Lately, I’ve been thinking some about advances fish and other aquatic animals have made into American pop culture as well as other aspects of our daily lives, and here are just a couple of examples I came up with:
SpongeBob SquarePants – The television-viewing public was introduced to the wacky undersea denizens of Bikini Bottom in late 1999 when the animated series first aired. In its decade-plus run, the quirky, lovable characters (Eugene Krabs, Squidward Tentacles, SpongeBob, etc.) have unleashed a merchandising tsunami and introduced (and somewhat educated) an entire generation of school-age kids to the notion of life in our oceans.
I grew up in what I think was the golden age of television cartoons – the 1960s and 70s – and SpongeBob is probably better than anything from that era, with the exception of maybe The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show. Besides the show’s two namesakes, who could forget Boris and Natasha as well as Fractured Fairy Tales, Peabody’s Improbable History, Dudley Do-Right and Commander McBragg – all segments during the show’s 30-minute programs?
Goldfish – Those cheesy (cheesy as in taste) little crackers that my two girls love to down by the bagful. These mainstays of the snack world debuted in 1907, with many additional varieties and flavors having been introduced since. I was totally jazzed to find out that they come in cinnamon and graham cracker flavors. There are at least 28 varieties and flavors, although I don’t know if all of these are currently available or not.
Swedish Fish – These delicious chewy candies are the aquatic answer to gummy bears. They come in yellow, green and red. Swedish Fish and Swedish Berries were especially developed with the North American market mind, as were their special flavors.
Finding Nemo – Speaking of merchandising, I’ve mentioned the “Nemo Effect” more than once in my blog. This amazing 2003 Pixar/Disney movie delighted children and adults worldwide, while delivering a strong environmental message: it does matter what we put in our oceans, and we really need to use a lighter touch when harvesting the oceans’ bounty for our tables and aquariums. The movie also had a lot to say about the way we care for the fishes in our tanks. Of course, this movie launched the worldwide clownfish craze, which shows no signs of abating since the movie’s debut. The move grossed in excess of $684 million worldwide. It is also one of the best-selling DVDs on record. The imagination of children combined with their interest in the sea proved to be a winning combination.
Charlie the Tuna – This advertising icon of StarKist Tuna was created by the Leo Burnett Agency in 1961, and Charlie belongs among the pantheon of all-time advertising character greats. Charlie’s run in television advertising ended with his retirement in the 1980s, but the character made a comeback in 1999 and has been a fixture in StarKist commercials since. One can argue that Charlie the Tuna certainly helped to make tuna a staple in millions of American households, and it is this popularity that has resulted in the worldwide collapse of tuna fisheries. One can only hope that Charlie has something to pitch in the years to come.
These are just a few of the ways fish have become fixtures in our modern culture. What are some of the examples you can think of? Leave a comment below.
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