Category:Mascots introduced in 1965]]