And though the process is time-consuming and expensive, Werner's performance managed to win them over. Not much longer would you be mine baby. Now, somebody just had to turn Seth Werner's concept into a real commercial. 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. Play with guitar, piano, ukulele, or any instrument you choose. WERNER: Well, you know, we were at this point, we were like what else is new. Raisins, dressed up in white gloves and sunglasses, dancing to Marvin Gaye's "I heard it through the grapevine." It's a pop song reimagined as a nervous breakdown. 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. CH: This episode was reported and produced by Sarah Wyman, with Julia Press and me, Charlie Herman. There was 19 of us at Sunnyside country club sitting in a circle in the main dining room, and we all voted. But in 1986, that's just what happened when the California Raisin Advisory Board launched a series of ads by the California Raisins, a group that existed only in . Washington, D.C. Email powered by MailChimp (Privacy Policy & Terms of Use), International Media Interoperability Framework. SETH WERNER: It wasn't back then, and it still isn't now. We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly. SPEAKER FOUR: My mother thought they were great, and she collected the figurines. Brought to you by is a production of Insider Audio. (laughs) That's just the way it is. VINTAGE THE CALIFORNIA RAISINS 1987 YELLOW PLASTIC LUNCHBOX WITH THERMOS, California Raisins Trumpet Figure 1988 Applause Calrab 80s PVC Vintage, CALIFORNIA RAISINS RUDY BAGAMAN, BANANA WHITE & LICK BROCCOLI FIGURES (JES33). AD SIX: Oh, I heard it through the grapevine! They even earned an Emmy nomination! SPEAKER FOUR: I loved those commercials as a kid, they were so cool. The musical mockumentary was again created by Vinton Studios, and was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award. SW: But in some ways, it may be in the same place as it was in the '80s. The California Raisins were a fictional R&B group created in the mid-1980s for a commercial produced by the California Raisin Advisory. The California Raisins II is a 1990 claymation television special directed by Will Vinton, featuring the advertising characters The California Raisins. And because Sunmaid was so much biggerthe Kleenex of raisins!they suspected that brand was getting a bigger share of the sales that had trickled down from the ad. And most of the people spending millions of dollars don't want to know there are two guys sitting in a back room trying to make each other laugh and come up with this stuff, but that is what we did. Their cover of Marvin Gaye's "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" peaked at #84 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1988. KB: We're not getting our fair share of it. And, for better or worse, they're also in it together on that front. On the table below them. Because, in Fresno, California Raisins has always meant something bigger than a couple of claymation figurines singing "I Heard It Through the Grapevine.". And since they were already touring the country, at least on TV screens, there was only one logical next step. SW: Clyde E. Nef, who was CALRAB's manager at the time, wrote about Seth's performance and the board's reaction in his book, The Fruits of Their Labors. It just knows that it needs water, it needs to be pruned, needs to be fertilized, it needs to be babied. SW: When the Dancing Raisins ad stopped airing, Sunmaid's share of direct raisin saleslike in boxes on grocery store shelvesactually increased. So Fresno is like Eden for raisins. HARRY OVERLY: I know for a fact that there is animosity that still exists within the industry of what happened back then. The success of the dancing raisins exposed fractures in the industry which had been forming just under the surface for decades. Between 12th and 14th Streets SW: For the packers who did have their own brands and worried Sunmaid was running away with raisin sales, there was another issue. Required fields are marked *. RAISINS SHOW: You might have heard about us through the old grapevine. SPEAKER ONE: It was like a Mr. Potato head, but a raisin. He writes: "The thirty seconds of this commercial seemed like an eternity. Lyrics.com. SPEAKER SIX: They were an incredible Motown band.SPEAKER ONE: I thought they were a real band, and really did not connect them to like raisins, or like the idea of dried grapes until well into my adulthood. Earlier this year, the CRMBwhich did not respond to my request for commenthired a brand new Vice President of Marketing. But anyway, there's this one line in the story that implies that even though the ad went on to be super successful, even though you and I still remember it all these years later, it may have precipitated some really huge divisions within the raisin industry. SW: This process, as you can imagine, took a while. Produced by Sarah Wyman, with Charlie Herman and Julia Press. Feb 14, 2023 A group of singing, dancing, anthropomorphized raisins launched a sensational career after singing the 1968 Marvin Gaye song, "I Heard It Through the Grapevine," in a 1986 commercial for the California Raisin Advisory Board. KB: [counts] 350 versus 244. SW: The California raisin industry is complicated. But how did a bunch of dried grapes, burdened with the reputationof being a mediocre, boring snack, become synonymous with swagger? So when his friends were like WERNER: 'What are you gonna do with that? Constitution Avenue, NW I didn't eat raisins. The dancing raisins got caught in the crossfire of a heated debate within the industry. 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. Listen to music by California Raisins on Apple Music. While the songs popularized the phrase, they inspired the hit kids cartoon series "The California Raisins" in the 1990s. And, when it went down, so did the Dancing California Raisins. AD THREE: Raisins from California. Losin' you would end my life you see. No, not really. ', 'Today during Ryan's Hope I saw the cutest commercial. California Raisins poster vintage 1987 Heard it Through The Grapevine. Note: Comment submission is temporarily unavailable while we make improvements to the site. Seth and his colleagues were getting fan mail forwarded to themfrom viewers, TV stations, and other advertising execs. And the California raisin industry is, after all, a big family. And so he says, 'Ok fine. It would go on to produce the Dancing Raisins ad. Whod have ever thought that a beloved Motown classic would be brought back to life by a bunch of animated dried fruit? And if you don't have a consensus, it doesn't matter. SW: But, on the other side of the debate, if you ask Barry Kriebel, he'll tell you it is much more complicated than that. More than 2 million people bought their albums and listened to the Raisins covering songs including "Lean on Me" and "You Cant Hurry Love." The article ranked The California Raisins' premiere advertisement, "Lunchbox", at #15 with comments by ad agency executive Claude Jacques and described the Raisins as "The coolest wrinkled musicians this side of the Stones. Seth Werner and CALRABthe agency responsible for hyping up California raisinsthey had delivered a hit. SPEAKER ELEVEN: We watched it in art class when I was in elementary school. A new version of Last.fm is available, to keep everything running smoothly, please reload the site. - The California Raisins II. First aired on September 14, 1986, Werner's idea for a 30-second television commercial introduced audiences to The California Raisins, a group of anthropomorphized raisins with expressive eyebrows, stylish shoes, and the slickest dance moves since the Chiquita Banana shimmied into advertising in the 1940s. Really?'. (laughs) These little guys took over everybody's hearts and minds, so it didn't surprise us at the time. Kalem Barserian, along with around 40 raisin growers, packers, and industry members, was in that room. Sunmaid. SPEAKER ONE: Like obviously, they're raisins, but it just didn't occur to me that like this was a tool to get you to eat like what you see in boxes of raisins. From a pop culture standpoint, absolutelypeople all over the world have heard of the Dancing Raisins. "We decided that we wanted the raisins to be cool and a bit intimidating," Werner said. He's written songs for bands like Earth, Wind and Fire, the Gap Band, and more recently, he's done covers with Kanye West. CH: The dancing raisins were so popular, they took on a life of their own outside of the ad. Javascript is required to view shouts on this page. This latest incarnation can still be seen on the California Raisin Marketing Board website.[11]. You don't, right? Michael Jackson asked to be featured in a sequel. Because that's a whole market supply and demand on both the national and international basis. SUNMAID AD: My girl talkin' bout my girl. The briefthe goal of the campaignwas to come up with a commercial that would make customers see raisins differently. California Raisins T-shirt ~ I Heard It Through The Grapevine ~ Claymation 80s. And then we threw the baby out with the bathwater. And the US, by the way, is the second largest raisin producer in the entire world. KB: Whereas the packer is the middleman buying it from him, processing it, selling it, shipping it into trade and hoping to make a profit. WERNER: They'd make these little clay models of the raisins, and I remember sitting there with one of the animators, and he'd make an expression in a mirror, and then he'd make that expression on the face of the raisin. SW: Barry Kriebel became President of Sunmaid Raisins in February of 1986, one year before Ross Vannelli produced his album, and right as the California Raisins were in liftoff. And call them nature's candy. And if the California raisin family wanted to avert economic disaster, it needed to band together and find a way to sell more raisins. I mean. RV: I said, 'I'm going to do it where it feels authentic.' Everyone is hungering for unity again, they just have to find something to unify around. You're over. Lead vocals in the group were sung by musician Bu, The California Raisins were a fictional R&B group created in the mid-1980s for a commercial produced by the California Raisin Advisory. And if you ever saw him. SW: But even as the dancing raisins scored these victories, back in Fresno, things were heating up. SW: Michael Brunsfeld was the commercial animation director at a company called Colossal Pictures, which had been contracted to do a mockup of the ad. Almost all the growers in the room were against it. And the band wasn't playing heavy metal or rock 'n' roll. SW: Even now, decades later when the dust has settled, one thing is still a question. A series of weather-related disasters during the '70s had thrown the price of raisins completely out of whack. Oh! In fact, the industry was on an upswing. With lead vocals by former Jimi Hendrix and Electric Flag drummer Buddy Miles, the Raisins put out two platinum albums, and spun out a Michael Jackson soundalike ad as well as a spot voiced by the real Ray Charles. AD TWO: We know raisins are natural, but kids just know what they like. What about Michael Jackson and what he was contributing? CH: I remember those really well. Characters Steve and Roger go into a mall representing 1980s culture where they meet the Raisins who proclaim that they are "cursed to live forever. It also gave the band members individual names and roles: A.C. (vocals), Beebop (drums), Stretch (bass), and Red (guitar/piano).[7]. (869) $17.99. And maybe some people are pessimistic about it, I don't know, maybe people are tired of just the lack of unity. So many of you remembered that Christmas special. Get instant explanation for any acronym or abbreviation that hits you anywhere on the web! SW: Did it feel at any point while you were working on this album like you were making an ad for raisins? Nature's candy. So, there's an alphabet soup of different boards and agencies and committees to help make that happen. Colossal issued a challenge to some of its animators: BRUNSFELD: How can you make a raisin look appealing? California Raisin's Version. The raisin packers didn't reach this decision because anyone had anything against the ad, or because licensing fees had stopped rolling in, or even because raisin sales were down. I Heard It Through the Grapevine features a clip the movie The Big Chill where a group of teenagers in a library who are listening to the song through headphones which leads them to dance . [8] While cel animated by Murakami-Wolf-Swenson, it maintained Will Vinton's creative direction. The tape was rewound and the presentation repeated.". SPEAKER THREE: The one song I remember them doing all the time was "I Heard it Through the Grapevine" To the point where I was a kid and I hadn't, I don't think it really clicked to me that that was like a real song. Or did the dancing California raisins cause more trouble than they were worth? SW: Unity has been a longstanding challenge for the raisin industry. SW: That's another thing that makes the raisin industry different. This is Brought to you by Brands you know, stories you don't. SW: All of those different factors combined add up to the final, and most important challenge for the raisin industry. If you have a question relating to the museum's collections, please first check our Collections FAQ. It's very successful in that sense. "Picture cover". But these tears I can't hold inside. A board member said, 'Seth, can you do it again?' In 1985, he was a copywriter at the ad agency Foote, Cone, and Belding. The California Raisins are a fictional rhythm and blues musical group comprised of anthropomorphized raisins. Your email address will not be published. MATTHEW MALCOLM: I mean you can't just leave any field barren here, because something's gonna grow. SW: In the end, the ad went to air. The game was completed and several video game critics reviewed it, but it was never released on the open market. Sign up for notifications from Insider! November 12, 1986 SW: You guys, it's from Paul McCartney's manager. Sunmaid had always been the golden child, and now, they were making off with the family fortune. So, give them raisins! And apparently, making a clay "King of Pop" was a whole 'nother can of worms. Would everyone contribute to the cost of an ad campaign? The claymation raisins singing and dancing to Marvin Gaye's "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" became a kids TV show, recorded an album that went platinum, launched a range of toys and costumes, and starred in an Emmy-winning Christmas special. They weren't in the shelf. Seth Werner, the young copywriter newly in charge of the California Raisins account, had a concept. From Performing Songwriter Issue 111, July/Aug 2008. In order to be successful, this big "family" has to work together. These albums were included in the Smithsonian collection and were illustrated and art-directed by Helane Freeman, who later became famous for her work on Hannah Montana and The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, among other Disney programs. See more ideas about california raisins, raisin, grape vines. There were some other big names, like Dole and Del Monte, but they didn't just sell raisins. But he told me something else too, something he says a lot of reporters like mewho fly into Fresno from the big city to cover the dramaoften miss: MM: We're all families here and so, everybody's really close, everybody knows each other, I mean, a lot of them are related to each other, they marry in, and so they're very tight SW: And that big family, with lots of opinions, is where some of that drama comes from. Dancing Raisins "Heard It Through the Grapevine". SPEAKER FIVE: They just made raisins and dried fruit in general seem really, really hip. And Seth Seth was dancing all by himself in front of the group, without socks on! Don't you know that I heard it through the grapevine. 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