Boing Boing linked to a series of old, excessively violent Wilkins Coffee commercials created by Jim Henson way back in 1957. The spots depict two characters, Wilkins and Wontkins. Wontkins doesn't drink Wilkins coffee, so Wilkins offs him in various violent ways. The spots are short and sweet (the local station only had 10-second slots), and were so successful that they were reshot for five other local coffee companies, the only difference being the product shot. Steve Whitmire, the voice of Kermit since 1990, recently visited the Savannah College of Art and Design and shared with us an interesting story about one of the Wilkins commercials. Apparently, in one of those local markets, the spot where Wontkins gets shot in the head from a mysterious arm that appears to his left aired for the first time on the day JFK was assassinated. Of course, it was pulled after complaints, even though no one could have seen that coming, not by a long shot.

—Posted by Rebecca Cullers