These days, some growers are abandoning ship entirely, ripping out their vineyards and planting almonds instead. Honey, honey yeah. SW: His boss had him working mostly on trade adsstuff for industry publications not the kind of campaigns you or I would ever see in a commercial or on a billboard. Because, in Fresno, California Raisins has always meant something bigger than a couple of claymation figurines singing "I Heard It Through the Grapevine.". 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. But there was enough leadership to sway the ones that weren't smart enough to realize what a good program it was. And by the end of the night, all anyone could agree on was that one of the siblings was getting a bigger cut than everyone else. And their arms were like small, and they had like little legs. Connect your Spotify account to your Last.fm account and scrobble everything you listen to, from any Spotify app on any device or platform. Raised in the California sunshine WERNER: He volunteered and said 'I won't be paid, I just want to be a raisin, I have one thing I need to ask though, I will not talk to anybody from the advertising agency, and I will not talk to any clients. RV: I said, 'I'm going to do it where it feels authentic.' Got 100,000 tons, more sales than you would have if you didn't do this. Everyone is hungering for unity again, they just have to find something to unify around. SW: This process, as you can imagine, took a while. Werner's big idea was going to be a risk, especially without the celebrity spokesperson the client had requested. And, I didn't know this, but nearly 100 percent of the raisins the U.S. produces come from within a 60 mile radius of the city. We were so embarrassed. SW: Did it feel at any point while you were working on this album like you were making an ad for raisins? 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. SW: But you know who was on that shelf? Constitution Avenue, NW [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]. 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). I Heard It Through The Grapevine - California Raisins. Vintage California Raisins Posable, Puppets, Bank, Wind up toy. SW: Between 1986 and 1992, the Dancing Raisins raked in more than 7 million dollars in licensing fees. You got 100,000 tons. But an even bigger faction of raisin packers did not have their own name-brands. Oh I heard it through the grapevine. Now, somebody just had to turn Seth Werner's concept into a real commercial. You know, what kind of legs does he have so he could do a dance appropriately, does he have oversized shoes, you know, what do they look like? Unknown; no label specified. The California Raisins were a fictional R&B group created in the mid-1980s for a commercial produced by the California Raisin Advisory. Learn more about our approach to sharing our collection online. Scrobbling is when Last.fm tracks the music you listen to and automatically adds it to your music profile. And since they were already touring the country, at least on TV screens, there was only one logical next step. This commercial has witimaginationand it was good enough that I went and bought a box of Californian grown raisins.'. The California Raisins were a fictional R&B group created in the mid-1980s for a commercial produced by the California Raisin Advisory. California Raisin's Version. This is Brought to you by Brands you know, stories you don't. 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. This client had been with his agency for over a decade, and though they'd had some fairly successful campaigns in the past, the client's main product was slipping in sales. Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go. Yeah. Several photos were taken providing a close look at the Raisins' internal armatures and detailing their extremely poor condition, including the absence of the A.C. puppet's head.[18]. But in terms of its impact on the industry it depends on who you ask. But despite it all, by a very narrow margin, more than half the room voted to greenlight the ad. SW: One of the people who saw that ad was Michael Jackson. What's the message? If you need to request an image for publication or other use, please visit Rights and Reproductions. I don't need to prove anything to anybody. [10] Different collections were produced in 1987, 1988, 1991, and finally in 2001 (the latter adding Carl's Jr. due to their late '90s acquisition of Hardee's) for their new stylization. WERNER: A frame was one snapshot. Seth Werner and CALRABthe agency responsible for hyping up California raisinsthey had delivered a hit. By the time "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" hit #1, the song had been sitting there for more than two years. BK: Well, the simplest way to answer that is, 'how do you define success?' Packers sort the raisins by size, rinse out sand and dirt, control for quality, and pack them all up in boxes. Brought to you by is a production of Insider Audio. I didn't eat raisins. You don't, right? SW: Seth's boss handed him the California raisins account. Because the smaller packers still thought Sunmaid had an unfair advantage. Audiences quickly connected with the Raisins authentic R&B sound, and The California Raisins version of "Grapevine" even reached No. I grew up in California, and it felt like they were everywhere. And they had good reasons to be! Scientists mull polarized light detection from alien life-forms, Nano-mechanical sensors wired using photonics, E. coli outbreak leads to massive flour recall, First human CRISPR trial passes safety and ethics review, Cephalopods: Natures camouflaging masters, Scientists detect gravitational waves for the second time, Colorful secrets of chemical elements with slow motion flames. 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. Instead, it was a group of tiny, claymation raisins playing a Motown hit in a national ad campaign. SW: Yeah, that did not go over well within the industry. And call them nature's candy. Sheet Music CH: This commercial was the most popular TV ad in 1987 and 1988. Visit the IIIF page to learn more. SW: And then at the end the announcer says: WERNER: I remember when I went to college, people would say 'there are three or four ways you can do an advertisement. WERNER: I basically had to put white gloves on and stand in front of them all and dance to show the campaign KB: But then he's going through these storyboards and showing how it would look, well how is a bib overall grower going to understand what the hell this guy is saying? eBay (UK) Limited acts as a credit broker not a lender. 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 . We apologize for the interruption. While the vines may feel special to their growerslike children!to you and me? 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. 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. Play with guitar, piano, ukulele, or any instrument you choose. Logistics aside, there is a hint of the dancing raisins magic in the air again. (of Suite D2 Josephs Well, Hanover Walk, Leeds LS3 1AB) which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (with firm reference number 626349). They even earned an Emmy nomination! Who'd have ever thought that a beloved Motown classic would be brought back to life by a bunch of animated dried fruit? 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. But Barry Kriebel says, at that point, the actual facts had stopped mattering. Almost across the board, everyone I spoke to had good things to say about the ad itself. Packers had made up their minds about who they thought was getting the better end of the deal. CALRAB teamed up with advertising agency Foote, Cone & Belding to try to forge an emotional connection between consumers and the dried fruit. AD ONE: Lay some happiness on me, give me raisins and I'll be. Is it that people remember it? There is also some good news though! KB: Grape and raisin grower. From a pop culture standpoint, absolutelypeople all over the world have heard of the Dancing Raisins. Or 'if it's bad for Sunmaid, it's gotta be good for them. SPEAKER FOUR: My mother thought they were great, and she collected the figurines. And the California raisin industry is, after all, a big family. And since there wasn't a "Dancing Raisin" brand in the store, small packers worried Sunmaid was getting all the business. There were California Raisins lunchboxes, then Hardee's started handing out plastic Raisins figurines with Cinnamon 'n' Raisin biscuits. How would the assessment be collected? Werner and his copywriting partner, Dexter Fedor, knew that they needed to make the dried fruit less of an afterthoughtthe raisins needed personality. Remember, he reports on the raisin industry. Which wasn't true. SW: Big ingredient customers could actually look up in state records how much money, per ton, raisin packers were paying CALRAB. The game was completed and several video game critics reviewed it, but it was never released on the open market. The California Raisins released four studio albums on Priority Records, BMG, and ZTT Records between 1987 to 1994, and their signature song, "I Heard It Through the Grapevine", landed on the Billboard Hot 100 and peaked at number 84 or 85. A sequel to the original CBS special aired in 1990 under the title The Raisins: Sold Out! And this is what I told him. CH: I remember those really well. High-top sneakers, sunglasses, and endless swagger. They were tired of paying into a shared piggybank for the greater good. - The California Raisins II. So when his friends were like WERNER: 'What are you gonna do with that? The California Raisins are a fictional rhythm and blues musical group comprised of anthropomorphized raisins. 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. Bill Moss is our sound engineer. 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. WERNER: 'Our thanks again on behalf of Paul McCartney. For the last 10 years, he's violated the law and gone against the Raisin Administrative Committee. SW: That is exactly what I wanted to find out. If you require a personal response, please use ourContact page. The dancing raisins got caught in the crossfire of a heated debate within the industry. Test your MusicIQ here! It was the sequel to the Emmy-nominated special Meet the Raisins! In 1985, both halves of the industry were funding CALRAB. 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. Then in 1989, a 13-episode Saturday Morning Cartoon show calledThe California Raisin Show aired. 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. MICHAEL JACKSON: And Will, keep these guys still until they do the heard it! "We decided that we wanted the raisins to be cool and a bit intimidating," Werner said. Raisins are not like cell phone brands, with unique features and better WiFi connectivity and a sleeker feel than their competitors. AD FIVE: Honey, are you playing with your food again? He wrote to Foot Cone and Belding specifically requesting a VHS copy of the ad so he could watch it whenever he wanted to. In fact, the industry was on an upswing. Dancing Raisins Heard It Through the Grapevine. Leave a message at (646) 768-4777, or email us at btyb@insider.com. Washington, D.C. Email powered by MailChimp (Privacy Policy & Terms of Use), International Media Interoperability Framework. 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.'. We'll do that.'. The California Raisins were a fictional R&B group created in the mid-1980s for a commercial produced by the California Raisin Advisory. 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. If you have any issues please contact me before leaving negative response I will always do my best make it right! Fresno is a dusty, medium-sized city in the middle of California's central valley. With the musicians all in a room, live, everything. [14][additional citation(s) needed], On March 28, 1997 Entertainment Weekly published "The 50 Best Commercials of All Time" as its cover story. It's a pop song reimagined as a nervous breakdown. Your email address will not be published. KB: Vine doesn't know who it belongs to. You know? We may update this record based on further research and review. Not this time, however! Would everyone contribute to the cost of an ad campaign? RV: Oh no, to me it at one point it kind of went beyond that. SW: The ad agency hired a guy named Will Vinton and his team to take the animated mockup of the ad and turn it into clay animationor, claymation. I says, 'in Canada? 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. KB: [counts] 350 versus 244. Strong came up with the idea and asked Motown writers Holland-Dozier-Holland to work on it with him. They all watched as Seth walked in and took the floor.