In 1954, the producers of the radio show
Sergeant Preston of the Yukon needed a gimmick to make sure its radio audience would watch the
TV version of the show. Meanwhile, the show's sponsor, Quaker Oats, needed a follow-up to their ad campaign about how
Quaker Puffed Wheat is shot out of guns. So Chicago adman, Bruce Baker (later the
creator of Captain Crunch), dreamt up a wildly successful PR stunt for both Sgt. Preston of the Yukon and Quaker Oats by buying up
one-inch plots of land in the Yukon (with legal assistance from future
British Columbia senator George van Roggen) and giving away
deeds to the land for free in copies of Quaker Oats cereal. (For a picture of the deed, click
here and
here)
Although the ad campaign was phenomenally successful in the short term, it also had some long-term blowback. While looking at land in the Yukon, Bruce Baker developed minor frostbite injuries that later led to his leg being amputated. As for the land itself, it reverted back to the Canadian government in 1965 after nonpayment of $37.20 in taxes, but that doesn't stop owners of the Quaker Oats "deeds" from pestering the
Yukon government about their land claims. Filmmaker
David McDonald made the documentary,
Cereal Thriller about the whole bizarre saga, which also raises
interesting questions in property law. Ironically, although the Quaker Oats deeds have zero value in terms of property rights, their
value as collectibles proved to be several times more than the
stock price of Quaker Oats when it was bought by PepsiCo in 2001.
Sorry, I'll read the links now.
posted by yhbc at 7:58 PM on November 15, 2007