March 18th: Poke someone's tummy for a giggle

For no readily apparent reason, people celebrate the Pillsbury Doughboy's birthday on March 18th. It's not been marketed as such by General Mills, the people behind the giggling lump in question. In fact, their corporate archivists make a point of correcting people when they suggest it. But once a character becomes part of the popular culture, no corporation on earth (even the one that owns the rights) can control the story. And there's something about March 18th that just screams "poke an animated character's tummy and wait for the giggle."

Poppin' Fresh--the Doughboy's real name--was dreamed up in 1965 by a group of advertising executives at the Leo Burnett agency. Inspired by the credits of the Dinah Shore show, they wanted to use a stop-motion animated character. And they wanted a distinctive voice, so they hired Paul Frees, who also voiced the character of Boris in The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle. Resisting the temptation to say "Keeell Moose ent Sqvirrl!", Frees burst out "Hi, I'm Poppin' Fresh, the Pillsbury Doughboy" and the immortal lines "Nothin' says lovin' like bakin' in the oven, and Pillsbury says it best!"

For more on Poppin' and his corporate pals Play-Doh, Easy Bake Ovens, and Nerf balls, scope out General Mills' history at http://www.generalmills.com/corporate/company/history.aspx.

Whoo-hooo!