The trouble with being a spokesfish is that the pond keeps changing.
Charlie the Tuna, the bespectacled, beret-wearing mascot who has been shilling for StarKist since 1961, is about to receive what the marketing world likes to call a cultural refresh. The canned tuna brand has selected Tombras, the Knoxville-based agency that has been quietly building a reputation for giving legacy brands a second act on social media, as its agency of record.
The assignment, according to Dooley Tombras, the agency's president, is to insert Charlie into the cultural conversation in "unusual" ways — a phrase that, in the current parlance of the industry, typically means the brand would like to go viral without appearing to have tried.
It is a familiar challenge. American pantries are stocked with mascots of a certain vintage — the Jolly Green Giant, the Pillsbury Doughboy, Mr. Peanut (who was briefly killed off and resurrected in 2020, in what now seems like a fever dream) — and their corporate parents are perpetually seeking ways to make them relevant to consumers who did not grow up watching Saturday morning commercials.
Charlie, for his part, has spent six and a half decades being rejected for having "good taste" rather than tasting good, a gag that has proven remarkably durable. Whether that sensibility translates to TikTok remains to be seen.
Tombras, which is part of no holding company and remains family-owned, has handled similar rejuvenation projects for brands including Firehouse Subs and Little Debbie. (The latter's Valentine's Day posts have become something of an annual curiosity.)
StarKist, which is now a subsidiary of the South Korean conglomerate Dongwon Industries, did not disclose the billings associated with the account.
Charlie, presumably, is keeping his expectations appropriately managed.
Original story published in adweek.com: "Legacy Tuna Brand StarKist Picks Tombras to Make Its Mascot a Viral Hit"