Ch-ch-ch-chia! Oh yes, today we’re going to talk about that most memorable of terracotta “pets” — the Chia Pet. Whether you have bought yourself one of the quickly blooming plant pets or given one as a gag gift, you probably know at least one person who has had a Chia Pet. But where did the Chia Pet come from, and how did it become so popular?
Mysteriously, it’s hard to find any information on the original designer of the Chia. What we do know is that they were first manufactured in Mexico in workers’ homes in the late ‘70s (they’re now made in China like almost everything else). A man named Walter Houston was the first person to import them into the US, specifically to a popular drugstore chain in Chicago. So how did they become such a national household name? That’s where Joseph Pedott (pictured above) comes in.
Pedott owned an advertising agency, and on a visit to the annual housewares show in Chicago, he asked the buyer for the drugstore chain what their bestseller was during the holiday season — the buyer told him it was the Chia Pet. It sold out every year. Pedott then spoke to Houston, who wasn’t making big margins on the Chia due to a middleman gouging him on the import prices. Pedott ended up buying the rights from Houston, thinking he could do a better job. And boy did he!
Once Pedott cut out that price-gouging middleman, next up it was time to figure out how to advertise the Chia. It was in Chicago again where the infamous jingle was born at a local bar. While out for drinks, a friend of Pedott’s jokingly stuttered the word “ch-ch-ch-chia” and Pedott realized it was super catchy and decided to use it for a jingle. From the moment the first commercial aired with that iconic jingle, Walgreens, one of Pedott’s biggest clients, couldn’t keep the Chia Pets on their shelves.
Though the Chia is called a Chia Pet, the first Chia ever made was actually a Chia Head — the “Chia Guy” was made in 1977, which looked sort of like a weird cross between Elmer Fudd and Homer Simpson (see above picture). The first Pet to really put Chia on the map was a ram-shaped planter released in 1982, which was soon followed by other animal-shaped planters such as a kitten, puppy, frog, pig… the list goes on. And in the year 2000, Chia started creating licensed “character” Chias with the introduction of Looney Tunes like the Tasmanian Devil, Tweety Bird, and an actual Elmer Fudd, soon followed by a Chia Mr. T whose sprouts grew in the shape of his signature mohawk. Today you can get such licensed Chias as Bob Ross, the Golden Girls, Richard Simmons, Baby Groot, The Child from The Mandalorian, and many others.
In 2007, Pedott told the Smithsonian that the company sells about 500,000 Chias every holiday season, and has done so for the past few decades! Did you ever contribute to these sales by buying a Chia Pet? What was your experience like? Let us know in the comments, but first check out one of the original commercials to feature the ch-ch-ch-Chia jingle below.
- In 2008, Pedott told Advertising Age magazine that 90% of all Chia sales happen during the holiday period, and as such Pedott’s company, Joseph Enterprises, only really markets them during that time to capitalize on them being great gifts.
- For the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections in the US, Chia had their own sort of presidential “poll” about who would emerge victorious — the Chia Head of the nominee that outsold the other won both elections (Barack Obama outsold Mitt Romney in 2012, for example).
- Joseph Enterprises is also responsible for another popular item from the ‘80s with its own very memorable jingle that we’ve also discussed here at Retropond — The Clapper! Check out our article to learn more about that technological wonder: The Clapper: Cheer Yourself to Sleep.
- In the late ‘90s, The New York Times included a Chia Pet in their time capsule to be opened in the year 3000. The capsule also includes such items as a can of SPAM, a box of Sudafed, a gold nose ring, and a Beanie Baby. The capsule is kept at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.
- Your Chia Pet will typically sprout within a week if cared for properly, and should last about two weeks. From there, you can peel off your layer of growth and start again, or maybe stow the Chia to use in a White Elephant/Yankee Swap/Whatever You May Call It gift exchange.
- In 2008, Pedott told Advertising Age magazine that 90% of all Chia sales happen during the holiday period, and as such Pedott’s company, Joseph Enterprises, only really markets them during that time to capitalize on them being great gifts.
- For the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections in the US, Chia had their own sort of presidential “poll” about who would emerge victorious — the Chia Head of the nominee that outsold the other won both elections (Barack Obama outsold Mitt Romney in 2012, for example).
- Joseph Enterprises is also responsible for another popular item from the ‘80s with its own very memorable jingle that we’ve also discussed here at Retropond — The Clapper! Check out our article to learn more about that technological wonder: The Clapper: Cheer Yourself to Sleep.
- In the late ‘90s, The New York Times included a Chia Pet in their time capsule to be opened in the year 3000. The capsule also includes such items as a can of SPAM, a box of Sudafed, a gold nose ring, and a Beanie Baby. The capsule is kept at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.
- Your Chia Pet will typically sprout within a week if cared for properly, and should last about two weeks. From there, you can peel off your layer of growth and start again, or maybe stow the Chia to use in a White Elephant/Yankee Swap/Whatever You May Call It gift exchange.
