Thread by @AdamRy_n

Great products outlive their origin stories.

My favorite example? Flintstones Vitamins.

Here's the story of one of the most successful pharmaceutical products of all time 👇💊🦕

The Flintstones hasn't been on TV for decades. The original run ended almost 60 years ago.

But their gummy vitamins are still in the top-selling kids vitamins, year after year. Adults love them too.

In 2020, the sales of Flintstones vitamins hit $100M for the first time.

Why?

Let's go back to the beginning.

It might surprise you, but The Flintstones was originally meant for adults.

Animation studio Hanna-Barbera wanted to shake off their kids-only rep, and when it premiered in 1960, The Flintstones was the first cartoon to ever get a primetime spot.

One of the most adult things about them? Their biggest sponsor was Winston Cigarettes.

Fred, Barney, and the rest of the Bedrock gang pitched them in fully-animated "integrated commercials."

But by 1963, the family appeal was obvious, and the show's marketing embraced it.

Winston dropped out as a sponsor. The show started airing in color.

A planned pregnancy for Wilma was changed from a "Fred Jr." to a baby girl, because the head of marketing allegedly said: "girl dolls sell a lot better than boy dolls."

By the time Pebbles was born on the show, she was ready for a Welch's grape juice sponsorship. (Check that vitamin C plug.)

Product integration was core to the show from the beginning.

The show ended in 1966, but it went into syndication immediately as a popular Saturday morning cartoon.

And in 1968, Miles Laboratories (another early sponsor) brought a game-changer to the market:

Flintstones Vitamins.

Miles Laboratories was already big. They'd created One-A-Days, Alka-Seltzer, and Chocks, the first chewable kids' vitamin on the market.

But Flintstones Vitamins would make their previous success look like the Stone Age—and change the vitamin world forever.

The marketing was targeted at kids and parents alike, with plenty of tie-ins like mugs, comics, and trading cards you could write away for.

The swag wasn't for the show—it was for the VITAMINS.

(The eBay rabbit hole for this stuff is wild, FYI)

But the true genius behind Flintstones Vitamins wasn't their formula: they were the very first vitamin to be pressed into novelty shapes like cartoon characters.

It was a totally new product innovation.

And in a world of boring oval pills, it blew people's f***in' minds.

Flintstones made Miles dominate the children's vitamin market for years. By 1971, company revenue was $322M ($2.4B today).

During a rough patch in the 70s, Miles sold to Bayer for $253M ($1.29B today). It was the most expensive US acquisition by a foreign pharma company, ever.

Other companies tried to copy Miles' formula for success.

There were monster vitamins ('75), Space Invaders ('81), Pac Man ('83), and Smurfs ('85).

They went at the Flintstones brand for its high sugar content and incomplete vitamins...but they couldn't compete with the king.

And they're still going strong. In 2020, Bayer sold $100M worth of Flintstones vitamins.

How can you explain the half-century staying power?

It's all about product innovation that capitalizes on great storytelling—and self-sustaining nostalgia.

Here's what I mean:

Flintstones (the show) was family-oriented, w/appeal for parents AND kids.

And vitamin purchases—like cereal—are driven by parents (note: I freaking love Fruity Pebbles).

Many of the parents buying this grew up watching the show...or just taking the vitamins.

THAT'S when the switch flips: when people become nostalgic for the brand extension more than the brand itself.

Even if you didn't grow up with The Flintstones, you're familiar with them. Maybe you know the theme song, or a catchphrase.

But you DEFINITELY know the vitamins.

The gummy vitamin market has grown an insane $5B in the last 4 years.

They're now the #1 way under-35s buy their supplements.

Will the OG hang on? I wouldn't be surprised. They've already achieved meme immortality.

The TLDR: people are familiar with the Flintstones *not* because of the show that brought them to life, but because their faces are all over their famous vitamins.

Storytelling + product innovation + nostalgia = generational, origin-eclipsing success.

Thanks for reading. If you enjoyed this deep dive into The Flintstones, you might like my newsletter, Perpetual, where I cover the business of media-building and the creator economy. workweek.com/discover-newsl…