The Pillsbury Company is a US-based company that was one of the world's largest cake manufacturers and producers of grain and other foodstuffs until it was bought by General Mills in 2001. General Mills brands consist of Annie's, Betty Crocker, Nature Valley, Yoplait, Haagen-Dazs, and Blue Buffalo. It also has ownership in various cereal products including Cheerios, Chex, Lucky Charms, Trix, and Cocoa Puffs. Antitrust law required General Mills to sell off some of the products, so the company kept the rights to refrigerated and frozen Pillsbury branded products, while dry baking products and frosting were sold to the Orrville, Ohio–based Smucker company under license. Brynwood Partners agreed to purchase Pillsbury from Smuckers for 375 million in July 2018. In September 2018, the sale was completed along with other brands including Martha White and Hungry Jack. Advertising company Leo Burnett Worldwide created Pillsbury's Doughboy and Jolly Green Giant, which are two of the agency's top brand icons. History Founding and early development "C.A. Pillsbury and Company" was founded in 1869 by Charles Alfred Pillsbury and his uncle John S. Pillsbury. The company was second in the United States (after Washburn-Crosby) to use steel rollers for processing grain. The finished product required transportation, so the Pillsburys assisted in funding railroad development in Minnesota. In 1889, Pillsbury and its five mills on the banks of the Mississippi River were purchased by a British company. The company also tried to purchase and merge with the Washburn Crosby Company (a precursor of General Mills), but the principals at Washburn prevented the takeover. In 1923, the Pillsbury family reacquired "Pillsbury-Washburn Flour Mills Company, Limited" which subsequently was incorporated in 1935 as "Pillsbury Flour Mills Company". 1950s In 1949, the company introduced a national baking competition, which came to be known as the Pillsbury Bake-Off; it was nationally broadcast on CBS for many years. Only seven products used the Pillsbury name in 1950, but the company began adding to its product line. The early 1950s brought the acquisition of Ballard & Ballard Company and the beginning of packaged biscuit dough, which would become one of the company's most important and profitable product lines in later decades. The company began advertising heavily on television. In 1957, Pillsbury commissioned a TV commercial jingle (from its advertising agency Leo Burnett) with the main lyrics "Nothin' says lovin/Like somethin' from the oven/And Pillsbury says it best". The jingle became a