Still fresh: Pillsbury Doughboy turns 50

It was 50 years ago that the Pillsbury Doughboy first made his appearance in a commercial for crescent rolls. The unbaked mascot, who is formally known as Poppin' Fresh, has since appeared in over 600 advertisements.

The ticklish man made of dough wore a chef's hat and neckerchief, and has been ranked as one of the country's most widely recognized company mascots.

Poppin' Fresh was invented for Minneapolis-based Pillsbury by Chicago ad man Rudy Perz in 1965. General Mills, which bought the Pillsbury brand in 2001, says Perz was sitting at his kitchen table one night with a canister of dough when the idea struck him.

"In those days, the instruction on the package was, take the label off and hit the package on the edge of the table," Perz told the company's archivist in 2004. "I said to myself, what if you hit it on the table and something hopped out?"

The character was originally made of foam and plaster, and debuted on Nov. 7, 1965, in a stop-motion commercial. The spot featured the tiny character dancing with a woman's fingers while singing a song.

Perz handled Pillsbury products until the early 1970s and then worked for the Minneapolis firm now known as Mithun.He died of cardiac arrest in suburban Chicago in April.

Since the character's yeasty youth, he's reached such milestones as appearing with stars like Michael Cera, hawked car insurance and even considered wearing pants.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ygdtl2v27LQ