Nesquik is a family of milk beverage products made by the Nestlé corporation. It began as a chocolate powdered flavoring mix in the United States in 1948, as Nestlé Quik. In the 1950s, it was launched in Europe as Nesquik. In countries with the Quik term (including the USA, Canada, Mexico, and Australia, where it was originally marketed under the name Nestlé's Quik), the name was changed to the worldwide brand Nesquik in 1999. At the same time, General Mills introduced Nesquik cereal, a breakfast cereal that "turns milk into chocolate milk."
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The ready-to-drink versions of Nesquik ended production in 2009 in the UK.
In 1955, Nestlé hired ventriloquist Jimmy Nelson to do its advertising on children's television programming. Nelson's dummy Danny O'Day would say that Quik "makes milk taste...like a mill-ion" (dollars). Danny and a dog named Farfel would finish the commercials by singing Nestlé's brand-new signature jingle:
Farfel would finish with the sound of his jaw snapping shut. This effect was accidentally invented when Nelson's sweatty finger (a result of nervousness) slipped off the mouth control during his first audition in front of the Nestlé executives. This would normally be a serious technical mistake for a ventriloquist, but they actually liked it so much they insisted Nelson keep it in. Nelson performed the jingle that way for ten years.[1]
A cartoon Quik Bunny first appeared on the cans of the strawberry flavor when it was introduced. Later, an anthropomorphic animated bunny wearing a large red "Q" on a collar-like necklace, was introduced in television commercials as the new chocolate Quik mascot. He debuted in 1973. The character is voiced by Barry Gordon.
He sings a new jingle in a rock-and-roll rhythm:
Then he vocalizes only four notes "oh-bo-de-oh" and instead of vocalizing the fifth note which is "doh", he immediately sucks all of his drink down through a straw, then finishes the rhyme by forlornly intoning, "That's the saddest sound I know."
In France, Italy and Canada, he is known as Quicky the Nesquik Bunny. France and Greece first had another mascot for Nesquik, which was a fat yellow dog cartoon monster called Groquik—a variation of Gros Quik ("Fat Quik"), created by Gilbert Mast and puppeteered by Yves Brunier. In Greece the mascot was called Κουικάρας (or Quikáras--English:"Big Quik") He was later replaced by Quiky, much to the discontent of fans who protested against the lack of a sympathetic character and the Americanism. In Portugal, the mascot was a kangaroo, Kangurik, which was replaced by Quiky in 1989/1990. In Italy, before the arrival of Quicky, the mascot was an anthropomorphized box of Nesquik called Mr.Nesquik.
In the USA by 2001, the Quik Bunny was renamed the Nesquik Bunny and his "Q" changed to an "N" when the brand name was changed. He appears on the packaging and marketing and has appeared in the product's television commercials. The artist who made the redesign of the Bunny for its global implantation in the nineties, was the cartoonist Ramon Maria Casanyes.
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