Name Brands

Do we like brands more when they’re fronted by a person or by something that has human characteristics? Consumers are certainly more likely to remember something like Aunt Jemima’s syrup or Uncle Ben’s rice than they would generic store brands. Already this week, three iconic brands—Sara Lee, Mr. Peanut, and the auto service center once fondly known as Mr. Goodwrench—are all undergoing changes. Click through to see how.

—by J. Jennings Moss

General Motors fired Mr. Goodwrench on November 9. The branding exercise began in 1977 as a way for the auto giant to standardize its auto-repair services across it various brands. Although the company changed the name to GM Goodwrench Service Plus in 1996, it was hard to think of “Goodwrench” without a “Mr.” in front of it. GM ended the Goodwrench concept entirely because it wanted each one of its auto brands to develop their own service identity. "This is more than a name change, it is a declaration of our commitment to raise the bar on the ownership experience," said Steve Hill, GM's vice president for North American parts and service.

She’s the name fronting a Downers Grove, Illinois, food, beverage, and personal-hygiene company, but who really is Sara Lee? She was the daughter of Charles Lubin, a Chicago entrepreneur who, with his brother-in-law, bought a chain of neighborhood bakeries in 1935. Lubin first named a cheesecake after his daughter, then he gave the name to the business. The company long ago left the Lubin family’s control, but the name stuck. Today, however, the Sara Lee brand is in trouble, and the publicly traded company has underperformed. On November 9, the company announced it would sell its North American bakery business to Mexico’s Grupo Bimbo for $925 million. That means that Sara Lee Corp. will focus on meats and coffees, but not on the product that made it famous.

Planters Peanuts began using Mr. Peanut as a mascot after holding a contest in 1916 in which a teenage boy offered up a drawing of a peanut as a man. Soon came a top hat, a cane, a monocle, and spats. The now 94-year-old front man hasn’t changed much in his life until now. He still has the old-school look, though he’s added a jacket and tie—but no pants. What he has now is a voice (courtesy of actor Robert Downey Jr.). On November 8, the Planters company—a division of Kraft Foods—released a series of commercials using stop-action animation. The campaign is called “Naturally Remarkable,” and people can see how Mr. Peanut lives.

The real Harland Sanders would have been 120 years old this year, but six out of 10 young adults couldn’t identify him—an unfortunate fact for KFC, the chain of fast-food restaurants once known as Kentucky Fried Chicken. The lack of knowledge about Sanders, an entrepreneur who started his business when he was 65 with a $105 Social Security check, prompted Yum Brands to launch a year-long publicity campaign. The Louisville-based company asked artists to send in a new portrait of Sanders as part of a nationwide contest, although any artwork had to use special paint that was blended with the 11 herbs and spices that goes into the chicken.

Two of the most iconic household brands of the last 50 or so years have been Mr. Clean and Mrs. Butterworth, the “faces” behind, respectively, a household cleaner and breakfast syrup. Both have gotten updates through the years. Mr. Clean, which is owned by Procter & Gamble, has rolled out several cleaning products since he was introduced in 1958. Mrs. Butterworth looks about the same as she did when she was introduced in 1961—her matronly figure forms the bottle that holds the syrup. Pinnacle Foods Corp. owns Mrs. Butterworth and in 2009 gave her a first name, Joy, as a way to give the brand a boost. Mr. Clean, however, remains without a first name, though he’s been known to respond to “grime fighter.”