How Randy Savage Saved The Slim Jim Brand

Once upon a time there was a sophisticated food mascot who wore a top hat, carried a cane, and served as an oh-so-elegant spokes-character for his signature snack: meat sticks. What, did Mr. Peanut have a side gig? No, we weren't speaking of the (sort of) late Mr. P, but instead, of his long-lost and little-known cousin, "Slim Jim." According to The Takeout, this dapper fellow did his darnedest to promote his eponymous product. The snack itself wasn't particularly elegant, however, and neither was its clientele. At that time, Slim Jims were primarily offered in bars of the divier variety and tended to be something that was fished out of a vinegar-filled jar and sold to somebody whose dinner likely started with a shot and ended with a beer.

While Slim Jims managed to eke out a (slim) profit margin for some four decades as a blue-collar bar food, by the late '80s the brand was in serious need of a new market they could tap into. This was decades before hipsters would make dive bars trendy, and pickled meat sticks were losing their appeal even for pickled bar patrons. In search of a miracle, Slim Jims called in the marketing mavens. While these Ad Men (and maybe women) managed to come up with a snappy slogan — "Snap into a Slim Jim!" — what they really needed to make their product cool with the kids was a super-snappy spokesman.