He Likes It! Hey Mikey!

Hello everyone! 

I ordinarily don’t like commercials. I do like it when they try to be at least entertaining… This commercial has stayed in pop culture for over 50 years now. The commercial was created by the Doyle Dane Bernbach (DDB) advertising agency. This Life cereal commercial appeared in 1972 and ran until 1984. It was one of the longest-running commercials in history. 

I grew up watching Mikey’s brothers trying to get their brother who hates everything to eat the supposedly healthy Life Cereal. The phrase “Hey Mikey!” entered pop culture as a phrase used for unexpected approval of something.

Mikey was portrayed by John Gilchrist, and he is alive now and doing fine despite the urban legend that he died. A false rumor spread in the 1980s that John Gilchrist (Mikey) had died from eating Pop Rocks and drinking soda. This was completely untrue. He was alive and well.

Yes, word got around that the kid who played Mikey bought the farm by eating “pop rocks” and drinking soda. His stomach then exploded because of the lethal combination. A friend of his family actually called his mother in tears, saying she was so sorry about the loss of her son…when in reality he just got home from school.

PopRocks.jpg CokeTheRealThing.jpg

What is interesting about the commercial is that the two kids playing his brothers are John Gilchrist’s brothers in real life.

John today is Director of Media Sales at MSG Network and is living a happy life with his wife and kids…and yes he still enjoys Life Cereal.

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

36 thoughts on “He Likes It! Hey Mikey!”

    1. Me also Beth…from when I was 7 to when I was a teenager…great commercial. This and the Oscar Meyer commercial with the little boy singing while fishing.

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    1. Yea I thought I would publish this before today… It’s nice to be talking again today. I do like this cereal…this commercial is burned into my mind

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  6. Pingback: He Likes It! Hey Mikey! – MobsterTiger

  9. is Life cereal still around? I remember the commercial well and it was one of the best. For the most part, I don’t mind a few commercials on Tv because it gives me a chance to run to the washroom or frig. But I love ones that are actually amusing – strangely, insurance companies seem to do better at that than most these days – Geico’s had some real fun ones through the years and I love Allstate’s ‘Mayhem’ ones… I’ll actually look those up on Youtube at times!

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    1. Yes…Jim said he just started to eat it so it’s still around. I like the Mayhem commercials as well. The one this reminds me of becuase of the time is the Oscar Meyer commercial with the little boy fishing and singing their theme song.

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  10. This commercial came out just after Dad died. Evidently the Gilchrist brothers’ father had just died, and their mother (they all lived in the Chicago area) had them audition for the commercial. When Mom heard that, she briefly considered getting us involved in doing commercials. Then she took a look at the three of us…

    That commercial is almost 60 years old and it’s still running…

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    1. Oh wow John! You could have been Mikey or one of the brothers. It’s one that stuck with me through the years. This one and the little boy singing the Oscar Meyer song.

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  11. Unforgettable. My best friend’s family used to eat a lot of Life cereal, but I only ate it now and then. I loved Team flakes, but they went by the wayside many years ago. Why does everything good go away?

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      2. Oh yes….I heard that rumor for so long. I had some not long ago…I couldn’t believe when I saw them. Retro pop rocks…just like they used to be.

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  12. That’s quite funny! Never seen it before (well, I wouldn’t have anyway). the title made me think of Tony Basil’s song ‘Hey Mickey’! (rather an annoying song, unlike the commercial!)

    Isn’t it strange how ads we saw as kids really stick with us, including all the slogans from them? I can remember loads from British TV even now.

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    1. Yes it does…I wasn’t sure if they played this internationally….I guess not! Once in a blue moon on a tv channel for old shows you will see it still.

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