• Ad Age, Monday, February 25, 2008 11:45 AM

Speedy Alka-Seltzer--the baby-faced mascot sketched out by Bob Watkins for the Wade Agency back in 1951--has made a somewhat surreptitious return. Working quietly with BBDO, Alka-Seltzer owner Bayer has revived the character on the back cover of Playboy and in an online "Where's Waldo"-type game. He also has a MySpace page.

Bayer won't comment on anything to do with the campaign--or whether Speedy will make a return to TV. But the strategy seems to be in line with recent and successful revivals of old Alka-Seltzer slogans such as "I can't believe I ate the whole thing."

By the mid-1960s, Speedy's fame had spread far and wide; being known as "Prontito" in Spanish-speaking countries. By the time he was retired in 1964, Alka-Seltzer had invested $8.5 million a year in the little tablet man--the largest investment in any single campaign of that era, according to Alka-Seltzer.

Read the whole story at Ad Age »