Reddy Kilowatt

Reddy Kilowatt was a cartoon character that acted as corporate spokesman for electricity generation in the United States for some six decades. more...

A stick figure whose body and limbs are made of "lightning-bolt" symbols and whose bulbous head has a light bulb for a nose and sockets for ears, Reddy was created at the Alabama Power Company by Ashton B. Collins Sr. and debuted March 11, 1926. He was subsequently licensed by some 200 electrical companies, looking to sell homes on using the relatively new technology.

Reddy Kilowatt was a frequent presence in publicity material until energy conservation replaced energy production as a national goal with the growth of the environmental movement and the OPEC oil embargo. He is now rarely seen.

In 1998, Reddy was bought by Northern States Power Company, which created an entire subsidiary to manage the cartoon. That company later created Reddy Flame, a character promoting natural gas.

Reddy was also parodied in the Roseanne episode "That's Our Rosie", in which a doll version was used in a 'faux' commercial for a electric/utilities company that was pitched by Dan and DJ a la the early days of television in the 1950s, when TV shows featured their performers promoting products from the companies that were sponsoring their shows.

Read more at Wikipedia.org