Teddy bears have always been cute and cuddly, but no one realized how marketable they were until the 1980s. This was the decade that would begin the teddy bear campaigns, bears would be used in television shows, commercials and storybooks. They were already in movies and books but they’d never actually put one in a commercial. Once people began seeing these commercial teddy bears they wanted one for their very own, which the company was happy to oblige by for a nominal fee. Consumers were now getting interested in their product, watching their ads and telling others.
The Coca cola bears have become very popular. It seems that every year they have a new commercial out promoting the drink. These cute little teddy bears first started appearing in 1992 with the “Northern Lights” commercial. This was when the animated polar bear went to the movies and ended the night drinking a coca cola while watching the Northern Lights. Once this commercial started showing these teddy bears were flying to the shelves and anyone that collecting teddy bears or Coca Cola items were buying them.
The Snuggle bear teddy bears have been around since 1983 when they first started floating down on our television sets. You might remember the Snuggle bear from the fabric softener commercials as he dropped down into a basket of soft sheets. You’ll find Snuggles on every product sold by the company today.
By 2000 companies started noticing that those cute little teddies bears really helped sell products. At this point Charmin would introduce their “Call of Nature,” commercial with their own Charmin bear and in 2001 a bear cub was added to the commercials.
The future holds many commercialized teddy bears for us; I can’t wait until the next one airs. Who can resist a teddy bear, especially when he’s selling something.