Skippy is a commercial brand of peanut butter made in the United States. Ninety million jars of Skippy are sold annually. It was first sold on February 1, 1933.
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"Skippy" was first used as a trademark for peanut butter by the Rosefield Packing Co., Ltd., of Alameda, California, in 1933. Percy Crosby, creator of the "Skippy" comic strip, had the trademark invalidated in 1934, but Rosefield persisted after Crosby was committed to an insane asylum, and its successor companies, most recently Unilever, have been granted rights to the trademark over the objection of Crosby's heirs. There has been much litigation on this point over the decades, some of which remains in progress.[1]
In early 2000s, Skippy has extended its brand by introducing Skippy Squeez’ It peanut butter tubes and Skippy Snack Bars.
Skippy comes in many different size containers, including a large 4 lb jar, known as the "Family Jar". In late 2008, Skippy reduced their standard jar size from 18 oz to 16.3 oz by creating a large hemispherical "dimple" in the bottom of the jar while retaining the same height and diameter of the jar.[2]
All Skippy peanut butter is produced in North American plants. The only remaining plant in the United States is in Little Rock, Arkansas [3].
Unilever stated that Skippy was not affected by the February 2007 salmonella outbreak that affected competing brands Peter Pan and Great Value. See [1]
Skippy has used several cartoon and celebrity spokespeople in its advertising, including Dennis the Menace, Annette Funicello and speed skater Bonnie Blair.