Take the series of ads he did for Jeno Paulucci, the Duluth food entrepreneur responsible for Chun King Chinese food and Jeno’s Pizza Rolls. Paulucci hired Freberg to make a series of commercials for his products, and Freberg guaranteed the ads would result in a 25% increase in sales - if they didn't, Freberg would pull Paulucci in a rickshaw down Los Angeles’ La Cienega Boulevard.
As Paulucci recounted it, “the premise was the same for every one of Stan's [Chun King] commercials. We were trying to make hay out of our major disadvantage: Only a minority of Americans ever ate Chinese foods. One of the ads began: ‘Nine out of 10 doctors recommend you eat chow mein for dinner.’ The camera then panned slowly over our smiling medical corps. Nine of the doctors were Chinese.”
Well, the picture at the top tells the story. Freberg was right, and it was Paulucci who pulled Freberg down the streets of L.A.
Here's another of Freberg's commercials, this one for Jeno's Pizza Rolls. It's a spoof of the popular Lark Cigarettes ads running at the time; a truck with the sign “Show Us Your Lark Pack!” would drive through the streets, whereas people would hold up their cigarette packs. You can see the idea at work below, although Freberg typically adds his own twist,
It is said that when this commercial aired during Carson's Tonight Show, Jthe sudio audience applauded when it was done. People talk about the Super Bowl commercials every year, but if you haven't seen a Stan Freberg commercial, you ain't seen nothing. TV