This weekend, popcorn-lugging, TVC-dissecting moviegoers at PVR had a familiar face awaiting them. Besides the regular ads on apparel, jewellery and health, there was a tall, squiggly, laidback cartoon icon of the late 80s. “Fido Dido, oh my God it’s Fido Dido, he is back!” many cried out loud. Many millenials, that is. Needless to say, the children in the crowd, including my friend’s nine-year-old son was embarrassed. He whispered, “Without being loud can you please tell me who he is ?”
So I took him on a small walk down memory lane. The character with triangular faced, two dots for eyes, and a few squiggly lines for hair was the original cool guy, a rage in the late 80s and well into the mid 90s. Fido Dido was the brand ambassador of 7Up, which entered India in the year 1990 and was first advertised with Fido Dido in the year 1992.
Created by Joanna Ferrone and Sue Rose, Fido Dido was doodled by Rose on a cocktail napkin in 1985. Ferrone, who thought up the character’s name on her way to work the next day, decided that Fido Dido was meant to have wisdom beyond his years. In an era of cultural shifts, Fido Dido was ageless, thoughtful, chill, and compassionate towards one and all.
All the 90s kids know him from the fun animated ads he was featured in and must have owned a dozen or more collection of the various merchandise he was seen in, including 7Up-shaped erasers that featured his head shot. Of all merchandise, Fido Dido tshirts were the most popular.
With the Keep it cool tagline, Fido embodied coolness with his sneakers, loose tee and shorts look. Coupled with the laid-back attitude, he truly was a part of the ’90s pop culture. After his disappearance in the 90s the brand had revived him for a limited period last year, and the funny character appeared on special limited-edition 7Up bottles till the end of June 2018.
This year Pepsico has come up with a new Television commercial taglined ‘#BacktoCool’. Part of is the new 7Up campaign that brought back Fido is named ‘Put the Chill’. Elaborating on the reason behind the mascot’s comeback, Gaurav Verma, associate director, flavours marketing, PepsiCo India was quoted on an ad and marketing website saying, “While talking to consumers, (we found that) a lot of things that 7Up was remembered for was Fido Dido. One example, I would say, is in Bollywood music remixes. The music of the 70s, 80s and 90s are coming back and being relaunched and doing well; in the same way, we have got back the mascot, slogans and merchandising that happened from the 1950s to the 1990s.”
