Was Pillsbury TRYING TO FOOL PEOPLE?

The original Quaker Oats Man was first registered as a trademark on September 4, 1877. The fellow on the Quaker Oats boxes we grew up knowing was actually painted "by Haddon Sundblum sometime between 1939 and 1941 using fellow Coca Cola artist Harold W. McCauley as the model." (SOURCE: Wikipedia)

So what was Pillsbury thinking in 1932 when they used this little colonial fellow for their flour ad? How long did this fellow last in their campaign before someone said, "Is that the Quaker Oat Man?"


Click on image to see it larger. (SOURCE: Collier's, October 8, 1932)