In 1952, Eugene Kolkey, an accomplished graphics artist and art director at Leo Burnett, created a character that was to become the official mascot of Kellogg's new breakfast cereal.

Stan Walsh, Art Babbitt, Arnold Gillesspie, and Michael Lah were the artists/filmmakers that formed the Quartet Films of Hollywood.

Initially, he was voiced by Dallas McKennon, but shortly after the initial Sugar Frosted Flakes advertisements aired, McKennon was replaced by Thurl Ravenscroft, who spent the next five decades providing the characteristic deep bass voice associated with the character, notably the familiar "They're gr-r-reat!"

[10] Tony was a popular figure among the young Italian-American population and it showed in 1974, where he was deemed "Tiger of the Year" in an advertising theme taken from the Chinese Lunar Calendar.

In North America, he was replaced from 2005 onwards by announcer Lee Marshall, who maintained the role until his death from cancer in 2014.

This advertising technique targeted the millions of infants as Antoinette the baby tigress was shown tasting Kellogg's Sugar Frosted Flakes for the first time, followed by the Tony the Tiger slogan.

The evolution of this brand icon continued to rise as Tony the Tiger was featured in a Hot Air Balloon Championship in 1981.

[15] The original Tony the Tiger was more typically tiger-like in shape and was sometimes depicted walking on all fours; he wore a kerchief around his neck and had a football-shaped head.

[18] Twelve years later one of the top oil companies, Esso (now ExxonMobil), began using a similar tiger as a promotional mascot for gasoline products.

[21] Prior to Exxon's newest business addition of opening convenience stores ("Tiger Marts") and selling foods and beverages, the company was cleared of all trademark litigations.

During the preparation of the 1988 Summer Olympics South Korean organizers agreed on the games' mascot Hodori which was very similar to Kellogg's Tony the Tiger.

[24] The very popular cereal company had concerns about the similarity and raised some red flags with trademark registration that same year.

A study published in the journal Obesity Reviews, suggested familiar media character branding appeared to be "a powerful influence on children's preferences, choices and intake of less healthy foods.

"[25] Tony and similar mascots, have been banned from being featured in packaging and advertising in countries like Chile, Peru, Argentina and Mexico.

[26][27][28][29] A study by a coalition that included Action on Sugar and Children's Food Campaign in the UK, found that 51% of 526 assessed "child-friendly" food and drink products with popular cartoon characters on their packaging were high in sugar, saturated fat, salt and fat, with only 18 healthy products such as fruit, vegetables and water were found to use child-friendly cartoons.

"[33][34][35] Consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks dropped 25 percent in the 18 months after Chile adopted these regulations, which also included octagon front-of-package warning labels and a ban on junk food in schools.