Tuesday, December 23, 2014

A Charlie Brown Christmas brought to you by Dolly Madison


For kids of a certain age, the spinning CBS Special Presentation logo often signaled the start of something, well, special.




CBS used this iconic animation to alert its viewers that the regularly scheduled programming was being pre-empted for something special, which more often than not meant a cartoon of some kind. One such cartoon was A Charlie Brown Christmas which is often held up as a sweet cartoon extolling the virtues of not being materialistic during the holiday season and celebrating Christmas for its real reason for existence- to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. 




A noble sentiment, to be sure. However, this "Christmas Classic" had an ulterior motive for coming into your house each holiday season. This ulterior motive? To sell Dolly Madison Brand Snack Cakes!





Both Dolly Madison snack cakes and Coca-Cola were early sponsors of the yearly Christmas special. The company's sponsorship of this special was meant to produce a "high-profit" Fall for the stores selling Dolly Madison's sugary treats.



The characters even graced the boxes and wrappers of Dolly Madison's snacks, ensuring that their message of "Charlie Brown loves Dolly Madison" was presented to consumers right on the delicious product itself.