Vintage Furry Advertising…

In the past as now, there were furry icons who represented a brand, and memorably served as spokesmen. Back before Esso gas became Exxon, there was the tiger used to admonish motorists to “put a tiger in their tank,” the tiger representing power and performance. A promotion was even done where stuffed tiger tails that could be affixed to gas caps were available to customers as visible proof that they indeed were driving with such a tiger. This was back in the days when fuel attendants would routinely clean your windshield and check your oil without being asked! Don’t hold your breath waiting for such amenities today. The tiger himself was an impressive dude rendered with attitude and fine attention to detail; rather awesome, actually.
The sadly nameless Esso/Exxon tiger was predated by the Kellogg’s product icon of Tony the Tiger, and there were distinct similarities in depictions of the duo. Despite this, the two tigers co-existed amicably until 1992 when trademark infringe wars erupted as Exxon tried to open Tiger Marts. It’s Tony the Tiger who seems to have best survived the Tiger Wars, and may still readily be seen today…


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This entry was posted on May 31, 2021 at 11:50 am and is filed under advertising, animal elements, animal presence, animal spokepersons, anthropomorphic, commercials, famous furries, furry, furry commercials, iconic, television. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments.
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June 1, 2021 at 5:42 pm
Yeah! He’s arguing with Shaquille O’Neal as to which of them is the “grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrreatest” at growling like a tiger. Sorry, Shaq. But, that’s undeniably still Tony. Whereas, you even deservedly tanked at the box office in the title role of Steel (the poor man’s hybrid of Iron Man and Thor) from DC Comics!
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June 2, 2021 at 11:50 am
I liked it when Tony reminded Shaquille whose picture was on the cereal box. Best not to anger Tony, or he might become one of those…cereal killers! 🙀
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June 2, 2021 at 10:13 pm
Or, at the very least, pancaked by one of those cars with Uniroyal Tiger Claw tires.*
*One of those classic b/w commercials has to be on Youtube, somewhere!
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June 2, 2021 at 10:19 pm
After a momentary “paws,” I must apologize. Apparently Uniroyal (aka U.S. Royal) Tires did do in-color commercials for that brand, back in the Sixties.
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June 2, 2021 at 11:42 pm
Those claws were hardly “the paws that refreshes,” that slogan with “pause” going to Coca-Cola…
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