Long before Larry the Cucumber and Bob the Tomato, animated moralizing was left to young Davey and his talking dog, Goliath. Now the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s show, which originally aired from 1962 to 1977, is staging an unlikely comeback. But before the duo can go back to teaching about loving your neighbor, they are promoting the elixir known as Mountain Dew. “We want to bring the positive moral images that Davey provides to a new generation,” said Eric Shafter, ELCA’s director of communications. “But the only way to do that is through merchandising and commercial endorsements, because that’s how you raise the funds.” The 26 new episodes will begin early next year.
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Related Elsewhere
Watch the Davey and Goliath ad at the Mountain Dew website.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has an official Davey and Goliath site that includes a page on the Mountain Dew ad. The site also has a substantial archive of news articles recently written about the show.
Articles on the return of the show and the commercial include:
Davey and Goliath prepare for a comeback—The Roanoke Times (June 16, 2002)
Lutherans give permission for Mountain Dew ads featuring Davey and Goliath-Religion News Service (March 8, 2002)
