Recognize the woman in the photo? No? Well, her name is Judy Protas and she is both 91 years young and the happiest person you would ever want to meet.
I had the good fortune of talking with Judy awhile back for a book I’m working on. And I just couldn’t get over her unabiding sense of mirth. She simply radiates joy and laughter, with a special gift for noticing and celebrating the hidden child in us all. So is it any wonder that Judy, a big-time advertising copywriter during the Mad Men-era of the 1960s, wrote the famous Crackerjack TV commercial jingle? You know the one:
Whadda you want
When you gotta eat somethin’
And it’s gotta be sweet
And it’s gotta be a lot
And you gotta have it now
Whadda you want…
Lip-smackin’, whip-crackin’, paddy- whackin’, knickin’-knackin’, silver-rackin’, scoundrel-whackin’, cracker-jackin’
Crackerjack
Candy-coated popcorn, peanuts, and a prize
That’s what you get in Crackerjack
So, move over Don Draper and Peggy Olson—-Judy Protas is the real deal. And on behalf of the ever-present kid in me, I say “thank you!”
