Jolly Green Muscles

In the 1960s, beefcake wasn't common, but if you were diligent, you could find it in some unexpected places, like the Green Giant, (or Jolly Green Giant), who wore a toga made from leaves and flexed gleaming bodybuilder muscles on cans of corn, in magazine ads, and in television commercials (which offered the added bonus of a booming voice).

The character was created by the Minnesota Valley Canning Company in 1928.  He became so popular that the company changed its name to Green Giant in 1950.  He didn't get much of a back story, like other advertising icons; he just lived in a valley, supervised vegetable production, and after 1972, had an apprentice named Sprout (not a son; the Giant remained happily unmarried).