Skippy (peanut butter)

Skippy is a brand of peanut butter manufactured in the United States and China. First sold in 1932,[1] Skippy is currently manufactured by Hormel Foods,[2] which bought the brand from Unilever in 2013.[3] It is the best selling brand of peanut butter in China and second only to the J.M. Smucker Company's Jif brand worldwide.[4]

Skippy
Jars of Skippy peanut butter
Product typePeanut butter
OwnerHormel
CountryUnited States
Introduced1932 (1932)
Previous ownersUnilever
Bestfoods
CPC International
Best Foods
Rosefield Packing Co.
Tagline"Skippy! Yippee!"
Websitepeanutbutter.com

History

Percy Crosby, creator of the popular "Skippy" comic strip (1923-1945), which had been adapted into the 1929 novel Skippy, the daytime, children's radio serial Skippy (1932-1935), and the Oscar-winning 1931 film Skippy, had trademarked the name "Skippy" in 1925. When in 1932 the Alameda, California, food packer Joseph L. Rosefield began to sell its newly developed hydrogenated peanut butter, which it labeled "Skippy" without permission,[5] Crosby successfully had the trademark invalidated in 1934. Rosefield persisted using the name and after Crosby was committed to an asylum and after the passage in 1946 of the Lanham Act, Rosefield was granted rights to the trademark.[6]

In 1955, Rosefield sold the brand to Best Foods.[7] Its successor companies, most recently Unilever and Hormel, claim rights to the trademark over the objection of Crosby's heirs, and much litigation has occurred on this point over the decades, some of which has continued into the 2000s.[8][9][10][11]

Skippy is sold in many different sizes, including a 4-pound (1.8 kg) jar, known as the "Family Jar". In late 2000, Skippy reduced their standard jar size from 18 ounces (510 g) to 16.3 ounces (460 g) by adding a "dimple" in the bottom of the jar while retaining the jar's height and diameter.[12]

Production

Skippy has factories in Little Rock, Arkansas,[13] and Shandong Province, China.[4]

Advertising

Skippy has used several cartoon and celebrity spokespersons in its advertising, including Dennis the Menace, actress Annette Funicello, and speed skater Bonnie Blair. A cartoon squirrel was featured on the packaging in Canada as an homage to the Squirrel brand of peanut butter that was acquired by Unilever in June 2000; however, the Skippy brand was pulled from the Canadian market in early 2017.

Their Twitter page has around 17.6k followers.

References
  1. Michaud, Jon (2012-11-28). "A Chunky History of Peanut Butter". The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X. Retrieved 2016-06-06.
  2. Hormel. "SKIPPY® Brand". www.hormelfoods.com. Retrieved 2016-06-06.
  3. Hormel. "Hormel Foods closes acquisition of U.S. Skippy® peanut butter business". www.hormelfoods.com. Retrieved 2016-06-06.
  4. Isidore, Chris (January 3, 2013). "Spam maker buys Skippy peanut butter". CNN Money. CNN. Retrieved 2013-01-03.
  5. Cronin, Brian (March 12, 2009). "Comic Legends Revealed". #198 (column), ComicBookResources.com. Archived from the original on September 8, 2010.
  6. "Skippy v. Skippy: The Great Peanut Butter Trademark Wars | Trademark and Copyright Law". www.trademarkandcopyrightlawblog.com. Retrieved 2016-06-06.
  7. Krampner, Jon (2014). Creamy and Crunchy: An Informal History of Peanut Butter, the All-American Food. Google Books: Columbia University Press. p. 86. ISBN 0231162332.
  8. Skippy.com website
  9. "The Sad Song of Skippy". Star Tribune. Retrieved 2018-01-19.
  10. Tibbetts, Joan Crosby (1998). "Prologue". Skippy, Inc. Archived from the original on September 11, 2010.
  11. Turley, Hugh (April 2009). "A Tale of Two Cartoonists". Hyattsville Life and Times (Hyattsville, Maryland), via DCDave.com. Archived from the original on February 1, 2010.
  12. Hirsch, Jerry (2008-11-09). "Objects in store are smaller than they appear". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2019-02-06.
  13. "Success is peanuts for skippy facility: the sole packager of a Unilever flagship brand uses hard work and flexibility to adapt to new demands". Food & Drug Packaging. May 2004.
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