Before he was "Kool-aid Man", he was known as "Pitcher Man". Given the task to illustrate the message, "A 5-cent package makes 2 quarts", Marvin Plotts came up with the painted pitcher face concept from watching his son draw smiley faces on windows on a cold winter day. Since then, the smiley faced pitcher has appeared in all of Kool-aid's commercials. Over the years, he has evolved to having arms and legs, bursting through walls, and exclaiming, "Oh Yeaahhhhh!"

Within the first six months of introduction, Mr. Clean became the best-selling household cleaner on the market. According to Procter & Gamble, the original model for the image of Mr. Clean was a U.S. Navy sailor from the city of Pensacola, Florida. Most people, however, think he is a genie, based on his earring, folded arms, and tendency to appear magically at the appropriate time. What's more is that you don't think of Mr. Clean without thinking about the jingle "Mr. Clean.. Mr. Clean.. Mr. Clean", which is why he made our favorites list.

The very first "King" made his debut in 1955, in cartoon form, sitting on a "burger throne." Later, he was featured in animated tv commercials, granting children toys or Burger King food of some sort proclaiming that "kids were king." However during the 80's, the King was phased out due to the increasingly popular "BK Kids Club Gang" ads.

Over a decade later, enter Crispin Porter + Bogusky, who upon looking for inspiration, found a 1970s era, over-sized King head for sale on eBay. It was eventually decided to restore the head and use it in a campaign, implementing one of the very first successful viral marketing campaigns of "the Creepy King." The ads feature the King appearing in various, random places, such as in bed with people or behind doors, only to offer these people some sort of Burger King product. Apparently, he has become so popular that Burger King plans to produce a feature-length film starring "the Creepy King." You go, Creepy King!

Since childhood, Orville Redenbacher was obsessed with developing the perfect popcorn. As a child, he earned his spending money popping and selling popcorn he grew on his family farm. He spent decades trying to develop a corn hybrid unlike any other, testing more than 40,000 varieties.

After 40 years of testing, Orville and his business partner, Charlie Bowman, finally found the one that popped up light, fluffy, and tasty enough to meet their standards. Initially they sold the popcorn under the hybrid "RedBow", derived from both of their last names. However, when advised by an ad agency to brand the corn with Orville's name and likeness, they took the advice and it stuck. Redenbacher became the brand spokesman, appearing in commercials until just a few years before his death in 1995. The company still uses him as a branding icon to date, proving that most of the time, people will like you for being you. On second thought, maybe it's just really tasty popcorn...

Cap'n Crunch, manufactured by Quaker Oats Company, is the mascot for a sweetened corn and oat breakfast children's cereal. The first commercials, airing in 1963, featured 4 children and the Cap'n sailing on his ship, The Good Ship Guppy, and typically involved the Cap'n outsmarting his nemesis Jean Lafoote, the Barefoot Pirate. The marketing for the Cap'n was different in that it provided a mini-movie within each commercial, later branching out into comic books. In fact, in a Spider-Man/Cap'n Crunch crossover promotion, the Cap'n's nemesis, the Soggies, captured Spider-Man and concerned citizens could call a hotline to help "save" him. Between 1965 and 1971, Cap'n Crunch was the most popular children's cereal. His full name was revealed in 2007 as Captain Horatio Magellan Crunch.

The Green Giant company actually started out as the Minnesota Valley Canning Company in 1903. Their brand name changed to Green Giant in 1950 as a result of their advertising icon the Jolly Green Giant, created in1928. The character is a result of folklore and fairy tales, about a giant who lived in a valley and spent his days protecting his harvest of particularly large peas.

The original giant was very unsuccessful. Enter Leo Burnett, who improved the Giant's image by adding “jolly” to his name, making his clothes from leafy greens, improving his hunched posture, and adding a friendly smile in place of the giant’s scowl. Despite these improvements, the giant still came off as scary or even creepy. Bob Noel helped to lighten the giant’s image by adding the catchy “Ho Ho Ho!”. He decided to only show enough of the giant to establish a presence, realizing the whole figure was awkward and frightening. Silhouettes and partial views of the character helped immensely in addition to the “Ho Ho Ho!” and “Good things for Garden” song. Today, the Jolly Green Giant remains the third most recognizable advertising icon and is still used today by General Mills Green Giant Vegetables.

Ronald McDonald is identifiable by 96% of American children and advertises in more than 30 languages, making him the second most recognizable icon. The campaign began with Ronald McDonald in McDonaldland in 1971, a make-believe place inhabited by Ronald and friends including, Grimace, the Hamburgular, Fry Kids, and Mayor McCheese. This fast food fantasyland was depicted with puppets in an up-beat, friendly atmosphere. The McDonaldland commercials were eventually replaced with Ronald McDonald interacting in the real world with real children. However, due to the increase of obesity in children, McDonalds agreed to discontinue advertisements to children under the age of twelve. The Ronald McDonald House Charity was started as a mission to directly improve the health and well-being of children. This foundation has become the new most identifiable feature of the icon of Ronald McDonald.

Ol’ Lonely, or the Lonely Repairman, is the character of Maytag advertisements. He was created by Vincent R. Vassolo, copywriter of the Leo Burnett agency in 1967. “Now if he only had something to do with his days” is the pitch behind the bored, lonely repairman signifying the dependability and lasting quality of Maytag products. The Ol’ Lonely Repair Man is one of television's longest running brand icons, having appeared consistently for over forty years. The Lonely Repair man was later joined by Newton, a basset hound, named for the headquarters of Maytag in Newton, Iowa. Later still, the man was joined by the Maytag Apprentice, which didn’t last long as part of the campaign.

In 1916, the Planters Company, a division of Kraft Foods, sponsored a nationwide logo contest to search for an iconic character to advertise with. Thirteen-year-old Antonio Gentile won, with a prize of five dollars, for his drawing of the dapper character dressed in formal shoes and gloves, carrying a gentleman’s cane. The logo was later refined by a professional illustrator who added a monocle and top hat.

Mr. Peanut has appeared in many animated commercials, more recently shown computer animated in a real world setting. He makes little spoken appearance, but is usually accompanied by someone who speaks with an elegant accent. Still current in their advertising, Mr. Peanut has become a symbol and an antique. The character has a line of collectables, everything from mechanic banks, tins, to salt and pepper shakers that sell at extremely high prices to collectors. In 2006, a poll to add a bow tie and other decorative elements to the character was rejected by the public, and he remains unchanged.

His original name was Poppin’ Fresh, the Pillsbury Dough Boy. Within three years of being introduced, 87% of Americans were familiar with the character and recognized him as the icon of the Pillsbury brand.

Chet Noice was the freelance artist who wrote the story of the Dough Boy, while sitting in his kitchen, under pressure to meet a deadline. As the story goes, a baker lovingly created a special batch of dough and left it to rise overnight. The dough came to life and became the Dough Boy. His trademark is a soft, warm giggle from being poked in the belly.

In 1965, the first tv commercial for the Dough Boy aired for a Pillsbury Crescent Rolls ad with costar Maureen McCormick. The character was created with foam, rubber, and plaster, where one second of film took twenty-four shots in stop motion clay animation, costing a small fortune (44 years ago) of $16,000. Today, CGI is used. Since that very first commercial, Pillsbury has used Poppin' Fresh in over 600 commercials, for more than fifty of their products. Check out the Pillsbury website to make the Dough Boy dance, download icons, or view television bloopers.