Jan Svochak, Animator of the 1960s Hawaiian Punch Ads, Died Earlier This Month

Jan Svochak passed away about two weeks ago. Czechoslovakian by birth, Jan Svochak worked at several US animation studios and was the head animator for the Hawaiian Punch commercials of the 1960s.

The animated Hawaiian Punch commercials featured a goofy spokestoon asking a more serious guy, "Hey, how'd you like a nice Hawaiian Punch?" When the serious guy replied, "Sure," goofy guy KO'd him.

In their day, those TV commercials delighted children and adults. They even spawned a board game.

Of course, by today's standards the ads are inappropriate. As are the old Bugs Bunny cartoons, Hogan's Heroes, and a host of other things that entertained -- without doing any serious damage to -- the Baby Boomer Generation.

Sources: AdJab and Andertoons