The California Raisin Advisory Board (or CALRAB) was a
California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
state marketing commission based in
Fresno, California
Fresno (; ) is a city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County, California, Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley (California), Central Valley region. It covers a ...
that was created in the mid-1900s to coordinate the regulation and promotion of the state's
raisin
A raisin is a Dried fruit, dried grape. Raisins are produced in many regions of the world and may be eaten raw or used in cooking, baking, and brewing. In the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia and South Afri ...
crop.
The group became most noted from 1986 to 1994 for developing an international advertising campaign using
The California Raisins
The California Raisins were a fictional rhythm and blues animated musical group as well as advertising and merchandising characters composed of anthropomorphized raisins. Lead vocals were sung by musician Buddy Miles. The California Raisins ...
claymation
Claymation, sometimes called clay animation or plasticine animation, is one of many forms of stop-motion animation. Each animated piece, either character or background, is "deformable"—made of a malleable substance, usually plasticine cl ...
characters.
The California Raisin campaign was funded by an initial grant of US$3 million from the
United States Department of Agriculture
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is an executive department of the United States federal government that aims to meet the needs of commercial farming and livestock food production, promotes agricultural trade and producti ...
.
Although popular with the public, the California Raisin campaign eventually failed because its production cost the raisin growers almost twice their earnings.
CALRAB was closed on July 31, 1994, after the success of the campaign had triggered a
vicious cycle
A vicious circle (or cycle) is a complex chain of events that reinforces itself through a feedback loop, with detrimental results. It is a system with no tendency toward equilibrium (social, economic, ecological, etc.), at least in the short ...
: because it was a nonprofit organization and could not profit from the California Raisins, CALRAB chose to divert earnings from the campaign to fund more advertisements, thereby increasing costs until members revolted.
Following the board's collapse, the California Raisins became (intellectual)
property of the state
Property is a system of rights that gives people legal control of valuable things, and also refers to the valuable things themselves. Depending on the nature of the property, an owner of property may have the right to consume, alter, share, re ...
of California.
In 1998, the California Raisin Marketing Board, funded by raisin growers, was established to replace CALRAB as the promotional organization for the raisin crop.
References
External links
California Raisin Marketing Board website
Raisins
Agriculture in California
Agricultural marketing organizations
Agricultural organizations based in the United States
Defunct organizations based in California
Organizations based in Fresno, California
1900s establishments in California
1998 disestablishments in California
Government agencies established in the 1900s
Organizations disestablished in 1998
Agricultural marketing in the United States
The California Raisins
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