Jim Henson, creator of the Muppets got his big break selling coffee. Mr. Henson along with his wife and partner, Jane Newbel created coffee ads for Wilkins coffee starting in 1957. The ads starred two proto-muppets known as Wilkins and Wontkins. The pair were featured in 179 10-second television commercial spots for Wilkins Coffee that ran on Washington, D.C., local television from 1957 to 1961.
Wontkins does not like coffee
The commercials featured Wilkins and Wontkins in Looney Tunes like situations. Wilkins, who loved coffee, regularly tortured his protagonist Wontkins, who did not like coffee. Much to the dismay of Wilkins, Wontkins refused to even try a cup. The result is that Wilkins torments Wontkins in any number of ways.
Wotkins finds himself crushed by the Washington Monument, electrocuted, fired out of a cannon, shot, stabbed, and stomped on. His head is crushed in a car hood, he gets thrown out of a plane and is tarred and feathered, much to the delight of the audience. In one ad Wilkins exclaimed, “People who don’t drink Wilkins Coffee just blow up sometimes.”
The ads were very popular. A 2019 Washington Post story, claims that the spots resulted in a 300% increase in sales for Watkins Coffee and the company sold 25,000 pairs of vinyl Wilkins and Wontkins puppets in 1958. But the puppetry mayhem could not save Wilkins Coffee. The brand started selling coffee in 1899 in the Washington DC area. But by 1989 Maxwell House bought out Wilkins coffee.
The duo appear in more adverts
The campaign proved extremely successful. Mr. Henson recalled that at one time, they had “up to about a dozen or so clients going at the same time.” After the Wilkins Coffee advertisement campaign, Henson’s advertising agency featured Wilkins and Wontkins in advertisements for other brands, such as Nash’s Coffee, Kraml Dairy, Taystee Bread, Red Diamond, and Detroit’s own Faygo.
A star is born
The Henson agency also created ads for Claussen’s Bread. The Claussen’s ads introduced Mr. Henson’s most famous creation, Kermit the Frog to the world. The mayhem is less intense than the Wilkins Wontins adverts, but Kermit gets the short end of the abuse in these commercials.
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These ads may seem harsh to modern viewers. The commercials do date for the 1950’a, the same era as Bugs Bunny, Wiley E. Coyote, and Tom and Jerry. They also follow in the older tradition of Punch and Judy shows, in which one puppet faced off against another for the most trivial of reasons.
I do know that if anyone ever asks me to drink a cup of Wilkins Coffee – the answer will be YES!!!!
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Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.