Classic Food Friday: Green Giant Peas
Each Friday we take a step back from the fad foods of the season and reflect on the foods that have been a part of our pantries and our pop culture for so long that we can’t remember a time when they were not available for purchase.
Usually these are heavily processed foods, but today seemed like a nice day to break from the norm and cover a vegetable, which when consumed from a can is only mildly processed compared to, say, a Moon Pie.
Since next year marks the eightieth anniversary of the Green Giant, and this year marks the one hundredth anniversary of his classic peas, it seemed like a good time to take a look at the big green fellow and the tiny little orbs he represents in the minds of millions of consumers.
The peas were originally introduced in 1907, but the Green Giant mascot did not appear in advertisements until 1928 when he became the symbol for Green Giant’s campaign for its new and unusually large strain of peas.
The Green Giant has helped sell untold peas over the years as well as a bunch of vegetables, and in 1970s he asexually reproduced a junior giant called Little Sprout to help make vegetables more appealing to kids. The Green Giant, his asexual offspring, and his unusually large orbs have been owned by several companies over the years, and they are currently part of a stable of brands owned by General Mills.
As with most pop culture icons, the Green Giant has taken on a life of his own independent from the vegetables he sells. Videos of classic Green Giant commercials seem to have a following on You Tube, and references to the big fella have popped up in movies for decades (remember Ghostbusters II?). You can even be the Green Giant for Halloween next year, but if you want to compete with the big fella you had better start working on your glutes now … that tunic is pretty short.
peas, green giant, classic advertisements, you tube
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