Mrs. Butterworth's
Encyclopedia
Syrup
In cooking, a syrup is a thick, viscous liquid consisting primarily of a solution of sugar in water, containing a large amount of dissolved sugars but showing little tendency to deposit crystals...
s and pancake
Pancake
A pancake is a thin, flat, round cake prepared from a batter, and cooked on a hot griddle or frying pan. Most pancakes are quick breads; some use a yeast-raised or fermented batter. Most pancakes are cooked one side on a griddle and flipped partway through to cook the other side...
mixes owned by Pinnacle Foods
Pinnacle Foods
Pinnacle Foods Group LLC is a leading packaged foods company headquartered in Mountain Lakes, New Jersey, owned by The Blackstone Group. Pinnacle Foods is a key player in the shelf stable and frozen food categories and their products can be found in more than 85% of American households.The company...
. The syrups come in distinctive bottle
Bottle
A bottle is a rigid container with a neck that is narrower than the body and a "mouth". By contrast, a jar has a relatively large mouth or opening. Bottles are often made of glass, clay, plastic, aluminum or other impervious materials, and typically used to store liquids such as water, milk, soft...
s shaped in the form of a matronly female, Mrs. Butterworth. The packages, originally glass, are now mostly plastic.
In 1997, longtime owner Unilever
Unilever
Unilever is a British-Dutch multinational corporation that owns many of the world's consumer product brands in foods, beverages, cleaning agents and personal care products....
sold Mrs. Butterworth's to Aurora Foods.
Aurora Foods was acquired by Pinnacle Foods
Pinnacle Foods
Pinnacle Foods Group LLC is a leading packaged foods company headquartered in Mountain Lakes, New Jersey, owned by The Blackstone Group. Pinnacle Foods is a key player in the shelf stable and frozen food categories and their products can be found in more than 85% of American households.The company...
in 2003.
Advertising
In the television commercials, the bottle comes to life and talks (originally in stop-motion animation; CGIComputer-generated imagery
Computer-generated imagery is the application of the field of computer graphics or, more specifically, 3D computer graphics to special effects in art, video games, films, television programs, commercials, simulators and simulation generally, and printed media...
is used today). One of the main voices for it was Mary Kay Bergman
Mary Kay Bergman
Mary Kay Bergman was an American voice actress and animation voice over teacher, who was the lead female voice actress on South Park from the show's 1997 debut until her death and was best known as the official voice of Snow White for the Walt Disney Company starting in 1989 with the Snow White...
. Kim Fields
Kim Fields
Kim Victoria Fields is an American actress and television director. She is known for her roles as Tootie Ramsey on the NBC sitcom The Facts of Life, and as Regine Hunter on the Fox sitcom Living Single...
appeared in ads alongside it in the late 1970s.
In a 1987 television ad, it was revealed that Mrs. Butterworth's first name is "Joy". She was reluctant to let her first name be used because her childhood friends referred to her, jokingly, as "Joy Buzzerworth", punning on the popular novelty item the Joy Buzzer.
The first TV ads for Mrs. Butterworth featured Cliff Arquette
Cliff Arquette
Clifford Charles Arquette was an actor and comedian, famous for his role as Charley Weaver.-Early life and career:...
as "Charley Weaver". He dressed as the brand's "old lady" icon, affected an obviously falsetto voice ("Hello! Mrs. Butterworth here!") and continued to sport his mustache.
In 2007 Mrs. Butterworth was used in a series of ads for GEICO
GEICO
The Government Employees Insurance Company is an auto insurance company. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway that as of 2007 provided coverage for more than 10 million motor vehicles owned by more than 9 million policy holders. GEICO writes private passenger automobile insurance...
, in which she helped an actual customer with her testimonialhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoKXcUduKIs.