Charlie the Tuna is the cartoon mascot and spokes-

tuna A tuna is a saltwater fish that belongs to the tribe Thunnini, a subgrouping of the Scombridae (mackerel) family. The Thunnini comprise 15 species across five genera, the sizes of which vary greatly, ranging from the bullet tuna (max length: ...

for the

StarKist StarKist Tuna is a brand of tuna produced by StarKist Co., an American company formerly based in Pittsburgh's North Shore that is now wholly owned by Dongwon Industries of South Korea. It was purchased by Dongwon from the American food manufactur ...

brand. He was created in 1961 by Tom Rogers of the

Leo Burnett Agency Leo Burnett Worldwide, Inc., also known as Leo Burnett Company, Inc., is an American advertising company, founded on August 5, 1935, in Chicago by Leo Burnett. In September 2002, the company was acquired by Publicis Groupe, the world's third ...

. StarKist Tuna is owned by

Dongwon Industries Dongwon Industries, Ltd. ( ko, 동원산업주식회사) is a South Korean seafood company headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. Founded by Kim Jae-chul in 1969, it is the main representative of the Dongwon , a family conglomerate comprising 15 af ...

, a

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

-based conglomerate. Charlie is one of the most recognized characters in American advertising.

History

Creation

Charlie the Tuna was based on Tom Rogers' friend

Henry Nemo Henry Nemo (June 8, 1909 – November 26, 1999) was a musician, songwriter, and actor in Hollywood films who had a reputation as a hipster. Band leading In 1941, Nemo formed his own 19-piece band. The group featured four Chinese women as singers ...

. Nemo is known as the "creator of jive", which resembles the loose-lipped slang used by Charlie the Tuna.

Campaign

The advertisements depicted Charlie (voiced by actor

Herschel Bernardi Herschel Bernardi (October 30, 1923 – May 9, 1986) was an American actor and singer. He is best known for his supporting role in the drama television series ''Peter Gunn'' (1958–1961) and his leading role in the comedy television serie ...

) as a

Beatnik Beatniks were members of a social movement in the 1950s that subscribed to an anti-materialistic lifestyle. History In 1948, Jack Kerouac introduced the phrase "Beat Generation", generalizing from his social circle to characterize the undergr ...

wearing a

beret A beret ( or ; ; eu, txapela, ) is a soft, round, flat-crowned cap, usually of woven, hand-knitted wool, crocheted cotton, wool felt, or acrylic fibre. Mass production of berets began in 19th century France and Spain, and the beret remains ...

and thick glasses who believes that his hip, cultured "good taste" make him a perfect catch for StarKist. But he is always rejected. Announcer

Danny Dark Danny Dark (December 19, 1938 – June 13, 2004) was an American voice-over artist. For nearly four decades, he embedded pop culture with memorable lines in advertisements for Budweiser ("This Bud's for you"), Raid Ant & Roach Killer ("Raid - Kil ...

explains to him "Sorry, Charlie!" Some advertisements ended with Charlie encouraging viewers to "Tell 'em, Charlie sent you". These commercials were animated by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises. "Sorry, Charlie" became a popular American

catchphrase A catchphrase (alternatively spelled catch phrase) is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through word of mouth and a variety of mass ...

. The Charlie character appeared in more than 85 advertisements for StarKist until the 1980s, when the campaign was retired. (Herschel Bernardi, the original voice of the character, died on May 9, 1986.) Charlie made a comeback in 1999, when StarKist revived him to introduce a new line of tuna products marketed as healthy. He has been the mascot of the company since then and is one of the most-recognized brand mascots in American advertising. Dark died on June 13, 2004. Rogers died on June 24, 2005.

Legacy

Los Angeles radio personality and voiceover artist Charlie Tuna (real name: Art Ferguson) chose his on-air name early in his career upon the departure of another

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, a ...

disc jockey. All disc jockeys at KOMA were told to draw their on-air names out of a hat, and by the time Chuck Riley picked his on-air name out of a hat, every name had been drawn except for "Charlie Tuna". Riley used the name for a week, and then left. His replacement, Art Ferguson, inherited the name, and he would keep the Charlie Tuna name upon relocating first to Boston and then Los Angeles. American football head coach

Bill Parcells Duane Charles "Bill" Parcells (born August 22, 1941) is an American former football coach who served as a head coach in the National Football League (NFL) for 19 seasons. He rose to prominence as the head coach of the New York Giants from 1983 ...

earned the nickname "The Big Tuna" when he responded to an obviously false statement from a player with the incredulous "Who do you think I am? Charlie the Tuna?" American hip-hop star

Chali 2na Charles Stewart (born June 26, 1971), better known as Chali 2na, is an American painter and rapper, associated with the groups Jurassic 5 and Ozomatli. He is known for his bass-baritone and quick delivery rapping style. Personal life Early lif ...

chose his rap name by slightly modifying the name Charlie Tuna, a nickname his uncle gave him in his youth. During the production of the 2018 film ''

The Shape of Water ''The Shape of Water'' is a 2017 romantic fantasy film directed by Guillermo del Toro and written by del Toro and Vanessa Taylor. It stars Sally Hawkins, Michael Shannon, Richard Jenkins, Doug Jones, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Octavia Spencer ...

'', director

Guillermo del Toro Guillermo del Toro Gómez (; born October 9, 1964) is a Mexican filmmaker, author, and actor. He directed the Academy Award–winning fantasy films ''Pan's Labyrinth'' (2006) and ''The Shape of Water'' (2017), winning the Academy Awards for Be ...

remarked of the creature of the film " hecharacter is called 'Charlie' on the call-sheet by reference to the StarKist mascot Charlie the Tuna. 'We wanted to play the ad on TV,' he says, 'but StarKist didn't want to have anything to do with a movie like this. The nickname stayed. Charlie the Tuna makes a cameo appearance in the 2012 computer-animated film ''

Foodfight! ''Foodfight!'' is a 2012 American computer-animated adventure comedy film produced by Threshold Entertainment and directed by Lawrence Kasanoff. The film features the voices of Charlie Sheen, Wayne Brady, Hilary Duff, Eva Longoria, Larry Mill ...

''.

References

{{Reflist

External links

StarKist Tuna
Advertising campaigns Male characters in advertising Cartoon mascots Corporate mascots Fictional characters based on real people Mascots introduced in 1961 Fictional fish Fish mascots Food advertising characters Tuna