Remembering Our Icons

You know them. You love them. They’re the people that have driven commerce in America for decades: Ad icons. Wallet Pop recently remembered its Top 10 icons of all-time. Sadly, no mention of the "Dude, you’re gettin’ a Dell" guy. Here are a couple of gems:

6. The ‘Where’s the Beef’ Lady
"Where’s the beef?"
This campaign for Wendy’s fast-food restaurants starred an 81-year-old played by Clara Peller who was used to highlight Wendy’s massive amounts of meat in their burgers. By 1985, Peller was fired from Wendy’s after declaring that she had "found the beef" in an advertisement for Prego Plus spaghetti sauce. She then made a few guest appearances on television shows, but died at the age of 85 in 1987.

7. Life Cereal’s Mikey
"He likes it. Hey, Mikey!"
From 1971 to 1987, Life cereal ran an ad starring three young brothers, the most famous of which was Mikey, played by John Gilchrist, who portrayed the usually-picky eater as loving Life cereal. Gilchrist also appeared in more than 250 commercials for such products as Pepto Bismol, Skippy peanut butter, and Jell-O. Today, contrary to the popular rumor that he died from a diet of Pop Rocks and Coke, he works as a radio advertising executive.