Conspinachy Theory

[Birchy]

Were the creators of Popeye given any incentive to promote the consumption of spinach to young viewers?

[gazzawazza]

I was told (don't know how true this is) that Popeye started out as an advert for spinach.

[Chillum]

Have you also noticed that no one had even heard of anorexia until Olive Oyle appeared on the scene. One good role model (male), one bad role model (female). Coincidence? You be the judge.

[solo1bc]

I'm not sure about Popeye but Cannabis was made illegal to sell more fertilizers (Dupont Chemicals lobbied the US government as cotton needs fertilizers and hemp doesn't) so if they can get hemp and cannabis banned all around the world based on that then why not Popeye!

[Sequin]

It was all due to a misprint in US Government Food tables - a misplaced decimal point made it seem that spinach contained 10 times more Iron than it actually does, so folks over there started pumping their kids full of spinach in the hope that they'd grow up big and strong. Popeye's creators jumped on the bandwagon

[ll_billym]

Frankly none of the above sound plausible.  Sorry.

[Octavius]

Popeye cartoons became the Fleischers' (Max & Dave) leading attraction. By 1938, Popeye replaced Mickey Mouse as the most popular cartoon character in America.

The Fleischers rummaged through the original EC 'Elzie' Segar comic strip for supporting characters and new plot lines.  While in the comic strip, Popeye gained his great strength from rubbing the Whiffle Hen, the Fleischers added the gimmick of Popeye's power being largely dependent on the ingestion of spinach. Farmers in America's self-styled "spinach capital" of Crystal City, Texas set up a statue of Popeye in gratitude for the publicity. 

The Fleischer brothers were Austrian Jews who emigrated to New York at a very early age at the turn of the last century, they have no known connection with the spinach producing industry. 

[Sequin]

From Wikipedia:

The reference to spinach comes from the publication of a study which, because of a misprint, attributed to spinach ten times its actual iron content. Nevertheless, the popularity of the character helped boost sales of the vegetable and the spinach-growing community of Crystal City, Texas erected a statue of the character in gratitude. There is another Popeye statue in Segar's hometown, Chester, Illinois.
The people of erected this statue of Popeye in honor of creator Segar.
The people of Chester, IL erected this statue of Popeye in honor of creator Segar.

It has also been c[i]laimed that the "spinach" Popeye used was a reference to marijuana. Spinach was a slang term for marijuana at the time of Popeye's creation, and it was believed by some during that time period that marijuana could give users superhuman strength.

Currently Popeye Fresh Foods markets bagged fresh spinach with Popeye characters on the package. Allens Canning markets Popeye-branded canned spinach.