In August of 1969, a little boy made his first appearance on television with the hope of

discovering more about a lollipop, and while doing so instilled himself within the minds of America for generations to come. The candy brand, Tootsie Roll, released an animated commercial called, “How Many Licks?” where the little boy asked around four different animals the famous question, “How many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop?” He asked a cow, then a fox, then a turtle, and finally, an owl, each said to be wiser than the last, though by the end of the commercial, his question was still unanswered (Tootsie Roll). As a candy commercial, it was marketed towards a younger audience though it evidently includes the older generation as a point of contact to distribute the candy. Therefore, the company established longevity in the company with generational connections between multiple audiences. In doing so they avoided logical fallacies with a strong art of persuasion in order to create a sound stance. Tootsie Roll effectively used knowledge of a target audience, psychology of color, and repetition of dialogue to create a pathological approach to establishing longevity in their candy.

In order for Tootsie Roll to create a widespread message, understanding its target audience was fundamental for success. The commercial was introduced at the beginning of the 1970s, and to establish its target audience it was important to take into consideration the political and societal state of the country during this new era. At this time kids were known to be playing outside heavily and society was entering what was known as the “Me” decade. Citizens of the country were looking for personal happiness following the very rough war years of the past (US History). While looking at the state of the country reveals a public that is looking for hope and relief. Because of this, the ad is seemingly designed to promote nature-based, comforting, and positive emotions throughout an audience. After considering the position of the viewers, to specifically target demographics of children who desire the candy, and adults who can make that tangible, the visual properties needed to convey a captivating message to a differentiated audience. Firstly, the characters all look to be kid-drawn, promoting nostalgia to appeal to a larger audience than just children. Secondly, the simplicity of everything makes the visuals highly familiar. It features a minimalistic drawn kid who looks like a curious, relatable figure, a cow symbolizing innocence and generosity, a fox that symbolizes cleverness, the turtle representing longevity, and finally the wise owl. Each of those symbols is used to promote necessary feelings to convey a direct impact on an audience. Overall it conveys an emotional appeal that sparks happy, childhood-rooted feelings. The target audience was understood to be in an emotionally unjust and disconnected position, therefore a pathos-based appeal was used to draw an emotional connection between the audience and the candy. When inciting nostalgia in an older audience and wonder in a younger audience it creates happy and uplifted emotions that naturally get correlated with the commercial.

Furthermore, the artistic style and color choice help promote feelings of nostalgia and familiarity while pushing ideals of creativity and curiosity. As the commercial moves between the animals, different colors are correlated with each one. It moves from red to purple to orange and finishes with green and though each conveys a different psychological connection, each color cultivates codependence with the other. All four colors are seemingly tie-dye which is very captivating for a young audience with interest. Firstly, red induces excitement and determination, when the child met the red cow first, which revealed an instant sense of determination without the extreme rush of passionate emotions driven by the color red, because of the calming sense of the childly conveyed cow. Purple then induces a dreamy and mysterious feeling. This is used to further the idea of how interested the child is in the lollipop but how the answer still remains a mystery. With this color overlaying the fox it furthers a mysterious tone as the ideal for a fox is that they should be clever, whereas in this situation the fox was not. Next orange was used to display an energetic, curious, and youthful feeling, to which the audience, whether child or adult, feels that youthful connection. With the turtle assigned to this color, it shows that this energy of youthfulness and curiosity can be everlasting emotions. For the brand, it means that the candy is something that communicates that connectedness. Finally, a green overlay was used with the owl that helps convey an honest and reliable feeling that is rooted in a natural background. With the owl representing a knowledgeable character, it hints to the viewer that the answer they have finally been waiting for will finally be revealed (New Design Group). Furthermore, the vast color pallet used promotes the different options and flavors that are found within the variety of lollipops. The color choice and characters create a captivating advertisement that reaches a multigenerational audience, while the script assists the visual rhetoric with a further emotional approach.

The dialogue used throughout this ad is fairly simple, while also repetitive. It begins with the boy asking his first animal encounter the main rhetorical question, “How many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop?” (Tootsie Roll). The cow answers the child unsure of the number of licks, instead informing the curious boy that he, “always ends up biting,” his way to the center. The cow then told the boy to go ask the fox as he was wiser. The same question was repeated by the boy to the fox where he gave the same answer as the cow and instructed the child to ask the turtle for the same reason. Once more the process occurred with the boy still being told the answer is unknown and then told to ask the owl or the wisest of them all. The owl proceeded with a different response by attempting to lick the tootsie pop to its center, where after 3 licks the owl bit the lollipop, leaving the boy in disbelief. Finally, the ad closes with a narrator repeating the rhetorical question once more and exclaiming, “The world may never know,” as the final answer to the ongoing question (Tootsie Roll). This approach uses repetition which consists of two aspects furthering connectedness with the audience. Firstly, repetition increases the installment or memory of a subject at hand. The repetition of the rhetorical question creates a direct correlation between a nostalgic ad and a product with an easily recognizable dialogue. The question not only is remembered for the commercial, but the question mentions the company and specific candy name, together which installs familiarness of the brand. New York University’s Dr. Nikolay V. Kukushkin explains, “Repetition is a well-documented trigger for memory formation—the more times something is repeated, the better it is remembered,” as the question is continually said, the more the brand expands (Devitt). Secondly, the repeated question is again unanswered at the end of the commercial. It only hints that “the world may never know” (Tootsie Roll). The open-ended question leaves the audience curious, as they begin to want to find out for themselves. With the nostalgic, creative, and curious nature of the advertisement, the dialogue furthers the audience's curiosity by directly instilling a call to action. For everyone to find out how many licks it actually takes to get to the center of the Tootsie Pop.

The Tootsie Pop advertisement is one of the longest-running commercials because it remained consistent over so many years. The ad was able to reach a wider audience as it was inclusive to multiple generations. Within this ad, seemingly every aspect used explicit and implicit messaging to further promote their candy and in doing so removed the opportunity for logical fallacies. It communicated a memorable and timeless message with curiosity spread between young and old ages. Tootsie Roll conveyed a comprehensive execution of a pathological approach using their knowledge of their audience, psychology of color, and repetition. In conclusion, Tootsie Roll created an outstanding advertisement that will uphold their candy for a long time.

Works Cited
Devitt, James. “Long-Term Memories a Matter of Order—Not Just Repetition.” NYU, 26

September 2022, https://www.nyu.edu/about/news-publications/news/2022/september/long-term-memories -a-matter-of-order-not-just-repetition.html. Accessed 22 April 2023.

“Finding Oneself [ushistory.org].” USHistory.org, https://www.ushistory.org/us/58d.asp. Accessed 22 April 2023.

“Psychology of Colour in Advertising | Logo Design | New Design Group.” New Design Group Inc.,

https://www.newdesigngroup.ca/logo-graphic-design/psychology-colour-advertising/.

Accessed 22 April 2023.
Roll, Tootsie. “Classic Tootsie Roll Commercial - "How Many Licks."” YouTube, 15 August

2012, https://youtu.be/O6rHeD5x2tI. Accessed 22 April 2023.