From Dok, The Potato Planet

June 23, 2022 3:35 PM

An Oral History of the Gobbledok

And thus Australia met the Gobbledok: a ravenous extra-terrestrial who, to some witnesses, is still synonymous with Smith’s potato chips, and an icon of millennial Australiana. From 1987 to 1994, his rubber face and pot belly featured in a healthy handful of prime-time TV commercials that were charming, bizarre or downright terrifying, depending on who you ask. But to ad man John Finkelsen, this snack-happy critter was simply ‘the perfect consumer’.

For a sampling of Gobbledok advertising, see A Video History of the Gobbledok.

posted by zamboni (6 comments total)

Is this the inspiration for Neal Asher's "Gabbleduck" aliens? Huh!
posted by riotnrrd at 3:39 PM on June 23, 2022

I don't like it.
posted by escape from the potato planet at 4:26 PM on June 23, 2022 [5 favorites]

hah

This is pretty fun! I slipped in some Gobbledok commercials into MST Club's show tonight.
posted by JHarris at 4:28 PM on June 23, 2022

The concept of "the perfect consumer" is, by itself, terrifying.
posted by aramaic at 5:42 PM on June 23, 2022

I have a Gobbledok fridge magnet that came with a delivery of delicious Australian snacks last year (no Smiths chips though). I swear those ads are imprinted in my brain from when I was a kid.
posted by Kris10_b at 8:31 PM on June 23, 2022 [2 favorites]

Chippies!

I am delighted to see this supremely odd bit of AU pop culture on the blue. Huzzah!
posted by prismatic7 at 8:41 PM on June 23, 2022 [3 favorites]