Wilkins Coffee

In 1957, Jim Henson was approached by a New York City coffee company to produce commercials for **Wilkins Coffee***.* The local stations only had ten seconds for station identification, so the Muppet commercials had to be lightning-fast—essentially, eight seconds for the commercial pitch and a two-second shot of the product.

From 1957 to 1961, Henson & Hawking made 179 commercials for Wilkins Coffee and other Wilkins products, including Community Coffee and Wilkins Tea. The ads were initially filmed at Rodel Studios in Washington D.C.[1] The ads were so successful and well-liked that they sparked a series of remakes for companies in other local markets throughout the 1960s. The “Cannon” spot was one of his most popular and produced for at least 14 clients, such as Kraml Dairy, Red Diamond, Community, Nash's, and more.

The ads starred the cheerful Wilkins, who liked Wilkins Coffee, and the grumpy Wontkins, who hated it. Wilkins would often do serious harm to Wontkins in the ads—blowing him up, stabbing him with a knife, and smashing him with a club, among many other violent acts.

Wilkins and Wontkins were generally the only characters in the commercials, though on rare occasions, such critters as a Muppet whale or baby birds would appear. Company owner Mr. Wilkins was also invoked more than once.

The characters proved so popular that in October 1958, the company offered vinyl puppets of Wilkins and Wontkins through the mail for $1.00 and a coffee can label. The offer on the can said, "Hey Kids! I'm Wilkins—he's Wontkins—you see us on TV!" Obviously, Wilkins Coffee and Henson knew that the Muppet characters had kid appeal, although this doesn't seem to have had any effect on the use of violence and terror in the ads.

The only time Wontkins was caught drinking a coffee that was not Wilkins was in the 1958 "**Steamroller"** ad.

Another series of commercials were produced for the company, notably not featuring Wilkins and Wontkins. Instead, the commercials star Scoop and Skip (as Scoop Wilkins and Skip Others, respectively) for the "Wilkins News Report." Scoop headlines from the studio newsdesk, while Skip corresponds from all over the globe, typically referring real-life current events of the time. Contential casts Dwight David Eisenhower as Wilkins and Ralph Wright as Wontkins.

## Contents

* Commercials
	+ Wilkins News Reports
* Red Diamond Coffee
* Public appeal
* Franchise
* Releases
* Awards
* Later merchandising by Wilkins
* Credits[10]
* Sources
* New York support 1957-1958
* Boston support 1958-1959
* Houston support 1959-1961

## Commercialsedit source

These are Henson's official titles for the commercials.[2]

$65

80 Days with Wilkins

Airplane

Attention

Bad Commercial

Bad Guy Machine

Balloon

Band Wagon

Baseball

Bell

Beatnik

Because It's True

Best Coffee Is...

Biplane

Blow Up

Boston Tea Party in Manhattan

Boxing Glove

Brand X

Camera

Cannibal Scene

Cannon

Car Salesman

Cash Register

Cheep Cheep

Cigar

Climbing Tree

Close Shave

Club

Coffee Break

Coffee Machine

Communist Store in Moscow

Convincing Machine

Crystal Ball

Cut the Kidding

Cut Up

Death Defying Leap

Desert Island

Did You Call?

Dog-Lion Beast

Drinking Fountain

Election

Elevator

En Garde

Espionage

Fair Damsel

Falling Safe

Fired

Five Aces

Flying Saucer

Foot Down

Get a Lift

Ghost to Ghost

Ginger Ale

Give 'Im the Eggs

Good, Better, Best

Good for Smart Alecks

Go Soak Your Head

Guillotine

Hammer

Hand of Fate

Headaches of Life

Hidden Persuaders

House is Not a Home

How Instant

How Low Can You Get

How Shocking

Howdy Stranger

Human Cannonball to go Boston

I'd Give a Million Bucks

I Get a Bang Out of Wilkins

I Have A Hunch

Jack in the Box

Jailhouse

Just Checking

Just Kidding

Knife Thrower

Last Cup

Lets Everyone Sleep

Little Red Riding Hood

Lost My Head

Love My Wilkins

Magic Wand

Magician Saw

Man Overboard

Mountain Climbing

Moving West

New Car or Wilkins

Noah's Ark

Nobody Beats Wilkins

Nowhere

Old Chap

Old Man Wilkins

On the Ball

Parachute

Peter Peter Coffee Drinker

Pie

Pool of Wilkins Tea

Public Service Announcement

Pull This Handle

Quiz Show

Rock a bye Baby

Rocket Ship

Romeo and Juliet

Rose in Wilkins

Santa Claus

Shortcake

Sleeping Beauty

Soggy Romance

Stagecoach

Steamroller

Submarine

Survey

Swimming Pool

Taking the Fifth

Tar and Feathers

Taxi

The British Are Coming

This Girl Has Taste

Ton of Wilkins

Top or Bottom

Trainload

Tree

Truckload of Wilkins

Tunnel of Love

TV Anti-Violence League to go Houston

Washington Monument

Water with Dinner

Whale

What Kind of Coffee Do You Sell

Why Not

Wild Horses

William Tell

You Can't Sell Them All

You Can't Win

Yum Yum

Zzz Sleepy

Other titles
Commerical in US parade

* Baloney
* Bank Robber
* Bar Room
* Blow Torch
* Cleaver
* Construction Worker
* Exploding Brand X
* Fire Engine
* Flavor Lock Package
* Frontier Bar
* Giant
* Golf Club
* Goofo the Great
* Gossips
* Got a Dime
* Grenade
* Guy Across the Street
* Ice Skating
* Jingle in Bed
* Magician
* Mallet
* Marshall Dilly
* Martins and Coys
* Monster
* My Dead Body
* Observation Lounge
* One Dollar Without Wilkins
* Positive
* Ship Christening
* Smoke It
* Snikliw the Swamee
* Snow Storm
* Thinking Man's Coffee
* Tired of Commercials
* TV Set
* Wake Up
* Window
* You Miss a Lot

## Red Diamond Coffee edit source

Balloon

Biplane

Baseball

Brand X

Cannon

Club

Cheep Cheep

Climbing Tree

Death Defying Leap

Desert Island

En Garde

Fired

Give me the eggs

Good, Better, Best

House isn't a Home

I get a bang out of Red Diamond

Jailhouse

Little Red Hiding Hood

Mallet

Monster

On the ball

Psychiatrist

Pie

Rocket Ship

Stagecoach

Soggy Romance

Stab in the dark

Submarine

Tarred and Feathered

Thinking Man's Coffee

TV Set

Taxi

Trainload

Why Not

Whale of a Coffee

## Public appeal edit source

The Wilkins Coffee ads stood out from the usual commercial fare. In a press release issued February 19, 1959, Senator John Marshall Butler (R-MD) strongly criticized the quality of broadcast television, but praised the Wilkins ads: "The Maryland Senator, an opponent of pay television, called on the networks and individual stations to re-examine their programming and advertising policies at once to provide the public with better television fare. He said that the Senate Commerce Committee, of which he is a member, will explore the entire situation... As to advertising, it insults the intelligence of the viewer. It is geared at know-nothings. As far as I am concerned, if I hear 'a thinking-man's filter and a smoking-man's taste,' I promptly switch to another channel. About the only clever advertising on the air today is 'Wilkins and Wontkins'. It pleases rather than irritates television audiences, and I am happy to learn that this series is bringing increased sales to the sponsor."

The Senator's approval was echoed in a 1965 article in the Washington, D.C. *Evening Star*, which reported the findings of a poll in the D.C. area about television commercials: "John H. Wilkins, Jr., of the Wilkins Coffee Company, can be proud of the overwhelming endorsement of Washington area viewers of his Muppet TV spots. The Wilkins commercials, which he conceived, are easily the favorite of voters in this area."[3]

## Franchise edit source

Following the success of the Wilkins Coffee commercials in the Washington, D.C. market, Jim Henson sold the concept to coffee companies in other local markets around the US. The same ads were reshot, with the only difference being the name of the coffee company.

The other companies included:

* **Community Coffee**: Thirty-seven 10-second ads for Community Coffee, a Louisiana-based company, from 1959 to 1969. Beginning in 1966, the commercials were produced in color.[4]
* **Donovan Coffee**: Thirteen 10-second ads for the Donovan Coffee Company, an Alabama-based company that produces Red Diamond Coffee. Six spots were produced in 1961, and an additional seven color spots were produced in December 1966.[5]
* **La Touraine Coffee**: Fifteen 10-second ads for La Touraine Coffee, a Boston-based company, from 1958 to 1962.
* **Martinson Coffee**: Fifteen 10-second ads for Martinson Coffee, a New York City-based company that produces Jomar Instant, from 1958 to 1962.
* **Nash's Coffee**: Twenty 10-second ads for Nash's Coffee, a Minnesota based company, from 1958 to 1961.[2]

## Releases edit source

The "TV Anti-Violence League" spot was released on a commercial DVD by Madacy Home Video.

## Awards edit source

The "TV Anti-Violence League" spot from 1960 was recognized by the Clio awards, as runner-up in the category of best television/cinema spot.

## Later merchandising by Wilkins edit source

In October 1990, the Wilkins Coffee company attempted to revive the Wilkins and Wontkins characters without the approval of the Jim Henson Company. The company offered t-shirts[6] and ran ads from at least December 1990 to February 1991.

Wilkins filed trademark applications on the characters in March 1992, in categories including "marketing and licensing of children's characters," toys, clothing, hair products, television programs, printed items (books, napkins, etc), and cough medicines. These filings had been abandoned by April 1993.)[7] The company sold the film and toy rights to the characters to John T. Brady & Associates, a New York marketing firm. The company set up a booth in June 1992 at the Licensing Expo in New York City, attempting to sell licensing to the characters. The booth was decorated with images of Jim Henson and the rest of the Muppets, and the phrase "Original Muppets Created by Jim Henson." Jim Henson Production staff viewed the booth on the first day of the show; Jane Henson viewed it on the third day, and attempted to tear down the display. Jim Henson Productions filed a lawsuit in federal court, and Brady threatened to countersue. Brady responded that he didn't "see why we should be prevented from expanding the Muppet culture."[8]

Wilkins ran the t-shirt promotion again in 1994.[9]

## Credits[10]edit source

**Client:** Wilkins Coffee, Belmont Ver Standig, Washington DC
**Agency Producer:** James W. Young
**Cinematographer:** Del Ankers
**Copywriters:** James Henson, James Young
**Performer/Voice:** Wilkins & Wontkins (puppets), Jim Henson (voice)
**Production Company:** Rodel, Washington DC
**Animation & Art:** Jane & James Henson
## Sources edit source

1. ↑ *Jim Henson: The Biography* by Brian Jay Jones (page 107)
2. ↑ Jump up to:2.0 2.1 Karen Falk, the Jim Henson Company Archives.
3. ↑ "Weekly Poll: Voters Feel Strongly on TV Commercials," Harold Stern and Jack Boyle, *The Evening Star*, March 22, 1965.
4. ↑ Falk, Karen. "Jim Henson's Red Book," 3/13-14/1969 – Shoot Community Coffee.
5. ↑ Falk, Karen. "Jim Henson's Red Book," 12/13-15/1966 – Shoot Community and Red Diamond Comm.
6. ↑ Wilkins and Wontkins T-Shirt Offer, *The Baltimore Sun* (Baltimore, Maryland), October 21, 1990.
7. ↑ "Search results for the query of Wontkins," US Patent and Trademark Office.
8. ↑ Eben Shapiro (The New York Times), "Legal fight brewing over use of two Muppets," *The Arizona Daily Star* (Tuscon, Arizona), July 19, 1992, pg 5.
9. ↑ "Wilkins & Wontkins T-Shirt Offer," *The Baltimore Sun* (Baltimore, Maryland), February 20, 1994.
10. ↑ from Clio Awards Archive database, now offline

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