- Vlasic Pickles
Vlasic Pickles grew out of a
Detroit creamery and fresh pickle business begun byCroatian immigrant [http://www.vlasic.com/ Vlasic Website: About Us] Franko Vlasic, and then his son Joe in the 1920s. [http://www.vlasic.com Vlasic Pickle website] Vlasic's primary product, pickles packaged in glass jars, began production in 1942, duringWorld War II , and the business rapidly expanded in the post-war years, corresponding with growth in per capita pickle consumption. The official website claims that Vlasic was in fact the inventor of the glass-packed, shelf stable pickle.A child-bearing
stork was introduced as a mascot in the late 1960s, merging the stork babymythology with the notion that pregnant women have an above average appetite for pickles. The name of the mascot is Jovny. Vlasic marketed themselves as "the pickle pregnant women crave . . . after all, who's a better pickle expert?" This made the product unique and memorable. Later, during the 70's, when women were entering the workforce "en masse", the Vlasic stork's commercials had the theme: "With the birth rate down, I deliver Vlasic pickles instead." The stork of today's advertising speaks in a voice reminiscent ofGroucho Marx .It was later sold to
Campbell Soup Company . The product was sold to Vlasic Foods International onMarch 30 ,1998 .On April 13,
1999 , the company introduced the Vlasic Hamburger Stackers, made from naturally-grown but specially-cultivated cucumbers 40 cm (16") long and over 8 cm (3") in diameter, which enabled a single pickle chip to cover an entire hamburger. [ [http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=105&STORY=/www/story/04-13-1999/0000907924 Vlasic Unveils World's Largest Pickle ] ]Today, Vlasic is owned by
Pinnacle Foods since its name change in2001 . [http://www.pinnaclefoodscorp.com/webportals/]Notes
External links
* [http://www.vlasic.com Vlasic Pickle website]
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