Worstistatsootstuh....

Animated commercials were extremely popular in the 1950s, and cartoon studios popped up in New York, Los Angeles and elsewhere to make them.

Storyboard was one of them. It was set up by animator John Hubley and layout artist Earl Klein.

A number of spots made by the company became famous, including one animated by Art Babbitt for Heinz Worcestershire sauce. It was a commercial about a commercial, where the oh-so-smooth announcer becomes ruffled as he butchers the product’s name. It was clever premise based on the idea people in the U.S. couldn’t pronounce “Worcestershire” properly.



The announcer shoos away the camera. Cut to a photo of a dinner featuring the sauce. Believing he has things under control, the scene cuts back to the animated announcer beckoning the camera. He gets the name right, but holds up the wrong product.



Now he gets the right product, and can’t pronounce the name again.



According to a number of different sources, this spot was made in 1954 and was produced by Stan Freberg for the Maxon agency in Detroit. That is apparently Freberg's voice as the announcer.