The Vlasic company says that the idea for a Stork for their advertising character came about in the late 1960's when they launched their first television advertising campaign. Common folklore of the time held that pregnant women craved pickles, so Vlasic marketed themselves as "the pickle pregnant women crave . . . after all, who's a better pickle expert?" This made the product unique and memorable. Later, during the 70's, when women were entering the workforce in force, the Vlasic stork's commercials had the theme: "With the birth rate down, I deliver Vlasic pickles instead." In 1978, Vlasic Foods merged with the Campbell Soup company.