"I Want My Maypo" was an advertising slogan used by Maltex Company of

Burlington, Vermont Burlington is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Vermont and the seat of Chittenden County. It is located south of the Canada–United States border and south of Montreal. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the population was 44,743. It ...

. It was used to advertise

Maypo Maypo is an American brand of hot cereals. The original product was maple flavored oatmeal but there are now a variety of flavors sold under the Maypo brand name. It was originally manufactured by Maltex Co. and is now owned by Homestat Farm, L ...

, a brand of maple flavored

oatmeal Oatmeal is a preparation of oats that have been de-husked, steamed, and flattened, or a coarse flour of hulled oat grains (groats) that have either been milled (ground) or steel-cut. Ground oats are also called white oats. Steel-cut oats are ...

starting in the 1950s.

Overview

The Maltex Company marketed Maltex Cereal, a combination of toasted

wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...

and malted

barley Barley (''Hordeum vulgare''), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains, particularly in Eurasia as early as 10,000 years ago. Globally 70% of barley pr ...

, for years. It developed Maypo

maple ''Acer'' () is a genus of trees and shrubs commonly known as maples. The genus is placed in the family Sapindaceae.Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9, June 2008 nd more or less continuously updated since http ...

-flavored hot oat cereal in 1950, but sales remained minuscule in comparison to its competitors. At the time of the "I Want My Maypo" ad, Maltex became a subsidiary of Connecticut-based

Heublein Heublein Inc. (also known as Heublein Spirits) was an American producer and distributor of alcoholic beverages and food throughout the 20th century. During the 1960s and 1970s its stock was regarded as one of the most stable financial investments, ...

Inc. When the brand was not selling well, Maypo advertisers decided to push the product very heavily using

advertising Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...

. The result was the famous Maypo commercial featuring the character 'Marky Maypo.' The black and white

animated Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most anim ...

commercial was sixty seconds long. The setting was a breakfast table with Uncle Ralph trying to get his nephew, Marky, to eat his new 'surprise' cereal. However, Marky seems more interested in wearing his cowboy hat than eating the oatmeal. The frustrated Uncle grabbed the hat from Marky, who demanded it back, refusing that he wouldn't eat the oatmeal otherwise. Then, the Uncle resorts to pretending that a spoonful of Maypo is an airplane and Marky's mouth is the hangar, but accidentally puts the spoon in his own mouth, and liked the taste. Marky then grabbed a spoonful of Maypo and ate it greedily. As the uncle then eagerly ate the rest of the oatmeal, Marky yelled "I Want My Maypo!" The commercial would not only turn Marky Maypo into a household name, but would also produce phenomenal increases in sales of Maypo cereal. ''Sponsor'' Magazine reported that the new advertising campaign led to sales increases, "an average of 78 percent . . . and as high as 186 percent in some markets." The ad also led to a new package design that featured Marky prominently as a new

logo A logo (abbreviation of logotype; ) is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an abstract or figurative design or include the text of the name it represents as in a wordma ...

. The "I Want My Maypo" ad was selected as one of the 69 classic commercials to be awarded a Clio Award by the American Television Festival and Forum. It was conceived and produced by

John Hubley John Kirkham Hubley (May 21, 1914 – February 21, 1977) was an American animation director, art director, producer and writer known for his work with the United Productions of America , United Productions of America (UPA) and his own independent ...

. The agency for the ad was Fletcher Richards, Calkins & Holden, Inc.

Notes

{{reflist American advertising slogans 1950s neologisms

Overview

See also

Further reading

Notes