The California Raisins Skateboard

Illustration of a raisin with arms and legs blue and white tennis shoes and riding an orange skateboard with blue and black text on a white background

The California Raisins are a fictional rhythm and blues musical group created in 1987 by the California Raisin Advisory Board as a promotional gimmick for Sun-Maid Raisins.The commercials utilized claymation to deliver performances by anthropomorphized raisins. These ads gained enough popularity to produce merchandise and promotion through tie-ins such as Hardee’s Cinnamon ‘N’ Raisin biscuits and Post Raisin Bran cereal. TV specials followed along with booming merchandise sales of toys and memorabilia with images of the California Raisins characters. Many original promotional items are now popular collectibles or held by permanent museum collections, such as the Smithsonian.