What a Character!: 20th Century American Advertising Icons

by Warren Dotz, Jim Morton, John William Lund

From the Jolly Green Giant to bumbling Cap'n Crunch, advertising characters are as much a part of twentieth-century America as the familiar products they symbolize. Culled from one of the world's most extensive collections of promotional product icons, What a Character! presents a nostalgic assortment of advertising figures, including some of the most popular characters ever created. Lively, full-color photographs and an informative text offer an entertaining look at the remarkable history and enduring design of these pop culture icons, with their timeless appeal for consumers of all ages.

Genres: Nonfiction, Design, Sociology, Art

131 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1996

Reviews

[Jon Nakapalau · Rating 5 out of 5]

This history of advertising icons is captivating...the story behind the icons tells us much about American culture. What is amazing is how these characters stay with you all through your life: I still associate many of my childhood memories in reference to these AAI - Quisp cereal was a favorite of mine because of the cartoon commercials.

[Orsolya · Rating 2 out of 5]

Advertising icons, characters, and mascots are often more popular than the products they represent. They are the ‘face’ of a brand (no pun intended) and become the stuff of collectors’ dreams. Warren Dotz and Jim Morton present a foray into the world of these lovable figures in, “What a Character! 20th Century Advertising Icons”.

“What a Character!” is a small, graphic, glossy-paged coffee table book taking a retrospective look at popular (or otherwise well-conceived) advertising characters. Dotz and Morton organize “What a Character!” based on style categories (i.e. human, literal, animal, etc) and further break down within these chapters by chronology. This provides a clears and concise understanding of the subject matter and also helps to show the gradual growth in the advertising world in terms of concept and campaign.

Each chapter of What a Character!” begins with a few pages of text explaining the rationale and reasoning behind the brand icon categories and providing some case study examples. The text however is very elementary both in prose and content which doesn’t help in educating the reader. It is strikingly evident that each author separately wrote respective chapters as the final chapters (starting with chapter five) are exceptionally better-written than the former and reveal a much more in-depth discussion of advertising campaigns and patterns. If only all of “What a Character!” was like this.

“What a Character!” features a solid-enough layout with clear and closely-shot photos by John William Lund. The photographs are predominately of product premiums featuring the icons so they are 3-D in nature. Each photo is captioned with the brand icon’s name, company represented, and date. This leaves something to be desired for advertising professionals who may be interested in information such as the advertising agency behind the icon. Such readers can pick up on trends based on their knowledge of the field but overall, “What a Character!” seems to appeal more to the general reader or collectors interested in retro pop culture.

One of the pitfalls of “What a Character!” is its super short chapters. However, Dotz and Morton amplify their work with a rarity index guide which grades the rarity of each icon product featured (which, again, shows the book’s appeal to collectors).

“What a Character!” is a ‘cute’ and ‘cool’ quick read/look into advertising icons best for those interested in pop culture—just don’t expect a lot of detail. The book is quirky but won’t blow you away. Dotz’s “Meet Mr. Product” is a much better artistic and conceptual look in comparison. “What a Character!” isn’t terrible but not amazing, either.

[EchoHouseLibrary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loads of fun, little bit of nostalgia but much of the pieces are from before my memory.