What Happened To Mikey From The 'He Likes It' Life Cereal Commercial?
As far as classic commercials go, few are as iconic as Life cereal's "Three Brothers" ad, which debuted in 1972 and ran for 14 years. The spot sees two brothers dubious about the cereal's taste deciding their picky-eating little brother Mikey will serve as a good guinea pig. Mikey, famously, likes it, and the commercial has been a pop culture touchstone ever since, with the TV spot making best commercials of all time lists decades after its release. So whatever happened to the famous commercial actor, who is he, and what is he doing today?
The cereal-loving Mikey was played by a three-year-old John Gilchrist alongside his real-life brothers Michael and Tommy. While Gilchrist appeared in more than 200 ads as a child, even reprising the role of Mikey in 1986, he ultimately left acting behind in his late teens. Despite this, he remained in the world of advertising and has been serving as Madison Square Garden's director of media sales since 2011. So while you may not see him much anymore, Gilchrist is alive and well, despite what persistent Internet rumors might have you believe.
No, Gilchrist didn't die eating Pop Rocks and soda
If playground rumors are to be believed, John Gilchrist met an untimely death when his stomach exploded after he drank too much soda and ate too many Pop Rocks. While the origin of the urban legend — and why Gilchrist is singled out as its most prominent victim — is unclear, it became so ingrained in pop culture lore that the very first pilot episode of "Mythbusters" dedicated an entire segment to debunking it.
The show found that, while you may end up uncomfortably gassy after combining Coke and popping candy, your internal organs wouldn't burst. So we may not see much of Gilchrist anymore, but it's not on account of a lethal combination of junk food.
Meanwhile, although the Life cereal commercial's continued popularity has shown that it has stood the test of time, its star can't even recall filming it. "It didn't take a lot of talent for me to sit there," Gilchrist told the Orlando Sentinel. "Or at least I don't remember."