Terry O'Reilly

Chef Hector Boyardi, spelled B-O-I-A-R-D-I, was an Italian immigrant and the head chef at the Plaza Hotel in New York.

Later, he and his wife opened a popular restaurant in Cleveland, where his spaghetti sauce became so popular, they decided to bottle it.

And Hector changed his name on the label to a more phonetic spelling, B-O-Y-A-R-D-E-E, so non-Italians could pronounce it.

The rest is spaghet history.

The very first toy TV commercial ever aimed at kids was created in 1952.

It was for Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head.

The commercial introduced the toy, then showed kids that the box came with eyes, ears, hands, and feet.

All they had to do was supply the potato.

That simple commercial sold over one million Mr. Potato Head kits in its first year.

This first toy commercial would lead to an avalanche of toy commercials now that kids were a captive TV audience.

The car industry threw its arms around television.

In 1964, Ford released the very first commercial for its exciting new sports car, the Mustang.

The one-millionth Mustang would roll off the assembly line just two years later, thanks in large part to television, as the Mustang advertising launch was one of the first to use all three TV networks, CBS, NBC, and ABC, simultaneously.

Ronald McDonald has been a staple of McDonald's advertising since 1963.

It all began when a local Washington, D.C.

McDonald's did a successful promotion with the Bozo the Clown TV show.

Kids love Bozo, and sales shot up 30%.

But when the Bozo TV show was cancelled in 1963, the McDonald's franchise owner saw an opportunity.

First, he hired the actor who played Bozo, named Willard Scott, who years later would go on to become the weatherman on NBC's Today show.

Then the franchise owner gave Willard Scott a new costume and a new name, Ronald McDonald.