GOLDEN VALLEY, Minn. - A guy who is 50 just shouldn't giggle like that.
The legendary Pillsbury Doughboy celebrated a half-century of existence Thursday with a party at General Mills headquarters in his honor. The puffy, chef-hatted mascot mingled with employees and shared a cake, posed for selfies, and even let folks poke his belly to trigger his famous laugh.
Even though he's been around for five decades, there are some "little known facts" about the Pillsbury Doughboy,
The Pillsbury Doughboy was created in Chicago in 1965 by The Leo Burnett Advertising Agency.
While he was born in Chicago on November 7, 1965, he was raised in Minneapolis.
Rudy Perz, a copywriter at the time, popped open one of the cans and envisioned an image of a doughboy popping out. The "spokes critter" was dubbed "Poppin' Fresh," personifying the products quality.
The Pillsbury Doughboy is 8 ¾ inches tall (with this hat). He is the color of unbaked dough and always wears a baker's hat with a Pillsbury "barrelhead" logo and a white neckerchief.
His first words were, "Hi! I'm Poppin' Fresh, the Pillsbury Doughboy," followed by "Nothin' says lovin' like bakin' in the oven, and Pillsbury says it best."
He has appeared in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade since 2009.
Poppie Fresh (wife) was introduced in 1973. They had a son, Popper Fresh, and a daughter, Bun-Bun.
In 1974 Pillsbury introduced their grandparents, GranMommer and GranPopper. Uncle Rollie was also introduced in 1974 along with the family pets Flapjack (dog) and Biscuit (cat).
