Orville Redenbacher, who grew up on an Indiana farm, set out to develop the world's most perfect popping corn. The effort took him through 41 generations of hybrids. After his research, Redenbacher gave all of popcorndom another large boost with his television ads. In 1978 Hunt-Wesson Foods Inc., which had bought out Redenbacher's company, featured him in a $6 million campaign. Not only was this several times the advertising budget of the entire industry at the time, it marked the first national promotion of popcorn.