"What, me sell out?" Apparently so. Alfred E. Neuman, the gap-toothed mascot of Mad magazine, has officially joined the Establishment.
Dressed in a preppy blue polo shirt, he can now be found on the cover of a Lands' End catalog, hawking chinos, button-down Oxford shirts and tasseled loafers. He also had his teeth fixed for a new "Got milk?" campaign. And PepsiCo plans to plaster his lopsided mug on bottles of its SoBe drinks. The list goes on.
Although Mad's founder, the late William Gaines, once vowed to teach kids not to believe in ads, his cartoon protege has chosen another path, dishing out product endorsements for everything from Lucky jeans to Tang to computer gear.
"Advertisers are realizing Neuman puts a smile on people's face and creates immediate brand recognition," says Joel Ehrlich, senior vice president of advertising and promotions for DC Comics and Warner Bros., Mad's parent company.
Neuman's journey from Mad to Madison Avenue is also putting a smile on Warner Bros.' face, thanks to the loot he hauls in. But his handlers insist that Neuman isn't simply being offered to the highest bidder.
"At the end of the day, we do have integrity about his image," Ehrlich says. "The product has to be a good match."
For example, a proposal for Mad condoms was vetoed. And given Mad's longtime ridicule of the tobacco industry, "I don't see us [allowing Neuman to endorse] cigarettes or liquor," says Mad co-editor John Ficarra.
Are there any other products Neuman wouldn't promote? "The Los Angeles Times," Ficarra jokes.
Although some Mad readers might wonder why Neuman is endorsing any products, his role as an advertising pitchman isn't entirely out of character. In fact, that's how he got his start.
Neuman predates Mad magazine by decades. One of his earliest known appearances was on the side of a 19th century traveling dentist's wagon, accompanied by the motto, "It didn't hurt a bit." He also popped up in a 1939 ad for Thom McAn shoes, as well as on various billboards and even in anti-Franklin Roosevelt campaign literature.
Mad founder Gaines tried to reform the boy. After adopting Neuman in 1955, Gaines schooled him in Mad's anti-advertising ethic. Gaines refused to let his magazine carry any ads, a policy that didn't waver until last year, when Mad switched to an all-color format.
Neuman went along with the program, but in 1994, two years after Gaines' death, he had a relapse, becoming the official spokesman for a Syquest computer memory device.
