The Quaker Man
Unlike Colonel Sanders, The Quaker Man is not a real person at all, despite Quaker Oats identifying him as ‘William Penn standard bearer of the Quaker and of Quaker Oats’ in the early years of the company.
Quaker Oats registered for the first trademark for a breakfast cereal in 1877 with the US Patent Office as a figure of a man in Quaker garb.
The company has since admitted he is fictional character, chosen to promote their products because it claimed the Quaker faith represented its values of honesty, integrity, purity and strength.
The Quaker Man, now “affectionately known” as Larry by Quaker Oats, underwent a makeover in 2012, including “getting back in shape by eating right and exercising, trimming his famous coif and revealing more radiant skin from daily oatmeal masks”.