Joseph Pedott, entrepreneur who sparked Chia Pet craze, dies at 91

Amid a sickly and harrowing childhood — he spent years in a convalescent house and later fled an abusive father — Mr. Pedott cultivated an innate streak of creativity that, in time, discovered a perfect outlet in promoting and the world of novelties.

The Chicago native settled in San Francisco and based an promoting company in 1958. In 1977, enterprise took him again to his hometown, the place an encounter at a housewares conference piqued his curiosity.

A purchaser for a drugstore chain talked about that his hottest vacation vendor was a ceramic figurine then imported from Mexico. Soaked in water, and lined with a paste of fast-germinating Salvia hispanica or Chia seeds, it could sprout a inexperienced coat that seemed one thing like hair. The inventor, Walter Houston, was dropping cash on the product and agreed to promote it to Mr. Pedott for $25,000.

Mr. Pedott traveled to Mexico, reduce out a thieving intermediary, and relaunched the product now generally known as the Chia Pet by means of a producing firm, Joseph Enterprises. The primary extensively distributed animal incarnation of Chia merchandise, launched in 1982, was a ram.

Mr. Pedott didn’t create however was credited with recognizing the brilliance of the jingle proposed to him. “A pal jokingly stuttered ‘ch-ch-ch-Chia,’” Mr. Pedott advised an interviewer years later. “I grabbed his arm and stated, ‘Hey, that’s catchy. Let’s incorporate it.’”

The “Ch-ch-ch-Chia” tune turned acquainted to tens of millions of TV watchers and helped make the Chia Pet probably the most standard gadgets within the historical past of novelty gross sales. Extra animal Chia creations adopted — turtles, kittens, puppies and dinosaurs.

Different Chia collectible figurines included George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Elmer Fudd and Bart Simpson. Lately, Mr. Pedott offered Chia statuettes within the likenesses of latest presidents and presidential candidates.

He was pressured to tug the Barack Obama Chia from some cabinets in 2009 amid complaints that its inexperienced Afro was racist.

Mr. Pedott, a Republican who enthusiastically supported Obama, insisted that he supposed the product as an homage. He was gratified, he stated, when he had the chance to personally current the commander in chief together with his Chia namesake; Obama, by Mr. Pedott’s account, accredited.

Mr. Pedott’s firm marketed Chia Pets all over the world. Chia gross sales in the US have topped 25 million, the publication Adweek reported.

Via his promoting and manufacturing corporations, Mr. Pedott was additionally largely answerable for popularizing the Clapper, a gadget that, when linked to a lamp or equipment on the electrical outlet, permits a consumer to show the equipment on or off with a forceful clap. It was first offered in 1985.

Mr. Pedott stated that when he purchased the product, it was known as the Nice American Flip On however was higher at blowing televisions out than turning them on. He improved the design earlier than launching the Clapper, with the memorable “Clap on, clap off” jingle, in commercials that showcase its utility for individuals too weary to stand up to activate or off a light-weight.

Joseph Pedott was born in Chicago on April 14, 1932. He contracted rheumatic fever at age 11, resulting in his keep within the convalescent house. One of many workers on the facility was Rod Serling, later the creator of the TV anthology collection “The Twilight Zone.” They remained buddies for years.

Mr. Pedott’s mom, a homemaker, died when Mr. Pedott was 13. His father, a doctor who labored for the Veterans Administration, was “aggressive” and “bodily,” Mr. Pedott advised the publication Advert Age. He discovered refuge on the YMCA, “consuming off a scorching plate,” and at different factors lived in a foster facility and with the household of a pal.

He was enduringly grateful to a social providers group for teenagers in Chicago, which offered him a scholarship and stipend throughout a few of his tougher occasions. He made that group, amongst others, the recipient of his substantial philanthropy over time.

He credited the group with serving to him discover his solution to the College of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, the place he studied media and journalism and acquired a bachelor’s diploma in 1955.

Mr. Pedott began an company with a fellow pupil whereas nonetheless in school and was invited by a professor, he advised an alumni publication, to show promoting 101 earlier than he had graduated.

He labored for a number of years at an promoting company in Chicago earlier than shifting to San Francisco. By his depend, he wrote “a minimal of two,000 commercials” starting within the period of black-and-white reside TV.

In 2018, Mr. Pedott offered his corporations to the Nationwide Leisure Collectibles Affiliation. Each the Chia Pet and the Clapper are included within the collections of the Smithsonian Establishment.

Mr. Pedott was by no means married. His solely speedy survivor is his companion of almost three a long time, Carol Katz of San Francisco.

Throughout his a long time in enterprise, Mr. Pedott marketed an array of merchandise with one identify catchier than the following. There have been, amongst others, the Backyard Weasel, a helpful backyard device, and the ‘Ove’ Glove oven mitt.

The Clapper may not have been offered beneath its now-well-known moniker had Mr. Pedott not overruled some buddies who objected to it.

“I had invited six {couples} over for dinner. I stated, ‘The dinner isn’t free — I want a reputation for the product.’ However I already had a reputation in thoughts so I stated, ‘What about The Clapper?’” Mr. Pedott recalled.

“They stated, ‘No.’ I stated, ‘Why?’ And somebody stated, ‘Nicely, the clap.’ I advised them they’d a grimy thoughts.”