1 Mar. CH: I remember those really well. Heard it, heard it! Michael Jackson asked to be featured in a sequel. In 1985, both halves of the industry were funding CALRAB. Please take time to look at pictures I try and show condition clear as possible. SW: Unity has been a longstanding challenge for the raisin industry. SPEAKER NINE: Definitely didn't make me any more of a fan of raisins. Oh! But first, he had to get approval from the raisin growers and packers who were paying for it. I voted to kill it too. While the songs popularized the phrase, they inspired the hit kids cartoon series "The California Raisins" in the 1990s. Earlier this year, the CRMBwhich did not respond to my request for commenthired a brand new Vice President of Marketing. But Michael Jackson, well he was not about that. And if you ever saw him. SW: But even as the dancing raisins scored these victories, back in Fresno, things were heating up. STANDS4 LLC, 2023. Possibly, but in their own sweet, silly way, these spots conveyed a sense of mindless fun and gave the humble raisin its moment in the sun. Whod have ever thought that a beloved Motown classic would be brought back to life by a bunch of animated dried fruit? They all watched as Seth walked in and took the floor. Musicians such as Ray Charles and Michael Jackson even got in on the raisin action, singing their own versions of "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" for later commercials. Right? Here's Sarah again: SW: One morning in 1986, Seth and the team at Foote, Cone, and Belding piled into a car and headed to Fresno. If you have more stories to share, call us anytime. SW: Seth has a whole scrapbook of these letters. The mockumentary-style show created a full backstory about the bands rise to stardom and delved into the histories of each of the individual Raisins, who had names by this pointA.C., Beebop, Stretch, and Red. as well as other partner offers and accept our, NOW WATCH: An investment chief at HSBC sees huge trading opportunities outside the US. SW: Matthew says, whether or not the dancing raisins are part of the industry's future, he remains optimistic. - The California Raisins II. But I also take the approach of, that was 30 years ago so I think it's time that we look forward because the industry is in a very dramatic, very drastically different place than it was back then. And if the California raisin family wanted to avert economic disaster, it needed to band together and find a way to sell more raisins. The California Raisins are a fictional rhythm and blues musical group comprised of anthropomorphized raisins. From a pop culture standpoint, absolutelypeople all over the world have heard of the Dancing Raisins. And so he says, 'Ok fine. Don't you know that I heard it through the grapevine. Their cover of Marvin Gaye's &, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. WERNER: 'Our thanks again on behalf of Paul McCartney. The game was completed and several video game critics reviewed it, but it was never released on the open market. CH: A raisin by any other name would be a dried grape. Lead vocals in the group were sung by musician Buddy Miles. Get instant explanation for any lyrics that hits you anywhere on the web! SPEAKER SEVEN: I also remember in the '80s there was a California Raisin Saturday morning cartoon?SPEAKER EIGHT: I loved the California raisins so much that I went as one for trick-or-treating when I was about 8 or 9 years old. BK: It actually got to the point where the Dancing Raisins had their own television show. Today, the story of the California Dancing Raisins. California Raisins Heard it Through the Grapevine (Better Quality) Herozilla Video Editing and Livestream Gaming 82.3K subscribers Subscribe 10K Share 983K views 3 years ago I don't own the. SW: And that tax is paying for a campaign that's not even advertising your product! SPEAKER FIVE: Every time that commercial would come on, my mom would sing and dance to that song. Our editor is Micaela Blei. SPEAKER FOUR: I even had little figurinesSPEAKER FIVE: I remember seeing them in my toy chestSPEAKER ONE: They were part of some happy meal kind of thing CH: The dancing raisins were invited to light the National Christmas Tree at the White House. Because animators arranged each shot by hand, giving each raisin its own distinct personality (including individualized facial expressions and colorful sunglasses), the commercial took more than a month to shoot. It even led to an unauthorized collectibles guide published in 1998, cataloging the many items based on the clay characters. He has faith in the industry's ability to work this out. SARAH WYMAN: Charlie, I have to start with a confession. CH: This commercial was the most popular TV ad in 1987 and 1988. Your email address will not be published. So you really had to be in the right place at the right time just to see it, and then when you saw it, you weren't quite sure what that was, but it was different than everything else you saw, and people started just saying 'what was that?'. You got 100,000 tons. Hell no! But back in 1994, almost ten years after the first dancing raisins ad aired, that good feeling was nowhere to be found. Produced by Sarah Wyman, with Charlie Herman and Julia Press. So, just like at Thanksgiving dinner, while CALRAB tried to calm everyone down and broker peace from the head of the table, squabbling raisin packers aired old grudges and argued about who was and was not getting their fair share of the cash. onefunplace. Oh, that's sweet. Their cover of Marvin Gaye's "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" peaked at #84 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1988. Somewhere, some afternoon, Noel Gallagher sat down with a guitar and did a little strumming and made up a few words to go with it. SW: Again, Seth Werner, sockless ad copywriter. Socit en Commandite par Actions Registered Office: 22-24 Boulevard Royal L-2449, Luxembourg). It was merely entertaining." AD FIVE: Honey, are you playing with your food again? Free shipping for many products! Sunmaid. ', 'Today during Ryan's Hope I saw the cutest commercial. Oh I'm just about to lose my mind. TikTok video from Shug (@sonyastanford2). Almost like you can hear the band warming up "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" in the distance. And because they were big companies, not headquartered in the Fresno circle, they were not at the table, and participating in all of this back-and-forth. 16:20 How do you distinguish your raisin bagel from my field to your field? Learn more about our approach to sharing our collection online. So Fresno is like Eden for raisins. Done. It's very successful in that sense. With the musicians all in a room, live, everything. You're making us put up $32.50 for generic advertising, and Sunmaid's getting the benefit of it. SPEAKER TWELVE: And it was all claymation, and they'd sing Christmas carols and stuff there were I think other characters and things in it as well. SW: I, before I started working on this story, did not even eat raisins. But these tears I can't hold inside. It had sold more than 500,000 copies. SPEAKER ONE: It was like a Mr. SW: Ross Vannelli is a music producer. SW: Kalem says the vote on whether or not to approve the ad was extremely close. If you would like to know how we handle complaints, please click, . Finance is provided by PayPal Credit (a trading name of PayPal (Europe) S. r.l. Leave a message at (646) 768-4777, or email us at btyb@insider.com. And, when it went down, so did the Dancing California Raisins. And then, job number two: they work on public relations and marketing for the entire raisin industry. A board member said, 'Seth, can you do it again?' KALEM BARSERIAN: I've been born, raised here. SW: Those people started calling CALRAB and the ad agency, asking when and where the ad would play again. SW: So a couple of months ago, I read this New York Times article that sort of started it all for me. No, not really. The California Raisins are often accompanied by a soundtrack of "I Heard It Through the Grapevine," originally popularized by singer Marvin Gaye. SPEAKER TEN: We had the Christmas special on videotape, we probably watched it like three or four times a December, between when I was like 4 and 8. Demand was down. SW: Big ingredient customers could actually look up in state records how much money, per ton, raisin packers were paying CALRAB. CEO of the wine bargaining association for five years. High-top sneakers, sunglasses, and endless swagger. KB: Because a raisin is a raisin is a raisin. Our collection database is a work in progress. It wasn't at The Fillmore in San Francisco or the Troubadour in LA. The California Dancing Raisins ad has been called one of the best of all time. SW: Back in Fresno, the raisin growers and packers watched with amazement as the Dancing Raisins turned into superstars. They were tired of paying into a shared piggybank for the greater good. Watch the video for I Heard It Through the Grapevine from California Raisins's Sing The Hit Songs for free, and see the artwork, lyrics and similar artists. A California Raisins Fan Club began in 1987, which included a Grapevine Gazette newsletter and various memorabilia. And apparently, making a clay "King of Pop" was a whole 'nother can of worms. Like, growing up, we had this little figurine in our doll house, and my parents dressed up as them one year for Halloween. Stay up to date with what you want to know. SW: I was not even alive when most of those ads aired, and I had the same experience. SW: Kalem Barserian, raisin industry veteran, again. RV: And I set it up in the studio exactly how like an old Motown session would be. SW: Buddy Miles, who'd been the drummer for Band of Gypsies with Jimi Hendrix, flew to California to record the vocals in Ross's studio. In 1985, he was a copywriter at the ad agency Foote, Cone, and Belding. But of course, that was not really the end of it. 30 of those and you have a second of the commercial. SW: The raisin industry quickly followed up with more ads. If you require a personal response, please use ourContact page. And so Will said 'well finally I took Janet's nose and put that on the raisin and he bought it [snaps fingers] like that.'. SW: They pulled up to a business park, hopped out of the car, and marched into a conference room. He says if it had just been up to him, he would not have ended CALRAB and therefore the Dancing Raisins. RV: I think within 4-5 months it was platinum! The figures were kept in a box for several years and headed for the trash before being obtained by Webster Colcord, a former employee of Vinton. SW: But by 1994, the packers had reached a consensus. The Raisins released numerous studio albums in the 1980s, starred in a cartoon series, and were nominated for an Emmy for their 1988 "Meet the Raisins" mockumentary. How would the assessment be collected? SW: Matthew Malcolm was one of the first raisin industry members to return my calls. Was the Dancing Raisins ad a success? [9] Blackthorne Publishing also released a six-issue comic book series entitled The California Raisins 3-D which included 3D glasses; these would later be re-released in the Ultimate Collection trade paperback. Which meant packers couldn't slap a Dancing Raisin on their packaging or use the characters in ads unless they got their idea approved by the board. Scrobble, find and rediscover music with a Last.fm account, Do you know any background info about this track? This commercial has witimaginationand it was good enough that I went and bought a box of Californian grown raisins.'. KB: Couldn't find it! Audiences quickly connected with the Raisins authentic R&B sound, and The California Raisins version of "Grapevine" even reached No. Sunmaid had always been the golden child, and now, they were making off with the family fortune. And some of them played instruments, maybe?SPEAKER TWO: All dancing in the real world, but in their little clay situation.SPEAKER THREE: They were disproportionately raisinly huge. (laughs) That's just the way it is. There was 19 of us at Sunnyside country club sitting in a circle in the main dining room, and we all voted. She would always show them to me and talk to me about them and how cute and clever they were, and I just thought, why in the world is a grown woman so excited about something so ridiculous? Almost all the packers resented Sunmaid, but not all for the same reasons. So, there's an alphabet soup of different boards and agencies and committees to help make that happen. But an even bigger faction of raisin packers did not have their own name-brands. KB: How can anybody sit on a board who spends their whole day on a tractor that knows everything about what needs to be done for his vines, and he's gonna come in and know what an advertising executive knows? CEO of.. SW: His dad started farming and processing raisins in Fresno back in the 1920s, and since then, Kalem has bounced around pretty much every corner of the industry. SW: When the Dancing Raisins ad stopped airing, Sunmaid's share of direct raisin saleslike in boxes on grocery store shelvesactually increased. Barrett Strong was the singer. ', SW: Barry Kriebel was president of Sunmaid at the time. The 1980's TV commercials for California raisins have been called some of the best ads ever made. (laughs). Or 'if it's bad for Sunmaid, it's gotta be good for them. Lots of brands tested the limits of this rule, including Sunmaid: BK: I got permission from the manager to create a claymation ad where I had the Dancing Raisins singing to the Sunmaid girl. Everyone is hungering for unity again, they just have to find something to unify around. McCartney. But despite it all, by a very narrow margin, more than half the room voted to greenlight the ad. The California Raisins were a fictional R&B group created in the mid-1980s for a commercial produced by the California Raisin Advisory. SW: The winning concept was a raisin with big eyes, a defined nose, and a wide mouthperfect for lip syncing. Kalem Barserian, along with around 40 raisin growers, packers, and industry members, was in that room. But Barry Kriebel says, at that point, the actual facts had stopped mattering. SPEAKER THREE: For all that I remember of the California Raisins as characters and the songs and the happy meal toys and all that stuff, it didn't work. It taxed both growers and packers. MICHAEL BRUNSFELD: The first step in this was we need somebody to create some raisins that are going to dance around. Raisin farmers rely on good weather and conditions to grow their product. Several California Raisins music albums were also released, featuring classic Motown and rock standards. SW: Kalem was voting on behalf of the packer he worked for. I didn't eat raisins. Bill Moss is our sound engineer. [16], In 2002, the Food Network program Unwrapped featured a segment on The California Raisins featuring interviews with Will Vinton, David Altschul, and Mark Gustafson of Vinton Studios. SW: Yeah, I'm still looking for the pictures. Learn more about our approach to sharing our collection online. Remember, he reports on the raisin industry. This is Brought to you by Brands you know, stories you don't. Merchandise sales included toys and Raisins images on nearly every conceivable medium: lunch boxes, notebooks, clothing, posters, bedsheets, and even a Halloween costume, just to name a few. And Seth Seth was dancing all by himself in front of the group, without socks on! [22], Last edited on 21 February 2023, at 23:33, "TV Review; 'Claymation Christmas,' On CBS", "On View: A Feat of Clay: The Creator of California Raisins Molds an Animated Easter Special", "Stardom Is Feat Of Clay For California Raisins", "Bad 25: Spike Lee Brings Michael Jackson Back to Thrilling Life", "The California Raisins for Commodore 64 (1988)", "California Raisin Raisin Puppets: Late 80s - Early 90s", "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia: A Very Sunny Christmas", "Celebrating Every '80s Reference in That RadioShack Super Bowl Commercial", "California Raisins Set for Comeback in Live-Action Feature", Official Will Vinton (LAIKA) Studios Site, The Clay and Stop-Motion Animation How-To Page: "California Raisin Raisin Puppets: Late 80s - Early 90s", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_California_Raisins&oldid=1140822520, "What Does It Take (To Win Your Love)" b/w "I Got You (I Feel Good)" - 1988, Purple Vinyl 7", "I Heard it Through the Grapevine" - 1988 (single, extended peaked at #84 on the, This page was last edited on 21 February 2023, at 23:33. Qualifying purchases could enjoy 0% interest if paid in full in 4 months on purchases of 99+. AD SIX: Oh, I heard it through the grapevine! In 1987, Vinton featured the Raisins singing "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" in A Claymation Christmas Celebration, a Christmas TV special he produced that won an Emmy for Outstanding Animated Program. Like, who was allowed to borrow the actual dancing raisins costume CALRAB had? Matthew has observed his fair share of contentious industry meetings. And he says, even though the Dancing Raisins are long gone, he and the rest of the industry are still dealing with the fallout. You can have a talking head, you can have a situation' you know, there were like formulas on how to do this. Will Vinton told Seth the hardest part was getting his nose right. SW: Seth's boss handed him the California raisins account. SW: Before long, a claymation Ray Charles joined the bunch. There it is. In 2010, claymation versions of the California Raisins were featured in the special Christmas episode of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, "A Very Sunny Christmas". Sunmaid. They go on for pages and pages, carefully typed out on letterhead and hand-written in beautiful cursive. SW: Even now, decades later when the dust has settled, one thing is still a question. You're over. Werner and his copywriting partner, Dexter Fedor, knew that they needed to make the dried fruit less of an afterthoughtthe raisins needed personality. I said, 'Ok, that's one piece of the marketing puzzle. Unless you just happened to have a VCR set up and recording at the exact moment the ad aired WERNER: You had to wait and hopefully see it on TV again on some show you were watching and not know when that was coming, and because we didn't have a very big media budget, it wasn't on that often. And that takes unity. 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