Sanka Coffee Presents 'I Love Lucy'

Opening & end credits for 'I Love Lucy,' sponsored by Sanka coffee (General Foods, later acquired by Kraft Foods)

[@Thompsonnw]

There was another version with a different voiceover saying: "Instant Sanka: the hearty coffee you can drink as strong as you like, it still can't upset your nerves brings you the Lucille Ball Desi Arnaz Show: I Love Lucy."

[@gcfifthgear]

That was the ad campaign they used for the 1956-57 season!

[@Sheri451]

I wouldn't mind having those original openings and closings, instead of the heart.

[@MeanMrTibbs]

You gotta have heart.

[@Neville60001]

If you want to see them, you have to get a hold of some old episodes in the 16mm (film) format, then get them transferred to DVD or Blu-Ray, like the guy who posted this video most likely obviously did.

[@fromthesidelines]

Original credits, as seen during "Lucy's Italian Movie" [April 16, 1956].

[@LogoAttitude]

Phillip Morris was another sponsor of the show. They later bought General Foods in 1985, followed by their purchase of Kraft in 1988, soon combining the companies as Kraft General Foods. General was dropped from the company name in 1995, and Kraft later bought Nabisco in 2000. Kraft was spun off by Phillip Morris in 2007. The US/Canadian grocery business of Kraft was split from the rest of the company as Kraft Foods Group in 2012 while the rest of old Kraft became Mondelez International. Kraft Foods Group soon merged with Heinz to form the Kraft Heinz Company. All the while, in recent years Sanka has been much harder to find in the US, Kraft having preferred decaf coffee under its Maxwell House brand.

[@MarkCedarsLiveStream]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts concerning the I Love Lucy opening animation produced by Hanna-Barbera, now Warner Bros. Animation.

[@joshdznyc]

This is how businesses are. They eat up others to become one

[@kingbee1500]

What animators did Desilu contract to do all this custom animation? I like these better than the stock "satin heart" opens/closes necessary for syndication! Was it MGM with Hanna and Barbera still there? (They didn't leave MGM and organize H-B Productions with "Ruff & Reddy" for NBC until 1957.)

[@fromthesidelines]

H-B's animation unit produced their animated titles "on the sly", while they worked at MGM. From 1955 through '57, General Foods (Instant Sanka) was the primary sponsor of the show [replacing Philip Morris]; Procter & Gamble was the "alternate sponsor".

[@fromthesidelines]

H-B's animation unit DID produce their opening titles "on the sly", while working at MGM. General Foods [Sanka] was the show's "primary sponsor" between 1955 and '57 (replacing Philip Morris); Procter & Gamble [Cheer, Fluffo, Lilt] was the "alternate sponsor".

[@02chevyguy]

Barry I. Grauman In the "Palm Springs" episode, Ethel is reading a "McCall's" magazine. And just by some coincidence, an ad for "New Blue Cheer" is on the back cover.

[@fromthesidelines]

Officially, "Dudley Television Corporation" produced the animated titles and transitions- but the staff were moonlighting from the H-B unit at MGM.

[@gcfifthgear]

Early brand placement at its best!

[@timmyj289]

Wonder if sanka tasted nasty back then?

[@Neville60001]

@ John Arthur Lowe, how did you transfer this old clip to a modern video format that can be shown on KZbin?

[@HunterShows]

"This sinister Turk will pour your coffee now."

[@fromthesidelines]

Sanka's label was redesigned and modernized in 1960, eliminating the "sinister Turk".

[@joshdznyc]

The syndicated version of these credits had Sanka ad cut into the syndicated satin heart credits

[@raynardabraham7831]

I thought it was cool how back in the day they would run the closing credits in front of the sponsor's product , this here was no exception & I would also would have loved to have this instead of the heart, it is more fun.

[@davebecker9742]

Raynard Abraham 8

[@davebecker9742]

O

[@rtususian]

Most shows continued this into the 1960s. You know the end credits for The Dick Van Dyke Show where they have an illustration of Dick Van Dyke? Originally it was an illustration of the sponsor's product, like a package of Kent Cigarettes. And a lot of TV shows from the 60s when you watch them, the end credits run across the top half of the screen, but they only run over the right half of the screen at the bottom in order to make room for the sponsor's product picture on the left side.

[@joshdznyc]

Do these end credits air in syndication is the question or just the heart

[@gcfifthgear]

Another problem occurred when the sponsor was a car manufacturer, such as Chevrolet. Another show filmed at Desilu, "My Three Sons," ended most episodes from 1960 to 1963 with shots of new Chevrolet vehicles running behind the credits. Of course this got tricky when the new models were introduced, because the previous year's models were obsoleted! (Ford had the same problem with "Hazel," which showed the current year's products at the open and close of every episode)

[@LetticiaRosado]

It's kind of different than the syndicated version.

[@transitdude3352]

Like a shot of pure joy! ❤️

[@maleadmirer]

I've never seen these original openings and closing of I Love Lucy.Thanks for posting.

[@fromthesidelines]

That's why the "heart" titles were created for network daytime and syndicated repeats after 1959, Tim- to eliminate the sponsor's logos and products seen in the original telecasts.

[@joshdznyc]

@@fromthesidelinesthe hearts are on Paramount Plus streaming of I Love Lucy as well

[@maleadmirer]

Barry, thanks for sharing info.

[@fromthesidelines]

You're welcome!