He actually scared us in our childhood and if a man like that wandered the aisles of a grocery store today asking us not to squeeze the Charmin, we’d probably call the men in white coats. But Mr. Whipple, played by Dick Wilson, was a lovable, humorous television advertising icon back in the day when brands didn’t change campaigns and agencies at the whim of a here today gone tomorrow CMO. In fact, Mr. Whipple lasted 21 years. 21 years! That just doesn’t happen anymore.
Over the course of the campaign’s 21 year run, more than 500 commercials where made featuring Mr. Whipple. On Monday, November 19, 2007 Dick Wilson died of natural causes at the Motion Picture and Television Hospital in Los Angeles at the age of 91.
We never squeezed our Charmin but we always got a kick out of the weird dude on TV who did. RIP, Mr. Whipple.
