A new series of television ads that began airing in the early 1970s spawned a hit song of sorts for the company. The spots featured a character named Great Gildersleeve singing a song called Remember When You Were a Kid, while riding on the boat that took Detroiters to Bob-lo Island, an amusement park on the Detroit River. Viewers began requesting a copy of the song, and the recording was pressed on 45 rpm records, 75,000 of which were sold for 25 cents each. The company's diet soft drink line also remained popular, and Detroit Lions football player-turned actor Alex Karras was signed as its spokesperson. Faygo's advertising presence remained strong, with 4 percent of gross revenues typically channeled into this area.
Faygo had retained ad agency W.B. Doner since the late 1940s, but in 1975 decided to look elsewhere after what seemed to be a creative dry spell. The company went through five firms before returning to Doner in 1980. The agency soon came up with spots for Faygo's diet line that featured nationally known comedienne Joan Rivers. Though her fee was considerably higher than what the company had previously paid for talent, the expense was approved by Mort Feigenson, and the spots did well for the firm. Feigenson prided himself on getting the most for his advertising dollar, and was insistent on making Faygo's ads look as good as those of national competitors such as Coke and Pepsi.
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