Moo & Oink facts for kids

Moo & Oink was a well-known meat company based in Chicago, Illinois. It started many years ago, possibly in the 1930s or 1940s, as a family business. They sold different kinds of meat like pork, chicken, beef, and lamb, and were especially popular with soul food restaurants and BBQ places.

The company grew over the years. In 1973, a younger generation took over. They loved meeting customers face-to-face. Around 1976, the company introduced its famous mascots, Moo the cow and Oink the pig. These mascots became so popular that people started calling the company "Moo & Oink."

Fun Promotions and Ads

Moo & Oink was famous for its exciting promotions and advertisements. They had fun events like "The 60-second Shopping Spree" where customers could grab as much as they could in a minute! They also offered great deals, like 50 pounds of food for a low price.

The Catchy Jingle

The company's late-night television commercials were very popular from the late 1970s into the early 2000s. One of the most memorable things about Moo & Oink was its catchy jingle. This jingle was first created for the Bud Billiken Parade, a big parade in Chicago.

Before the mascots, employees at the parade held signs saying things like "clap for catfish" or "scream for chicken wings." A secretary named Lillian Bassett started writing a poem using these phrases. Later, a DJ and commercial editor named Richard Pegue turned it into a finished commercial jingle.

A Rap Commercial Pioneer

The Moo & Oink jingle was one of the first rap commercials for a business. When the Moo & Oink float went down Dr. Martin Luther King Blvd, people sang along because the jingle had been printed in a local newspaper. After the parade, the jingle was played on many radio and TV stations, including WGN and WPWR, for 52 weeks a year!

By the third year the jingle was used in the Bud Billiken Parade, huge crowds of people on both sides of the street sang along. This showed how much customers loved the company and how much the company cared for its customers.

Mascot Appearances

The Moo & Oink mascots were used until about 2004. They didn't talk at first, but they danced and made friends with kids and adults everywhere they went. At one point, there were four sets of Moo & Oink costumes. This meant the mascots could be at different events at the same time, like block parties, church events, and many other community gatherings.

In 2004, Moo & Oink held a contest for a new rap commercial. There were weekly winners, and the finalists competed in a big showdown. In 2005, they even had an ad campaign featuring a superhero called the POWER MAN!

Famous Mentions

The 60-second radio commercials often started with an attention-grabbing "Moo and Oink! Moo Moo Moo!" and ended with the well-known sign-off "Moooooooooooooo 'n' Oink!".

In 2005, famous comedians Tina Fey and Amy Poehler even sang the opening part of the Moo & Oink jingle on the "Weekend Update" section of Saturday Night Live. They did this to show a baseball player, Scott Podsednik, that they were true fans of the Chicago White Sox.

The End of an Era

Moo & Oink became very popular over the years. Their goal was to never lose a customer. They even had many products with the Moo & Oink brand from the 1980s until 2006.

However, the company started to face difficulties after a change in management in October 2006. All Moo & Oink stores closed in 2011 after the company went into Chapter 7 bankruptcy. This means the company had to sell its assets to pay off its debts.

Even though the stores closed, there was interest in buying and bringing back the company. By the end of 2011, another company called Best Chicago Meat bought the Moo & Oink brand and trademark. However, the original stores remained closed.