10 Films That Surprisingly Boosted Sales Of Food And Drink

7. Popeye The Sailor - Spinach

It's a story surrounded by myths and counter-myths, but the facts are these: perennially popular cartoon sailor Popeye derives his super-strength from spinach and this has made viewers keen to give the leafy vegetable a try. With the Fleischer Studios animated short films produced from 1933 becoming the most popular incarnation of the character, many have assumed that Max Fleischer invented the spinach connection. Certainly E.C. Segar, creator of the original comic strip, initially had Popeye attribute his strength to rubbing the head of Bernice the Whiffle Hen (not a euphemism), but Segar had introduced the spinach element shortly before it appeared on film. The Fleischer films definitely popularised the idea, though. There is also an even more popular story that Popeye's love of spinach originates from a myth about the vegetable's high iron content owing to a misplaced decimal point in a Victorian science paper. This in itself is a myth, as Segar actually selected spinach because it's rich in Vitamin A. The most popular story about Popeye and spinach, though, is that the cartoons were so popular that he single-handedly saved America's spinach industry during the Great Depression. Apparently Popeye popularity boosted spinach sales by 33% in the mid-1930s. There is plenty of debate about how much this can be attributed to Popeye specifically, but research suggests a positive Popeye effect on spinach consumption continues to this day in areas where Popeye cartoons still air. There is even Popeye brand canned spinach these days, the ultimate real world representation of a fictional character's market influence.