From dinosaurdracula, Kids of the ‘60s loved astronauts arguably more than anything else, thanks largely to the Space Race. A quick browse through any photo collection of ‘60s toys will show an unmistakable lean on spacemen and rocket ships, and really, the old cliche of kids “wanting to become astronauts” found its foothold more in the ‘60s than any other decade.
If I’m wrong about that, give me a pass. I wasn’t alive.
The point is, if you were targeting children in the 1960s, giving your product a “space theme” was the smartest way to go. So, when you look at this astronaut-shaped syrup bottle, just know that its existence made perfect sense.
His name was Clanky. He divided his time between exploring the cosmos and peddling chocolate syrup.
Was Clanky popular? I’m guessing he was. Hell, I still go ballistic for bottles shaped like Mrs. Butterworth, and that’s just Mrs. Butterworth. This was a cool ass astronaut with sci-fi trappings and accordion legs. How could kids of any decade – let alone the space-crazed ‘60s – not be into Clanky?
2 comments:
I just added a picture of the actual bottle because I was amazed that the commercial never reveals it. Clanky doesn't seem so terribly clever to me. Most of the time he can't even move his arms, and he never talks -- he just squirts chocolate all over everything. In a first contact situation I'd say that gives him a fifty-fifty shot of pulling the Earth into a galactic war.
Lets fix him up with Mrs. Butterworth, they'd be a cute couple.
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