California Raisins
The California Raisins were an R & B group of anthropomorphized, claymation raisins created as an advertising campaign in 1986 by the California Raisin Advisory Board to sell raisins. The California Raisins sung the Marvin Gaye song "I Heard It Through the Grapevine". The commercials were so successful, that later versions even included celebrity raisins, such as Ray Charles and Michael Jackson. The California Raisins took on a life of their own, staring in an Emmy Award winning Christmas special, having their own Saturday morning cartoon, starring in a prime time special titled Meet the Raisins, and releasing four studio albums in the late 1980's. Before it was all over, the California Raisins showed up on everything from lunch boxes to bed sheets.