CALRAB, the organization who made the campaign, was also closed on July 31, 1994, due to disagreements with raisin producers over the fairness of required payments to the organization. Of all the acronyms, there's just one you need to remember: CALRAB. Vocals were sung by musician Buddy Miles. So, growers and packers paid a tax on every ton of raisins they produced. CHARLIE HERMAN: On September 14, 1986, California's hottest new band made its debut. Socit en Commandite par Actions Registered Office: 22-24 Boulevard Royal L-2449, Luxembourg). The California Raisins released four studio albums in 1987 and 1988, and their trademark, "I Heard It Through the Grapevine," was on the Billboard Hot 100. What's the message? Between 12th and 14th Streets Deathly silence filled the Board room for what was probably only another thirty seconds, but seemed much longer. WERNER: We created this huge conga line that came out of a box of raisins and danced on the coffee table while this husband and wife or boyfriend and girlfriend were watching a movie, and they were unaware that all this was happening in its own little world. SW: The raisin industry quickly followed up with more ads. HARRY OVERLY: I know for a fact that there is animosity that still exists within the industry of what happened back then. They weren't in the shelf. It lost message. Go directly to shout page. Just one piece! 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. 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. For the last 10 years, he's violated the law and gone against the Raisin Administrative Committee. And even in the 1990s, Sunmaid was like the "Kleenex" of the raisin industry. 1 Mar. They were all over the country, on mugs and lunchboxes and tee shirts. 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. WERNER: 'Our thanks again on behalf of Paul McCartney. Check mate. I said, 'Ok, that's one piece of the marketing puzzle. He watched the original commercial spin off into more and more distant territory. SW: Yeah, I'm still looking for the pictures. SW: The California raisin industry is complicated. If you would like to know how you can use content on this page, see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use. It seems like everyone in Motown heard about this song "through the grapevine" before it was finally recorded. Music is from Audio Network. 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. SW: Within a month of its release, the album went gold. [6] However, the Raisins would continue to make their strongest impression through animated endeavors, and the characters proved popular enough that they were used to endorse Post Raisin Bran cereal. KB: Once we started the Dancing Raisins, people were going to the store asking for Dancing Raisin raisins, and there weren't any! They starred in two claymation TV shorts, and a Christmas special that won an Emmy! The growers are the ones with the vines. But in 1994, the raisin industry abruptly pulled the plug on the ad and its spinoffs, and still debates whether or not it was successful. [5] The following year, the Raisins appeared in the Emmy Award-winning A Claymation Christmas Celebration, singing the Christmas carol "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer". But that little piece of fruit is anything but dry and boring. RAISINS CHRISTMAS: Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer It's those sensational California Raisins in the Emmy-winning Claymation Christmas celebration, next! And as that rift widened, the raisins fell right through it. My girl!BK: Yeeeeah the marketing guys at Del Monte filed a complaint with the Department of Food and Agriculture over it. His crime: growing raisins and then deciding to sell . [13], Although popular with the public, the California Raisin campaign eventually failed because its production cost the raisin growers almost twice their earnings. [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. Get instant explanation for any lyrics that hits you anywhere on the web! Oh, that's sweet. SPEAKER ONE: It was like a Mr. Connect your Spotify account to your Last.fm account and scrobble everything you listen to, from any Spotify app on any device or platform. Raisins are not like cell phone brands, with unique features and better WiFi connectivity and a sleeker feel than their competitors. 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. We apologize for the interruption. 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. SW: Let me explain. Some user-contributed text on this page is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. Oh! California Raisins poster vintage 1987 Heard it Through The Grapevine. Today, it would go viral. Perhaps the most memorable piece of California Raisins merchandise, however, came in the form of small, non-poseable California Raisins figures. RAISINS SHOW: You might have heard about us through the old grapevine. RV: I think within 4-5 months it was platinum! 2023 Minute Media - All Rights Reserved. A California Raisins Fan Club began in 1987, which included a Grapevine Gazette newsletter and various memorabilia. [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. 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. Learn more about our approach to sharing our collection online. Play with guitar, piano, ukulele, or any instrument you choose. Some had small brands that competed with Sunmaid. California Raisin's Version. Post's Raisin Bran cereal took advantage of the increasingly popular dried fruit and teamed up with the Raisins to help promote their boxed cereal, and fast food chain Hardees bought a license to produce the incredibly popular collectible Raisins figurines. 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. [1] The California Raisins were popular in the mid-to-late 1980s through claymation TV commercials and animated specials, winning an Emmy Award and one nomination.[2][3]. First, they provide tools the industry can use to regulate the raisin market. Browse 55 i heard it through the grapevine stock photos and images available, or search for california raisins to find more great stock photos and pictures. Would everyone contribute to the cost of an ad campaign? 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. It taxed both growers and packers. Werner and Fedor also thought that the commercial should use clay animation, a type of stop-motion animation using characters or settings made out of clay or other similarly pliable materials, rather than regular cartoon animation. Now, the story of a man many call an outlaw. In 1985, both halves of the industry were funding CALRAB. SW: Did it feel at any point while you were working on this album like you were making an ad for raisins? And he says, even though the Dancing Raisins are long gone, he and the rest of the industry are still dealing with the fallout. KB: [counts] 350 versus 244. WERNER: Uh yeah, it was probably a little bit of a shock, I guess. SW: Between 1986 and 1992, the Dancing Raisins raked in more than 7 million dollars in licensing fees. Eligibility determined at checkout. Almost across the board, everyone I spoke to had good things to say about the ad itself. Stay up to date with what you want to know. Box Office Software produced a different, unrelated California Raisins computer game in 1988 for the Apple II, Commodore 64, and PC compatibles. But Barry Kriebel says, at that point, the actual facts had stopped mattering. Director. So, CALRAB proposed this big advertising campaign, with national TV commercials. Harry Overly became the new president of Sunmaid in 2017. You got 100,000 tons. Note: Comment submission is temporarily unavailable while we make improvements to the site. RV: Oh no, to me it at one point it kind of went beyond that. 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. Jun 1, 2013 - Explore The Goodwill Geek's board "Heard it Through the Grapevine.", followed by 362 people on Pinterest. Demand was down. BARRY KRIEBEL: Well that's the problem with the advertising! It's a pop song reimagined as a nervous breakdown. And this broke the mold. Instead, it was a group of tiny, claymation raisins playing a Motown hit in a national ad campaign. KB: Because a raisin is a raisin is a raisin. But thanks to the California Raisins, its now commonplace to see ads that include anthropomorphized food or candy. The tape was rewound and the presentation repeated.". Like, growing up, we had this little figurine in our doll house, and my parents dressed up as them one year for Halloween. Dancing Raisins Heard It Through the Grapevine. I heard it through the grapevine. SW: Yeah, that did not go over well within the industry. CH: But while the ad made the dancing California raisins cool did it do anything for actual California raisins? Yeah. 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