It was these kinds of insights that Cheskin's research gave his clients that helped shape companies' strategies. Some results of Cheskin and his team's research include: The adoption of the spoon on Betty Crocker packages (leading to a doubling of sales) The consumer flop of the Edsel automobile was predicted in a legendary article Cheskin wrote before its introduction (triggering Henry Ford to hire him shortly afterward) Uncovering the preference of American consumers for circles over triangles on packaging Developing the first successful mainstream margarine (Imperial for Unilever) The basic market research underlying the introduction of the Ford Mustang and the Lincoln Continental The development of the Marlboro Man and Marlboro packaging from what was previously a women's cigarette The creation of the Gerber Baby Rounding the corners of the Fleishmann's Gin label to appeal more to women (who made up nearly 40% of liquor store shoppers) The transformation in the mid-1950s of the Duncan Hines cake mix package toward a more 'colonial' style to reflect American consumers' desire for both newness and tradition The retention of the Golden Arches by McDonald's, which he argued "had Freudian applications to the subconscious mind of the consumer and were great assets in marketing McDonald's food", and likened to "mother McDonald's breasts". Cheskin's approach and successes won respect from corporate leaders at McDonald's, Ford, Polaroid, General Mills, and many others. Henry Ford, Walt Disney, and Ray Kroc personally engaged Cheskin on the basis of his innovative approach. One famous Cheskin study involved the testing of identical deodorants in different packages. Samples were mailed to users and told that the formulations were different. However, the only difference between them was their packaging (three different colour schemes). As one might expect from Cheskin's work, the trials showed that customers preferred one over the others. In fact, some perceived one of the samples as so threatening that they reported rashes and trips to dermatologists, yet had no trouble with the same formula in a different package. Imperial margarine In 1940 margarine wasn't popular in the United States. Consumers were not interested in eating or purchasing it and Cheskin was asked to find out why. At that time, though margarine was common, it was not associated with butter because of its texture and colour; it was white instead of yellow. The obvious solution was to add yellow colouring (where the law allowed), but that didn't mean that