Ready grew exasperated. “Look,” he said. “If you asked the Doughboy if he wanted to do that commercial, he’d say no. He’d say, ‘I just want to talk about my cookies.'”

A few weeks ago, I might have surmised that Ready was crazy, that too many days and nights spent in the constant company of his jolly, jaunty baby-man had thoroughly toasted his strudel. But there are many, many other people who are just as tenderly devoted to the cats, bears, ducks, giants, insects, legumes, mythical beings and crustaceans who incarnate their brand in the popular imagination. Call up the marketing directors at Kellogg’s, General Mills, Nabisco or any other giant packaged-goods conglomerate, and you’ll get the same rapt paean.

http://archive.salon.com/media/col/shal/2000/03/23/doughboy/index.html