NEW YORK (AP) – The Pillsbury Doughboy, the pudgy icon who hawks cookies, baking products and refrigerated rolls with a familiar giggle, kicked off a 40th birthday celebration tour Wednesday with a party in Manhattan’s Times Square.

The Doughboy, also known as Poppin’ Fresh, was introduced to the public in 1965. He was the brainchild of Rudy Perz, a creative director for the Leo Burnett Co. advertising agency.

Perz originally envisioned the Doughboy as an animated character, but he instead was made three-dimensional, said Maribeth Badertscher, a spokeswoman for The J.M. Smucker Co., which acquired the Pillsbury baking products brands last year. It cost $16,000 to make the original Doughboy out of clay, she said.

The Doughboy was dubbed America’s most-loved character in 1987; he was named Toy of the Year in 1972 after a Doughboy doll was introduced.

A city official proclaimed Wednesday Pillsbury Doughboy Day in New York, Badertscher said.