Wilkins Coffee



In 1957, Jim Henson was approached by a local coffee company to produce ads for Wilkins Coffee. The local stations only had ten seconds for station identification, so the commercials had to be lightning-fast -- essentially, eight seconds for the commercial pitch and a two-second shot of the product. Over the next few years, he made more than 300 commercials for Wilkins Coffee and other Wilkins products, including Community Coffee, Wilkins Tea and Kraml milk.

The ads starred the cheerful Wilkins, who liked Wilkins Coffee, and the grumpy Wontkins, who hated it.

An Incomplete list:

Cannon

Public Service Announcement

Persuasion

Bandwagon

Not All There

Island

Blow Up

Guillotine

Tree

Strawberry Shortcake

Hammer

Tarred and Feathered

Dark Alley Sale

Indians

Eggs

Up in a Tree

Fencing

Building

Cards

65 dollars

House Isn't a Home

I Love These Commercials

TV Set

Electric Chair

Two x Fours

Club

Foot

Undersea

Coffee Break

Old Man Wilkins

E-Z Test

Present

Knife Thrower

Wild Horses

Marriage

Cowboys

Pool

Island #2

Million Bucks

Cheap Stuff

Telephone

Lunch

Cannibals

Sleep (Wilkin's De-Caffienated)

Peter Peter, Coffee Drinker (Wilkin's De-Caffienated)

Romeo and Juliet

Spooks (Wilkin's Tea)

Truckload

Boston Tea Party (Wilkin's Tea)

Parachute

Telephone #2

Quiz Show

Around The World in 80 Days

Physic

Hidden Pursuaders

X-mas

Airplane

William Tell

Cannon #2

Ball

Ginger Ale

Dive

Baseball

Lift

Overboard

Check

Vote

Hot Air Balloon

Machine

Close Shave

Brand X

Manhole

Coffee Grounds

Head

Get 2!

Noah's Ark

Steamroller

Imprisoned

Backstage

Hikers

Sleeping Beauty

Party Line Coffee

Houseware

Water

Hand of Fate

By The Ton

Car Wreck

Rose

Other Coffee

Rocket