4. Wallace And Gromit - Wensleydale Cheese
Ever since they spent a bank holiday building a rocket to the moon, Wallace and Gromit have been a much cherished British institution. As the British public have taken the eccentric inventor and his faithful canine companion to their hearts, Nick Park's plasticine creations have influenced people's taste in cheese, about which Wallace is crackers. Crumbly Yorkshire favourite Wensleydale got a name check in the duo's moon mission debut A Grand Day Out as the cheese that Wallace speculated might make up the lunar surface. The choice of cheese was not really about flavour and more about how Park liked the sound of the name. Nevertheless, as the Oscar winning short films continued and Wensleydale became established as Wallace's favourite, audiences starting buying the cheese like never before. By the early 1990s the Wensleydale Creamery was close to bankruptcy.
Thanks to the association with the Wallace and Gromit shorts the company was not only saved but went from strength to strength. Turnover quadrupled in the wake of the claymation characters' endorsement. It became so successful that a mere mention of perry-based cheese Stinking Bishop in the feature length Curse Of The Were-Rabbit had
the small Gloucestershire based farm that produces it worried that demand could completely outstrip supply.