Does The Quaker Oats Guy Have A Connection To William Penn?

Any child of the 1980s and 1990s knows the Kool-Aid Man, Tony the Tiger, The Jolly Green Giant, and Mr. Peanut. Mascots were a very popular way to sell food items in those two decades, and for good reason — they worked. According to Healthy Eating Research, food and brand mascots work on younger children, especially, because they are more vulnerable to this type of marketing particularly because they have a harder time distinguishing between something that is intended for advertising purposes and facts.

This can get especially confusing when companies use images that resemble real people. For example, Insider reports that the little girl featured on the Little Debbie snack products was a real person. She was the daughter of O.D. McKee, the founder of the company that owns the Little Debbie brand. For some kids, and even adults, it can be hard to tell the fictional characters apart from real-life people.

A great example of this would be the Quaker Oats mascot and the well-known Quaker, William Penn. According to an article published by Middle Tennessee State University, Penn was the founder of the state of Pennsylvania and one of the first people to openly call for the American colonies to be free from British rule. According to the University of Birmingham, Quakers seek to have personal religious relationships with God, and they believe in peace and freedom for all.

Penn is often depicted in drawings wearing typical Quaker clothing, such as a hat and plain suit with an ascot-like tie. According to Quaker Speak, many Quakers believed in dressing in plain, dark clothing and men were clean-shaven. Does that sound familiar? If you've eaten oatmeal lately, it might. The Quaker Oat man is dressed in a similar fashion, and the brand even uses the name "Quaker," but is the brand connected to William Penn? 

According to The Takeout, the Quaker Oat mascot is not based on William Penn. The Quaker Oats company, the brand was founded by Ferdinand Schumacher in 1850. At that time, it was called the German Mills American Cereal Company. In 1877, the name "Quaker Oats" became the first registered trademark and name for a cereal company. The mascot was listed on the patent paper as wearing "Quaker garb." According to Quaker Oats, William Heston, who worked with the company, chose this image because it made people think of honesty and strong values.

While the mascot may not be modeled after William Penn, it's easy to see how people would confuse the two and it's a great example of how a mascot can become a memorable marketing tool. If you run across a good baked oatmeal recipe, for example, you probably immediately think of the Quaker Oat mascot, even if the recipe doesn't mention a name brand, and that's exactly how marketing works.