Cocoa Puffs Cereal | MrBreakfast.com See the Top 100 Breakfast Cereals. Sonny the Cuckoo Bird, the mascot for Cocoa Puffs, has been "coo-coo for Cocoa Puffs" since he was first created and voiced in the early 1960's. His trademark catchphrase has become so ingrained in American culture that it is now used as slang for "insane". When introduced, Cocoa Puffs was basically sweetened, chocolate-flavored Kix cereal. In the mid-50's, General Mill also created Trix cereal and Sugar Jets cereal by enhancing the corn puff pieces associated with Kix. Company Description: Officially created in 1928, General Mills traces it's history back to the 1860's and the ownership of two flour mills. Since then, the company has become the world's 6th largest food company - marketing to over 100 countries...

Read on and see all cereals from General Mills This cereal belongs to the following Mr Breakfast Cereal Families: EgoTV » Blog Archive The 10 Most Famous Breakfast Cereal Mascots (2) Comments April 25, 2011 at 10:17 am For anyone who’s been a kid in the past 40 years, breakfast cereals have played an integral role in the childhood experience. Cereals are one of only a few consumer products that are consistently marketed to children, resulting in a colorful cast of charmingly memorable cartoon mascot characters that quickly became pop icons. Here are the 10 best cartoon mascots in breakfast cereal history: Tony the Tiger Frosted Flakes Tony the Tiger has been a staple in the cereal mascot character world since 1952, when a graphic artist submitted Tony the Tiger to a Kellogg’s Cereal Mascot contest. During the contest, Tony had to compete against 3 other potential mascots: Katy the Kangaroo, Elmo the Elephant, and Newt the Gnu.

Obviously, Tony the Tiger kicked their butts, and he was later given the prestigious title of official mascot of Kellogg’s Sugar Frosted Flakes (the name was shortened to just Frosted Flakes in the 1980’s, when cereal companies began frantically dropping the word “sugar” from their names) . For their Frosted Flakes commercials, Kellogg’s hired voiceover artist Thurl Ravenscroft, who spent the next five decades providing the voice for Tony The Tiger. Thurl passed away in 2005, and has since been replaced by play-by-play announcer Jim Van Horne. In the 1970’s, Kellogg’s attempted to humanize Tony the Tiger by giving him an Italian-American heritage and introducing viewers to his family, Mama Tony (his mother), Mrs. Tony (his wife), Tony Jr. (his son), and Antoinette (his daughter). Apparently viewers didn’t like this very much (most likely because it was a little bit racist), and eventually Kellogg’s reverted back to using Tony as a sole spokestiger for Frosted Flakes, although his son, Tony Jr., occasionally makes an appearance.

Unlike many other cereal mascots, Tony’s life is not dedicated to an insurmountable quest to obtain the cereal he promotes. Instead, he just kind of hangs out with kids, watches them play sports, and reminds them that Frosted Flakes are “Grrrrrreat!” Lucky the Leprechaun Lucky Charms Lucky Charms was created by General Mills in 1962 because the company wanted to create a cereal that was based on charm bracelets, which were popular at the time (it was the 60’s. People were easily amused). Lucky the Leprechaun was introduced as the cereal’s official mascot in 1963, and since then he’s become the most popular cereal spokes-character in the world. Since his first appearance, Lucky’s been portrayed as a stereotypical leprechaun who’s constantly battling the meddling children who are trying to steal his Lucky Charms, but in recent years General Mills has significantly downplayed the thieving aspects of Lucky’s storyline. Originally, the oat pieces in Lucky Charms were not frosted, but after a few years General Mills discovered that people hated them. Apparently dry, unfrosted oat bits taste disgusting.

So, GM added some sugar coating to the batch, and they’ve been running with it ever since. Throughout its 49-year life span, Lucky Charms has seen a healthy variety of marshmallow shapes. The original marshmallow shapes were: pink hearts, yellow moons, green clovers, and orange stars, but since then the roster has changed repeatedly and consistently, featuring shapes like diamonds, horseshoes, balloons, pots of gold, shooting stars, leprechaun hats, hourglasses, and magic mirrors. Is there no end to your marshmallow shape-cutting capabilities, Lucky the Leprechaun?! IS THERE NO END?!!! Toucan Sam Froot Loops Toucan Sam is a cartoon bird with the ability to smell Froot Loops cereal from a great distance while chanting “follow my nose!”. Sam has been the Froot Loops mascot since the cereal’s introduction in 1963, and he’s been basically the same ever since. The first Toucan Sam was voiced by Mel Blanc, the voice of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and a handful of the most famous cartoon characters in history.

Originally, Sam’s beak only featured two pink stripes, but in the 1970’s the beak stripes were altered to more accurately reflect the “flavors” that were featured in Froot Loops cereal (red, orange, and yellow). Since then, a number of flavors have been added to Froot Loops, and the cereal now contains 7 different colored loops: red, yellow, orange, green, blue, purple, and gold. Toucan Sam’s beak now features pink, red, and orange stripes. Although these colors are described as “flavors”, every loop in Froot Loops tastes the same. In the early 1990’s, Kellogg’s introduced Toucan Sam’s nephews, Puey, Susey, and Louis, who traveled around with Sam saving the colors, aromas, and flavors from a variety of different commercial villains; a peacock mad scientist, an alien froot monster, an evil froot queen, a toucan pirate, a greedy froot pharaoh, a zany witch doctor, and a karate-fighting koi fish.

Cap’n Crunch Cap’n Crunch Cap’n Horatio Magellan Crunch is the Captain of the Good Ship Guppy and official spokesperson of Cap’n Crunch cereal. The cereal was created by flavorist Pamela Low, who based the flavor on a brown sugar and butter recipe her grandmother used to serve over rice. Cap’n Crunch is the sole spokesman for the cereal, and for 47 years, he’s either been sailing around with kids and fighting evil cereal-stealing pirates, or bursting through children’s bedroom walls on the Good Ship Guppy just in time to save them from a challenging scenario by “crunch-a-tizing” it, meaning that he provides Cap’n Crunch cereal to assist them in accomplishing a task. Over the last 47 years, Quaker Oats (which is actually owned by Pepsi) has introduced nearly 20 different varieties of Cap’n Crunch cereal, the most popular being original Cap’n Crunch, Cap’n Crunch with Crunchberries, and Peanut Butter Cap’n Crunch. In 1971, Captain Crunch cereal boxes contained a tiny plastic whistle intended as a toy for children.

However, a Vietnam veteran named John Draper quickly discovered that the toy whistle could be easily modified to create a tone at 2600 hertz which, when blown into a payphone receiver, would trick the phone into going into “operator” mode, allowing the phone’s user to call anywhere in the world for free. In 2009, Cap’n Crunch was sued by a stupid lady who thought that Crunchberries were actual pieces of fruit. Obviously, she lost the case. Snap, Crackle, and Pop Rice Krispies Rice Krispies spokes-elves Snap, Crackle, and Pop are the oldest cereal advertising characters in the industry. Introduced in 1933, the brotherly elves have hardly changed over the past 78 years of advertising. Snap has always worn a baker’s hat, Crackle always wears a military marching band leader’s cap, and Pop always wears an ambiguous red-and-white striped cap. According to Kellogg’s, the three elves are brothers. Snap is the oldest and most responsible, Crackle is the middle brother, and Pop is the young rebelious elf of the trio.

The character’s names were originally inspired by an early Rice Krispies radio ad which bragged about the awesome sounds that kids would hear when they ate Rice Krispies. For a brief time, a fourth Rice Krispies elf, named Pow, was introduced. According to the commercials, Pow represented the explosive nutritional value of Rice Krispies cereal. However, the character was later abandoned because it’s much more profitably to advertise the sounds your cereal makes to kids, rather than advertising that your cereal is healthy for them. In the early 1990’s, Snap, Crackle, and Pop were re-imagined as superheroes, but Kellogg’s has since reverted to its classic representation of the cereal industry’s oldest spokes-characters. The Trix Rabbit Trix Trix cereal came out in 1954, and in 1959 the Trix Rabbit was introduced as the cereal’s spokes-rabbit. For the past 52 years, the anthropomorphic cartoon rabbit has been trying to trick children into letting him eat Trix cereal. When it was first introduced in the 50’s, Trix cereal was 46% sugar and contained only three colors: red, orange, and yellow.

Since then, much of the sugar content has been taken out, the cereal shapes have been altered to emulate fruit shapes (the originals were just spheres), and many new flavors have been added. A current Trix cereal box contains orange, lemon, cherry, grape, lime, blueberry, and watermelon cereal pieces. In the 1970’s through the 1990’s, most Trix commercials depicted the Trix rabbit attempting to wear a disguise in order to trick children into giving him Trix cereal. The rabbit always failed and was sometimes incredibly racist (see the Trix commercial where the rabbit dresses up like a Native American). Despite his ongoing quest, the Trix rabbit did get to eat Trix cereal on two occasions (in 1976 and 1990) as the result of a box top mail-in contest in which kids voted to decide whether the Trix rabbit should get to eat Trix or not. In both cases, kids overwhelmingly voted in support of the cartoon rabbit. Buzz, The Honey Nut Cheerios Bee Honey Nut Cheerios The Honey Nut Cheerios Bee was introduced with the birth of Honey Nut Cheerios, a sweeter alernative to the traditional Cheerios cereal.

Honey Nut Cheerios was manufactured with actual nuts until 2006, when a natural flavor alternative was adopted. The bee originally did not have a name, but in 2000, a Texas fifth grader won a national contest to name the Honey Nut Cheerios Bee. Her submission, “Buzzbee”, was later shortened to just “Buzz”. Throughout his advertising history, Buzz’s objective has frequently changed. Originally, Honey Nut Cheerios commercials featured adults talking about how delicious and healthy the cereal was. In the late 80’s and 90’s, the commercials featured Buzz trying to tempt someone to eat Honey Nut Cheerios. Usually, the person would refuse at first, but Buzz’s tenacity would eventually get the best of them, and when they finally gave in and tried Honey Nut Cheerios, they would be very satisfied. The original voice of Honey Nut Cheerios passed away in 1992, and Buzz’s voice has since been provided by Billy West, who did the voice of Stimpy on Ren & Stimpy and currently voices Fry on Futurama.

Dig’Em, The Honey Smacks Frog Honey Smacks Honey Smacks cereal was introduced in 1953, and since then it’s been represented by more cereal mascots than any other brand. The first mascot (in 1957) was Smaxey the Seal. Hanna Barbera’s cartoon horse sheriff Quick Draw McGraw took over in 1961. 1965 saw the introduction of The Smackin’ Bandit, a half-horse-half-kangaroo who kissed everybody. In the early 70’s, an Indian Chief mascot was introduced, but this character was quickly replaced by Dig’Em the Frog, who proved to be the most successful mascot to date. Dig’Em was temporarily replaced by a cartoon bear (which was more relatable to honey than a frog), Wally the Bear. Commercials featured Wally basically copying the Trix rabbit and trying to get a kid’s Honey Smacks. After a year, Dig’Em was brought back. In the 1990’s, Dig’Em was given a nemesis: a cartoon cat named Kitty.

In 2007, Consumer Reports published a study of 27 cereals and found that Honey Smacks had the highest sugar content of any of them (over 50% sugar). Because of this, many countries stopped selling Honey Smacks cereal. While the cereal is still sold in the U.S., commercials for Honey Smacks do not appear on U.S. television. In other countries, where the cereal is still advertised on television, Dig’Em is portrayed as a Smacks addict who’s frantically obsessed with the cereal. Sonny the Cuckoo Bird Cocoa Puffs General Mills introduced Cocoa Puffs in 1958 as the first chocolate-flavored cold cereal. Sonny the Cuckoo Bird is the original and only cartoon mascot for Cocoa Puffs cereal, and his catchphrase “I’m cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs!” has been used since his introduction 53 years ago. Sonny originally wore a signature pink and white striped shirt, but his trademark wardrobe was replaced in 1993 with a more modern wardrobe.

Sonny has a history of being hip and cool, often skateboarding or participating in other youth-oriented activities while proclaiming his undying love (addiction to?) Cocoa Puffs cereal. On several occasions, Cocoa Puffs boxes have advertised that they contain real Nestle chocolate. Essentially, Cocoa Puffs are just chocolate-flavored Kix, much like the original Trix were fruit-flavored Kix. In fact, Kix are produced in the same factory as Cocoa Puffs, and in 2008 Cocoa Puffs Combos were introduced. The Combos variety contained both chocolate and “vanilla” spheres, and was essentially just Cocoa Puffs mixed with Kix. Count Chocula Count Chocula Count Chocula is a lanky, well-dressed, buck-toothed vampire who’s replaced his traditionally insatiable appetite for blood with an incurable craving for chocolate. He was first introduced in 1971, when Count Chocula and Boo Berry cereal hit the store shelves. A few years later, Frankenberry was added to the General Mills Monster-Themed cereals family, and the three brands were usually advertised in commercials together.

In the late 70’s, General Mills introduced the short lived Fruit Brute cereal/character, which was a Fruit-loving Werewolf. This brand was pulled after only a couple of years, and it was later replaced by Fruity Yummy Mummy. Despite popular belief, the monster-themed cereals are still being manufactured and distributed in the U.S., but consumers may find it difficult to track these cereals down, as they’re not sold in most retail grocery stores. Luckily, some stores ramp up their stocks during the Halloween season, when consumers are approximately 1 billion times more likely to buy vampire-themed cereals. If you’re really craving some Count Chocula cereal and find that it’s not available at your local grocery store, many people suggest simulating the flavor of the cereal by eating Froot Loops in Nesquik chocolate milk. In its commercials, General Mills went to painstaking lengths to ensure that its vampire, Frankenstein, and Ghost spokes-characters did not come across as frightening to children, and considering they were advertising monster-based foods to kids, I’d say they did a pretty good job. Top Cereal Mascots Top Cereal Mascots 0 Cereal mascots have captured the imagination of kids for decades.

Not surprisingly, that fascination has turned to nostalgia for bloggers and artists alike. In the amazing image above, Rob Sheridan explores what a cereal mascot reunion would be like, once the magic is gone. Frankenberry, the Trix Rabbit, Count Chocula, Cap’n Crunch, and Tony The Tiger sit around a dark basement, smoking cigarettes, playing Atari, looking at porn and drinking beer. As oddly amusing as that image is, we prefer to think of these mascots in their cereal peddling heyday. And that leads us to wonder – who is the ‘best’ of these characters? So, in no particular order, here are the most popular cereal mascots we could find, and we’ll let you decide the best one in the comments at the bottom of this article. Count Chocula – General Mills I’d argue this guy is the most popular of the General Mills Monster Cereals… I mean, he said “I vant to eat your cereal!” and those arguments he had with Frankenberry were nothing short of Abbott and Costello classic. Frankenberry – General Mills Long before we had Tinkey Winkey, the purple Teletubbie said to be homosexual by the Rev.

Jerry Falwell, we had Frankenberry, the pink, passive, wimpy monster who was scared of Boo Berry and acted like a sissy. I don’t know a single dude who ate this cereal, but I spent years watching him throw hissy-fits as Count Chocula out-dueled him in which-cereal-is-better arguments. Boo Berry – General Mills The Boo Berry ghost was born in 1973 and went through several changes over the years ( see them here ). As for the cereal itself… I believe I tried it once and I was spitting blue for the rest of the day. Snap Crackle and Pop – Rice Krispies This was the only cereal on this list that my mother routinely bought for us, probably because it had less sugar than the others. Here is a nice vintage commercial which is almost nothing like the more modern versions The Trix Rabbit – General Mills Silly rabbit, Trix are for kids! That poor rabbit just couldn’t get a break. The kids kept taking his cereal! Tony the Tiger – Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes They’re Grrrreat! I think that’s about all this cat is known for. Too bad, because he seems to have so much more potential.

L.C. Leprechaun – Lucky Charms The fun part about this cereal was memorizing all of the names of the marshmallows. It started with pink hearts, yellow moons, orange stars, and green clovers. The lineup has changed over the years, with blue diamonds in 1975. Purple horseshoes in 1984, red balloons in 1989, rainbows in 1992, pots of gold in 1994, leprechaun hats in 1996, shooting stars in 1998, and hourglass in 2008. Dig’em Frog – Kellogg’s Sugar Smacks This frog’s big thing was slapping five to kids and vice versa. Never had the luxury of trying this cereal, because with ‘sugar’ in the title my mother instantly objected. Toucan Sam – Kellogg’s Froot Loops I don’t know what it was about Toucan Sam, but whatever it was, I wanted that cereal! Just had it the other day, and I could feel my teeth rotting in my skull.

Cap’n Crunch – Quaker Oats The good Captain was probably the least silly and most well-spoken of all the cereal mascots on the list, but the cereal itself looked like little doggie biscuits. Didn’t taste too bad, though. Sonny – General Mills Cocoa Puffs I’m cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs! Now this guy rules and I hope he wins your affection in the comments below. Buzz Bee – Honey Nut Cheerios Like Rice Krispies, this cereal, relatively speaking, was healthier, therefore my mother fed it to me more often than the more sugary kinds. And this character clearly paved the way for Jerry Seinfeld’s Bee Movie. Sunny – Kellogg’s Raisin Bran Two scoops of raisins, in Kellogg’s Rainsin Bran! I didn’t care for the stupid sun coming up and dumping two scoops of raisins in my Kellog’s Raisin Bran. I was more into that whole California Raisin fad.

Sugar Bear – Post Super Golden Crisp I really like this guy’s theme song, which goes… “Can’t get enough of Super Golden Crisp… It’s got the crunch with punch.” Mikey – Quaker Oats Life Last but not least, the most popular human mascot I’ve ever run across in a cereal commercial, almost entirely because of a famous phrase: So it’s up to you, which is your favorite Cereal Mascot? Let us know in the comments below. 20 Most Memorable Cereal Slogans | MrBreakfast.com 20 Most Memorable Cereal Slogans By Mr Breakfast Plop, plop, fizz, fizz - Oh what a relief it is when advertisers come up with the perfect catchphrase or slogan to sell a product. This is our list of the most memorable lines ever used to sell a breakfast cereal. Before you read the list, ask yourself, "Got Milk?" Because the best slogans not only bring the product to mind, they also make you a little hungry for Incredible, Edible... breakfast cereals. See if your favorite tagline made the cut. #20. "The cereal shot from guns" The grandaddy of cereal slogans is for Quaker Puffed Rice.

The cereal is actually made using a process that resembles shooting rice from a gun. In 1904, Quaker introduced the cereal to the mass public by shooting Puffed Rice from cannons at the World's Fair. In 1913, an astute ad man decided to promote the cereal by exploiting how it's made and this famous, yet mostly forgotten, slogan was invented. More about Quaker Puffed Rice #19. "Brings out the tiger in you, in you!" Tony the Tiger may be the most famous breakfast cereal mascot of all time (and possible the most well known for any product). When you hear this slogan, you know exactly who the tiger is and the product he promotes. Most people automatically hear the musical jingle in their head. It's a triple whammy. You might say, It's Grrrr... (keep reading). More about Frosted Flakes #18. "What are you eating? Nutin' honey." This slogan for Kellogg's Nut & Honey Crunch was a study in name reinforcement. When characters in commercials were asked what they were eating, their reply of "Nut & Honey" was misinterpreted as "Nutin' (ie.

nothing) honey." By the time the person asking figured out what was going on (if they ever did), the name of the cereal had been spoken several times - so many times that it's now in our heads forever. More about Nut & Honey Crunch #17. "It takes (x) bowls of your cereal to match the nutrition in one bowl of Total." This bold ad campaign would pit Total cereal against best-selling cereals in a battle of nutrition. TV ads would show characters enjoying their favorite cereal only to be told by an off-screen voice that they'd have to eat several bowls (usually quantified by an exact number) of their cereal to equal the vitamin nutrition in a bowl of Total. More about Total #16. "Stays crunchy, even in milk!" When Cap'n Crunch cereal was introduced in 1963, the idea of a crunchy breakfast cereal was fairly new. In fact, the cereal was created as a response to a study that showed children, on average, didn't care for soggy cereals. This catchphrase (along with the obvious implication of the cereal's name) may be the reason we still hold Cap'n Crunch as the standard by which all crunchy cereals are measured.

More about Cap'n Crunch #15. "Can't get enough Super Sugar Crisp" This one-line jingle for Super Sugar Crisp was delivered with a cool assured swagger by the cereal's mascot Sugar Bear. The voice of Sugar Bear was inspired by crooner and actor Dean Martin. Super Sugar Crisp was originally called Sugar Crisp. During that time, the slogan went: "Can't get enough of that Sugar Crisp." More about Super Sugar Crisp #14. "Quisp for Quazy energy" Early boxes of Quisp cereal claimed it was "the vitamin powered sugary cereal for QUAZY energy." Despite having quite a quirky and que-ative catchphrase, most people remember this cereal by a visual recognition of it's mascot, a pink alien with a propeller poking out of his head. More about Quisp #13. "It's a honey of an O..." ... It's Honey Nut Cheerios. This was the cereal's most famous tagline throughout the 80's. A later line, "nobody can say no to Honey Nut Cheerios," may have sold some boxes by never resonated in our collective memory.

The cereal's current catchphrase, "Bee Happy, Bee Healthy" is a real contender to make this list in the coming years. More about Honey Nut Cheerios #12. "Kid tested. Mother approved." This famous tagline for Kix Cereal first appeared in 1978. The cereal itself was introduced several decades earlier in 1937. According to ads, kids liked the crisp corn crunch, while moms liked nutritional aspects of the cereal. Another memorable line was "Kids love Kix for what Kix has got. Moms love Kix for what Kix has not." More about Kix #11. "Honey-Comb's big! Yeah, yeah, yeah! It's not small... no, no, no!" According to the rest of the jingle, "Honey-Comb's got... a big, big taste... a big, big crunch... for a big, big bite!" The jingle was popular throughout the late-70's and early-80's. In TV ads, it was often sung by kids in the Honey-Comb Hideout, a plank board shack where youngsters met to appreciate the size and taste of the cereal.

More about Honey-Comb #10. "Two scoops of raisins..." The idea that Kellogg's Raisin Bran has "two scoops of raisins in every box" was first hammered into our brains in late 1960's. It was a far more effective slogan than earlier efforts like "the sunniest bran under the sun" or "cereal with fruit". Kellogg's Raisin Bran first hit store shelves in 1942. More about Kellogg's Raisin Bran #9. "A is for Apple. J is for Jacks." Cinnamon toasty Apple Jacks. This catchy jingle was popular from the early 80's all the way through the early 90's. The rest of the lyrics changed from commercial to commercial. One ad finished the song like this: "Lot's of crunch in every bite... just right for your appetite. Apple Jacks... Apple Jacks... Apple flavor, that's where it's at... Cinnamon toasty, apple tasty... Kellogg's Apple Jacks!" More about Apple Jacks #8. "Snap! Crackle!

Pop!" These are arguably the three most familiar words in the English language (which pertain to selling breakfast cereal). They were first heard in a radio jingle in 1932, four years after the cereal was introduced. They mimicked the sound the cereal made when doused with milk. In 1939, Snap! Crackle! and Pop! also began referring to the cereal's three mascots. That was the year they first appeared together on a package. Snap! had appeared years earlier as a solo act. More about Rice Krispies #7. "Follow my nose. It always knows." This slogan for Froot Loops continues, "The flavor of fruit! Wherever it grows!" The "nose" in question belongs to Toucan Sam, the cereal's mascot since 1963. When the tagline debuted, the voice of Toucan Sam was provided by Mel Blanc who also created voices for Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and Barney Rubble. More about Froot Loops #6. "I'm coo-coo for Cocoa Puffs!" This slogan for munchy, crunchy, chocolatey Cocoa Puffs was first heard in 1963.

It was delivered by Sonny the Cuckoo Bird. In TV ads, the animated bird would go absolutely bonkers when exposed to the cereal, Most often, he would repeat the tagline three times in quick succession. More about Cocoa Puffs #5. "The Breakfast of Champions" This famous tagline for Wheaties debuted in the early 1930's on a billboard at a minor league baseball game. Wheaties is responsible for two major milestones in breakfast cereal advertising. In 1926, it was the first cereal to ever have a jingle. In 1939, it was the first cereal to ever be advertised on television. More about Wheaties #4. "He likes it! Hey Mikey!'" This catch phrase for Life Cereal is from the longest continuously running commercial campaigns in television history. It was 1972 when America first heard, "I'm not gonna try it - you try it. Let's get Mikey... he hates everything." In the end, the finicky young eater liked the cereal. The Mikey character reemerged in the mid-80's as a young adult (played by the same actor, John Gilchrist) in a tribute to the original commercial.

More about Life Cereal #3. "They're Magically Delicious!" This tagline was part of a short jingle that went "Frosted Lucky Charms... they're magically delicious!" It was sung by Lucky The Leprechaun, the cereal's mascot since Lucky Charms debuted in 1964. Lucky is responsible for another famous catchphrase, "They're Always After Me Lucky Charms!" More about Lucky Charms #2. "Silly Rabbit, Trix are for kids!" Trix cereal first hit shelves in 1954. Four years later, the Trix Rabbit appeared on the box. In his words, "Rabbits are supposed to like carrots. But I hate carrots. I like Trix." Unfortunately, every time the rabbit would get close to eating Trix, some kid would appear and say the famous line. In 1980, General Mills ran a promotion asking kids to vote whether or not the Rabbit should get to eat Trix. The nation's kids voted in favor of the rabbit. He got to eat one bowl. More about Trix #1.

"They're Gr-r-reat!" Tony The Tiger has been the mascot for Frosted Flakes Cereal since 1952 when it was called Sugar Frosted Flakes. The cereal has had a few memorable taglines over the years, including "They bring out the tiger in you" and "The taste adults have grown to love." But the most popular line, by far, was Tony's deep-throated "They're not good. They're Gr-r-reat!" Cocoa Puffs Cereal Cocoa Puffs Cereal Cocoa Puffs Cereal Cocoa Puffs is a chocolate flavored corn puff cereal. The cartoon mascot for Cocoa Puffs is Sonny the Cuckoo Bird. In the television commercials, Sonny tries to focus on a task, but ends up losing concentration when he comes across Cocoa Puffs. He then bursts with enthusiasm, saying, "I'm cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs!" Recipe for Cocoa Puffs Choco Milkshake-- Ingredients: 2 cups of coco puff cereal 1 tsp of honey 1 small banana Preparation Instructions: Put all ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth. Pour into a tall glass and serve!

Breakfast cereal mascots: Beloved and bizarre - Photo 1 - Pictures - CBS News Breakfast cereal mascots: Beloved and bizarre Next A 2011 article in Pediatrics magazine found that children who had been asked to taste a "new" cereal reported liking the same cereal more if there were a popular character depicted on the box. "The use of media characters on food packaging affects children's subjective taste assessment," the study concluded. Little surprise, given the long history of breakfast cereal manufacturers marketing their wares with the help of colorful cartoon characters or figures already familiar from TV, movies and comic books. The following gallery shows some of the more famous (and infamous) breakfast cereal mascots. Left: Quisp, introduced in 1965 by Quaker Oats, was discontinued in the 1970s, but in recent years has returned to Earth via online outlets. By CBSNews.com senior editor David Morgan Credit: CBS News In 1952 one of Kellogg's iconic products -- sugar-frosted flakes -- was introduced with a roar by Tony the Tiger ("They're grrrrrrrrreat!").

Credit: CBS News By 1933 the elves "Snap, Crackle and Pop" had become the official spokespersons of Kellogg's Rice Krispies. Credit: CBS News In 1971 General Mills introduced two cereals featuring monsters: Count Chocula (a chocolate-flavored cereal, with chocolate-flavored marshmallow bits), and the strawberry-flavored Franken Berry. The following year saw the entry of Boo Berry. Although all three cereals are still produced to this day, another monster cereal did not fare so well: Fruit Brute, which was discontinued in the 1980s. Credit: CBS News Fruit Brute was succeeded by Fruity Yummy Mummy, a fruit flavor-frosted cereal with vanilla flavor "monster mallows." Like Fruit Brute, Fruity Yummy Mummy did not stalk grocery store aisles for long. Credit: CBS News The Quaker Oats Man dates back to 1877, and was the first registered trademark for a cereal. Credit: CBS News In 1972 Ralston launched Freakies, a presweetened cereal that was "grown" at the site of the legendary Freakies Tree.

Helping youngsters dig into their Freakies were seven freaky creatures named BossMoss, Cowmumble, Gargle, Grumble, Goody-Goody, Hamhose and Snorkeldorf. Credit: CBS News Cocoa Puffs (similar to General Mills' Kix, but with chocolate) was introduced in 1958. A few years later Sonny the Cuckoo Bird was created as its mascot ("I'm cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs!"). Credit: CBS News In the 1960s So-Hi (named as such because he was, well, only "so high") was the Oriental advertising icon for Post's Sugar Sparkled Rice Krinkles. So Hi was one of several Post cereal mascots that were developed by General Foods and the Ed Graham advertising agency. In 1964 the various characters were grouped into a TV series, "Linus the Lionhearted," featuring such vocal talents as Sheldon Leonard, Sterling Holloway, Carl Reiner, Ruth Buzzi, Jesse White and Jonathan Winters. The series ran on CBS and ABC for five years. Credit: John W.

Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising & Marketing History, Duke University When King Vitamin was introduced in 1970, Quaker Oats used as its mascot a cartoon character designed by Jay Ward, the creator of the immortal "Rocky & Bullwinkle." King Vitamin's voice was that of Joe Flynn of "McHale's Navy." The cartoon character was soon replaced by a very flesh-and-blood King Vitamin, who ruled until 2000. Then, the royal scepter was handed over to a new, redesigned cartoon figure. Credit: CBS News The precursor to Sugar Bear, which hawked Post's Sugar Crisp cereal, was a trio of bears, named Dandy, Handy and Candy. The three bears are probably the only breakfast mascots to be immortalized in song by Rosemary Clooney, for Columbia Records in 1951. Credit: CBS News In 1990 a cereal combining rice, corn, wheat and oats was marketed as Bigg Mixx. Its mascot was a creature similarly conjured up from sundry sources, sporting a rooster's head, moose antlers, a pig's snout, and a wolf's fur.

Neither the stalking hulk of Bigg Mixx nor its cereal namesake were around for long. Credit: CBS News In the early 1960s General Mills introduced Lucky Charms, featuring "pink hearts, yellow moons, orange stars, and green clovers." The spokesperson for the "magically delicious" cereal was Lucky the Leprechaun. In 1975 Lucky's luck ran out, being replaced by Waldo the Wizard. But Waldo was no Harry Potter, and the wizard disappeared soon after, as the popular leprechaun returned to cereal boxes -- like magic! Credit: CBS News Toucan Sam always follows his nose, which has an uncanny ability to sniff out "the flavor of fruit . . . wherever it grows!" Which comes in handy if you're hungry for Froot Loops. Credit: CBS News Creepy clowns have tried to cajole kids into diving into their Sugar Smacks - even going so far as to trade in national security secrets, offering free atomic submarines. Credit: CBS News One of the most beloved of breakfast mascots is Cap'n Crunch, introduced by Quaker Oats in 1963.

As popular as that cereal has been, there have been other offshoots on whose boxes the Cap'n's visage has been featured, including Jean LaFoote's Cinnamon Crunch (left); Crunch Berries (featuring the Crunch Berry Beast); Choco Crunch (with Chockle the Blob); Peanut Butter Crunch (starring Smedley the elephant); and Vanilly Crunch (featuring the canine Seadog). Credit: CBS News Blue Gnu was the mascot for Kellogg's Strawberry Combos. Cocoa Krispies have featured various animals, from the anonymous elephant (pictured left) to the TV star Snagglepuss. The Triple Snack Giraffe graced the box of a cereal that - containing peanuts - was more of a snack. Credit: Profiles in History We pity the fool who doesn't at least try Mr. T cereal. Credit: CBS News "Silly rabbit, Trix are for kids!" One of the breakfast food mascots to have shown true endurance is the Trix Rabbit, introduced in 1959, and spending most of his energy ever since trying to get his hands on a bowl of Trix cereal.

In mail-in ballots, children who took pity on him voted to let the rabbit have some cereal already. But that didn't seem to make him less crazy, or silly. Credit: CBS News Quake was a partner cereal to Quaker Oats' Quisp, a corn-and-oat cereal "buzzin' with honey and bustin' with earthquake power!" Originally sporting a miner's helmet, the character Quake appeared on later boxes with a cowboy hat. With disappointing sales, Quaker Oats asked the public to decide which of the two cereals to keep. With kids being asked to vote between an alien and a cowboy, guess who won? Quisp, naturally. Quake was taken off shelves, but the character made a brief return hawking Quake's Orange Quangaroos. Credit: CBS News When Post sponsored the "Pink Panther" cartoon series, they produced a tie-in breakfast cereal -- pink, of course. Add milk, and you get bowls full of pink milk! Credit: CBS News It was only logical that "Star Trek"'s Mr.

Spock would be employed as a mascot for Sugar Smacks, seeing as the cereal provides kids with "space energy." The success of "Star Wars" likewise led the golden robot C-3PO to a cereal all his own. Credit: CBS News Batman and Robin were also roped into promoting Nabisco's Shredded Wheat. Credit: CBS News Boxes of Kellogg's Sugar Corn Pops, introduced in the 1950s as sponsors of the radio serial "The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok," have featured a variety of mascots, including an illustrated cowboy, a cartoon cowboy, Woody Woodpecker, a prairie dog named Sugar Pops Pete, and Poppy the porcupine. Credit: CBS News Other rough hombres peddling cereal to kids were Waffelo Bill (Waffelos) and Klondike Pete, a prospector mining for Golden Nuggets. Credit: CBS News Introduced in 1901, the character Sunny Jim sold a toasted wheat flakes cereal called Force. Although the cereal and its character disappeared from shelves in the U.S., both Force and Sunny Jim remained popular in Britain for more than a century.

In January 2013 it was announced that Cereal Partners, the consortium producing Force cereal, would discontinue the brand because of low demand. Credit: CBS News Buzz the Bee is the mascot of Honey Nut Cheerios. Credit: CBS News Steve Urkel, the nerdy character played by Jaleel White in the TV series "Family Matters," even had his own cereal, Urkel-Os. For more info: Topher's Breakfast Cereal Character Guide - General Mills Page Four Welcome to Topher's Castle - A Great Site for Everyone! Topher's Breakfast Cereal Character Guide General Mills Cereals - Page Four Sonny Gramps General Mills Cocoa Puffs Sonny is a cuckoo bird who goes "Cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs". He was created in 1962 by Gene Cleaves, and first drawn by Bill Tollis. He went on the air in 1963 voiced by Chuck McCann. Sonny the Cuckoo Bird made his first appearance on boxes in 1965. He got his name from the original Cuckoo Bird. His name was 'Gramps'. He called his grandson 'Sonny' in one commercial, and it stuck!

Cocoa Puffs were originally chocolate-flavored corn puffs made with Hershey's cocoa. The cereal "makes breakfast taste like chocolate!" Cocoa Puffs Boy and Girl General Mills Cocoa Puffs These kids appeared in TV commercials with Sonny. Cocoa Puff Kids These hungry kids appeared on boxes of Cocoa Puffs in 1961. Frosty O's Bear Frosty O's Bear (1959 to 1961), a polar bear, was an early spokescharacter. Frostman, Oatman, and Milkman General Mills Frosty O's 1968-1969: Frostman (he wore a top hat with snow on it), Oatman (in the cape), and Milkman were the "Energy Three", representing the strengths that eating Frosty-Os gave an animated kid for dispatching enemies. Frosted O's Horse General Mills Frosted O's "Don't horse around when it comes to breakfast..." The Frosted O's Horse represented this "wholesome, sweetened toasted corn cereal". Dudley Do-Right General Mills Cheerios General Mills Frosty-O's Dudley Do-Right is the TV cartoon Canadian Mounty who "Always gets his man".

He represented Cheerios prior to 1970, and in 1977 he appeared on Frosty-O's. Frosty-O's are "shaped like little frosted doughnuts". "So much more sugar, you'll flip for Frosty-O's". Dudley was voiced by Bill Scott. Produced by Jay Ward Studios. Rocky and Bullwinkle General Mills Jets General Mills Trix Rocky and Bullwinkle (voiced by June Foray and Bill Scott respectively) represented a number of General Mills cereals from 1959 to 1970. Rocky is a smart flying squirrel, and Bullwinkle is a dimwitted moose. A number of the Cheerios spots in the mid-to-late 1960's were written by Tony Jaffe, and produced by Jay Ward Studios. Boris Badenov General Mills Cheerios General Mills Lucky Charms Boris Badenov, voiced by Paul Frees, was the small bad guy who wears black outfits on the Rocky and Bullwinkle show. Produced by Jay Ward Studios.

Natasha Fatale General Mills Lucky Charms Natasha Fatale, the female accomplice of Boris Badenov, promoted Lucky Charms with Boris sometime between 1959 and 1970. She was a "nogoodnik". Natasha was voiced by June Foray. Produced by Jay Ward Studios. Sherman and Mr. Peabody General Mills Wheat Hearts Mr. Peabody (voiced by Bill Scott) is an intelligent, talking dog who wears glasses and a bow tie. Sherman, drawn with a big head, is his boy. Walter Tetley provided the voice. Produced by Jay Ward Studios. They appeared on Wheat Hearts in 1960's. Wheat Hearts was a Better Crocker branded hot cereal. Aesop and His Son General Mills Cheerios Aesop and his son promoted Cheerios sometime between 1959 and 1970. Produced by Jay Ward Studios. While Charlie Ruggles voiced Aesop in the cartoons, both characters were voiced by Daws Butler in the commercials.

Bugs Bunny General Mills Apple Cinnamon Cheerios Bugs Bunny celebrated his 50th Birthday on boxes of Apple Cinnamon Cheerios in 1990. Donald Duck Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse, Brer Rabbit, and Pluto appeared on boxes of Cheerios in 1946. Apple and Cinna-Man General Mills Apple Cinnamon Cheerios According to Chris Cole, a site visitor, "Apple and Cinna-Man were a pair of super heroes, with uniforms shaped respectively like an apple (he may have worn a hole-shaped apple bit on his head where it poked through) and a cinnamon stick, representing Apple-Cinnamon Cheerios. They would go around promoting their cereal, and saving the day. Apple, in his delusions, always thought kids loved the apple sprinkles on each O, but Cinna-Man said it was the Cinnamon sprinkles that did it." Honey Nut Cheerios Turtle and Hare General Mills Honey Nut Cheerios (Mexico) This box ran in Mexico (circa 2000). It shows a Turtle who has eaten Honey Nut Cheerios easily beating the Hare across the finish line. See the Cheerio muscle?

Blue Cow Brown Cow General Mills Kix The Kix Cows appeared on early boxes with the quote "stays crisper in milk than flat flakes". "Don't blame the cow. Get Kix now". Pajama Boy General Mills Kix Pajama Boy (1964) is wearing his blue and white striped pajamas, complete with night cap, carrying a quart of milk in his right hand, and wearing a billboard sign which reads: "Stays crisper in milk than FLAT FLAKES". Corn Kix Kid Clifford the Big Red Dog General Mills Kix Clifford the Big Red Dog appeared on boxes of Kix in 2001. Swerdloc Colodny General Mills Kix Six strange characters advertised Kix cereal in the mid-1960's: Gzorpe, Swerdloc, Zilch, Klyde, Colodny, and Booby. The Swerdloc is shown above.

A commercial opened with the line, "I'm a Swerdloc," immediately followed by a sound effect that sounded exactly like the character's name: "SWERD-LOC!" (The sound effect can be roughly duplicated by saying the word in a deep, guttural tone in your throat.) The character did something to match each syllable -- expanding to a tall stance on "SWERD" and contracting to a short stance on "LOC." In another commercial, the Swerdloc had a glove, and he may also have worn a ball cap backwards. He drawled something like, "Swerdlocs love Kix 'cause they're fun ta catch". He was armed with catcher's equipment and was facing screen right to accept the pitch. Then followed with some catcher-to-pitcher exhortations on the order of "Hum 'er in thar, baby boy." Eventually a box of Kix flew across the screen from the other direction and clocked him and reduced to a heap in the lower left corner of the screen. He was next seen all bandaged up, and ended approvingly with, "Thet wuz a swifty." There was also a Gzorpe, who was actually the first character in the campaign.

The Gzorpe ate three boxes of Kix everyday --- not the cereal, the boxes --- and claimed that the boxes were the best part. He looked like a fuzz ball with eyes and feet. The announcer claimed that "if you're not a Gzorpe you'll like Kix because they're like round ball corn flakes and stay crisper in milk than regular flat flakes". Of course, THAT was the campaign of the mid-1960's and was iterated with all the characters who liked Kix for whatever stupid reason. He was dark blue, covered in fur, and had the voice of character actor Gabby Hayes. Another character in the campaign was the Colodny, who had the voice of Sheldon Leonard (character actor and producer of the Dick Van Dyke show among others). The Colodny was red with a big nose and a small bushy mustache. He wore green diver fins on his feet and a diving cap on his head. He loved Kix because they were fun to dive in. Lines from commercial were: "Here comes a Colodny. Colodny's love Kix because they're fun to dive in". (Colodny dives into box of Kix.) "Oh, joy!

What fun!" He sets up to jump a second time "A swan dive..." (This time he dives into an empty box with a big crash). "Okay, who ate the Kix?" The fourth character was the Zilch, who was a crazy boysenberry-colored amoeba-like, shape-shifting, character. Klyde, the beatnik, engaged in a lot of dancing and the progressive jazz beat, telling us that "Klyde's dig Kix 'cause they are not square". He was blue (naturally), wore an artist's cap, black glasses, sported a goatee, and played a saxophone. Booby was green and wore a cowboy hat and boots. He carried a bow and rubber-tipped arrow. The campaign was produced by animation house Stars and Striped Forever. Writer Tony Jaffe said, "this was my favorite campaign of all the cereal campaigns I ever did. It was unique at the time and never received the recognition it deserved". Kixie and Nixie General Mills Kix Kixie and Nixie appeared in a series of comic strip ads for Kix. Kixie wore a dark blue suit and hat. Nixie wore a dark brown suit and hat.

"Eat Kix... Food For Action". "Kix is 83% energy food. Kix is savory corn puffs. Kix is crispier, tastier. Kix is aglow with rich flavor. TRY KIX". Dora the Explorer General Mills Kix Dora the Explorer, and her monkey friend, appeared on boxes of Kix in late 2003 and into 2004. Dora is an animated 7-year-old Latina girl who has her own TV show on Nick Jr. Mascot - TV Tropes Mascot You need to login to do this. Get Known if you don't have an account Share Set course for a balanced breakfast . Engage! Here it is shown how the leprechauns are first flayed and then pulped to be turned into the marshmallows. Off to the side are waist-high piles of abandoned little green hats that will be shipped back to Ireland under international treaty. "Am I the only one who finds this a little bit creepy?" I ask aloud. Elayne ignores me. "You can have your picture taken and put on a box of Wheaties," she says. "That's insane," I say.

"I can't masturbate to a picture of myself. Where are the Mary Lou Retton boxes?" — The Areas of My Expertise , by " the PC ". If you were looking for our lovable mascot, please see Trope-tan . A character, animal or animate object (see Everything Talks ) which theoretically represents all that is good and attractive about a product, and which may act as a spokesman for it. Sometimes it may be an anthropomorphized version of the product itself, or of some primary component in it. Mascots were almost mandatory in the early days of advertising on radio and television, but are far less common today, probably because of the growing sophistication (or cynicism if you prefer) of the audience coupled with the perception that they are, really, rather silly. Outside of advertising aimed at children and/or breakfast foods, a Mascot in a modern commercial is as likely to be a subversion as not. An exception would be Japan, where everything has a cute mascot nowadays. EVERYTHING . See Series Mascot for when a character serves as the mascot for a fictional universe rather than a commercial product. See also Mascot with Attitude for mascots with a specific type of personality that is perceived as "cool".

Examples: open/close all folders Clothes Buster Brown shoes had the early 20th century comic strip character Buster Brown and his dog Tige. The four guys dressed as the fruit from the Fruit of the Loom logo. Electronics Apple's new "I'm a Mac/I'm a PC" ads feature Justin Long and John Hodgman representing the two computers. Their effectiveness is questionable; viewers across OS lines have fallen in love with the idea (even to the point of Shipping the two characters), but among those who don't adore it the general consensus seems to be that the "Mac" character is vastly less appealing than his "out of date" rival. Not to mention that Mac is never invited to a LAN party... It probably didn't help matters much that in real life, John Hodgman is actually a very friendly, charismatic man. The Apple adverts in Britain featured David Mitchell and Robert Webb as the PC and the Mac respectively. They have been quite unpopular, and have raised questions about the duo's credibility.

Not least because, like the US adverts, while Webb is the ostentatiously cool character, Mitchell generally comes across as the more down-to-earth and likeable (this is despite him often playing the role of an unapologetic quasi-intellectual). While hosting Have I Got News for You , Webb explained to Ian that he had played the smug unbearable one whose product you were meant to buy, while Mitchell had all the fun lines and he was meant to be despised. He described it as a 'confused campaign'. Most video game companies use a character from one of their franchises as a mascot; Nintendo has Mario , SEGA has Sonic the Hedgehog , Capcom has Ryu , SNK has Terry Bogard, etc. Sonic the Hedgehog in particular led to the creation of an entire subtype of Mascot: the Mascot with Attitude . Before 1991, SNK had the now pretty much unknown G-Mantle . In North America, the Playstation was originally going to have a mascot named Polygon Man who appears in the early marketing of the console, but was completely absent in the console because Ken Kutaragi was disappointed with his design so he's absent in the final release and fell to obscurity.

He returned unexpectedly in PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale as the final boss. In Japan, Sega actually had a second mascot specifically for the Saturn: Segata Sanshiro , a badass martial artist who would beat up people for not playing the Saturn. He eventually got his own video game, which was the last first-party game released for the Saturn. Capcom and Sega's former mascots include Captain Commando and Alex Kidd, respectively. Mega Man used to be considered a mascot for Capcom due to being quite recognizable and appearing in almost all of their crossover games (but Ryu predates him by a few months), but he's been Out of Focus ever since Keiji Inafune left. Atlus uses Jack Frost and his brothers from Shin Megami Tensei . Fictional example: "Vault Boy", the wavy-haired boy in the vault-dweller jumpsuit who serves as the smiling figurehead for Vault-Tec in Fallout . Fans call him "Fallout Boy" (no relation to the band or The Simpsons ), and he's come to serve as a mascot for the game series, as well.

Not to be confused (although he often have been, even the developers of Fallout Tactics made this mistake) with "Pip-Boy", who is the redheaded pixie in the yellow and orange spacesuit, visible on the logo of the Pipboy 2000. The Companion Cube for Portal . Portal 2 uses Atlas and P-Body, the robots from the game's co-op mode. Valve have also used other characters as mascots, with the Heavy Weapons Guy or the Soldier representing Team Fortress 2 . The announcement for the Steam platform coming to the Mac used one of Portal 's iPod-esque turrets to resemble the Mac and the Engineer's solidly mechanical turret from TF2 for the PC. Representing the web browser Firefox, Mozilla has the icon with the fox with the flaming tail curled around a globe, and Mozilla Japan has Foxkeh Pikachu, appearing in nearly every episode of the Pokï¿½mon anime, and appearing in every game of the Pokémon series. Pikachu also became Japan's Official Mascot for Brazil 2014 World Cup. Let's take a survey: ask anyone of the street if 1. They play Pokemon & 2. If so, which is their favorite.

If the answer to 1 is "yes", see how many answer "Pikachu" to #2. The results may surprise you. German Cell-phone and music company Jamster/JAMBA currently have two mascots for the company who are also characters created by the company (Baby Vuvu, and Schnuffel ) who both replaced The Crazy Frog who was the company's former mascot in the early 2000's. Schnuffel (Snuggle Bunny) ◊ gets special mention since the character apparently started out as a one-shot character debuting in 2007 with song sang by the character called "The Snuggle Song" like the previous character created by the company. However the song and character became so popular in Germany that the company decided to create more songs and music videos featuring the character complete with a few albums where you can lesson to more songs sang by the character and even showed up at a few live shows in Germany. Then in 2010, the company created a second bunny character named Schnffelienchen (Snuggelina) who is Snuggle's girlfriend and even had songs of her own.

That same year the company started releasing Audio CD's currently only available in Germany that stars the duo on various adventures and are actually voiced by different voice actors and aren't high pitched like they usually are. Food and Drink One of the most famous and longest-lived is Miss Chiquita Banana, for the United Fruit Company (Later United Brands, and now Chiquita Brands Intl.). Based loosely on Carmen Miranda, she dates back to 1945. starring this mascot could also arguably go under trope Let's Meet the Meat . She was eventually turned into a human in 1984, when United Brands became Chiquita Intl. Morris the Cat for 9 Lives cat food. Mrs. Butterworth, formerly a borderline racist Southern Mammy, is now always presented as an animated humanoid syrup bottle. Parodied on Western Animatoin Clone High with Racist Mammy Products. Elsie the Cow for Borden (And Elmer the Bull, the mascot of Elmer's Glue, which is manufactured by a different part of the same conglomerate). Charlie the Tuna for Starkist. Possibly the earliest subverted mascot would be Big Fig for Nabisco's Fig Newton cookies in the 1970s.

Aunt Jemima, back in the early 20th century, was an African-American slave with a kerchief on her head. After the Black Rights movement in the 1960s, she was transformed into a middle-class African-American housewife. But Uncle Ben, on the rice packages, still looks pretty much the way he did at the beginning. So does Rastus, the waiter on the Cream of Wheat box. Colonel Sanders, for Kentucky Fried Chicken. Mind you, Harland Sanders was a real person, the founder of KFC (though he served in the military, having received the title from the state of Kentucky for his achievements as a restaurateur and kept it as a means of self-promotion), and at times attained quasi-heroic status in Kentucky. Opinions on his animated, wise-cracking, dancing doppleganger are mixed. Pepsico commercials in the 1990s gave him a light saber and teamed him up with Wendy from Wendy's (armed with a blaster ) and the Taco Bell chihuahua.

When they found themselves surrounded by enemy combat droids, the chihuahua turned to Colonel Sanders and said, "You're a real colonel, right?" Companies like General Mills and Kellogg's tend to have a mascot for each of their brands of breakfast cereals, some of whom spend their lives chasing a Cereal Vice Reward . A few examples: The Trix Rabbit, who had to put up with almost 40 years of punk kids denying him Trix Cereal. "Silly Rabbit, Trix are for Kids" Funny thing: The one time the rabbit actually tries to purchase trix legally, we get this . Given their shape and color, it's a good thing the Rabbit wasn't the mascot for Cocoa Puffs.... Tony the Tiger for Frosted Flakes (Frosties in the UK). "They're Grrreat!" Coco the Monkey for Cocoa Krispies (Has become an outreach of the Rice Krispies franchise, so its mascot(s) have become...) Snap, Crackle, and Pop for Rice Krispies.

Though Coco still lives on in some countries like Japan, where he's the mascot for Coco's Chokowa (basically a cocoa version of Froot Loops), and the UK (where Cocoa Krispies are Coco Pops, despite a brief attempt to rename them Choco Krispies). Lucky the Leprechaun, who desperately tries to keep his Lucky Charms out of the hands of his relentless pursuers. Sonny the Cuckoo Bird, a recovering Cocoa Puffs addict who's always being tempted by cruel kids to give in to his addiction. Toucan Sam for Froot Loops. Buzzbee the Honey Nut Cheerios bee. Cap'n Crunch for the cereal of the same name. For a while, the various Cap'n Crunch cereals had their own mascots: Smedley the Elephant for Cap'n Crunch's Peanut Butter Cereal (now Peanut Butter Crunch), the Crunchberry Beast for Cap'n Crunch with Crunch Berries, Wilma the Winsome White Whale for Vanilly Crunch, and the pirate Jean LaFoote for Cinnamon Crunch. Loopy the Bee for Honey Loops. Officer Crumb, the Cookie Crook, and Chip for Cookie Crisp.

Their shtick was that the Cookie Crook tried to steal the cereal, but his dog Chip for whatever reason was trained to howl "Coooooookie Crisp!" when he smelled the stuff, alerting Officer Crumb in the process. (Only Chip is still around, and he's changed from a dog into a wolf. Not sure if he even howls anymore.) There was also Jarvis the Wizard who got replaced by Cookie Crook & Officer Crumb, and Jarvis even had one commercial alongside Cookie Crook so there is a linear progression from Jarvis to Cookie Crook & Officer Crumb to Chip the Dog to Chip the Wolf. That said Cookie Crisp seems to Brother Chuck their mascots on a regular basis. Bob, Quienno, and Wendell for Cinnamon Toast Crunch ( Only Wendell is still around ). The competitive Apple and Cinnamon Stick for Apple Jacks. Fred and Barney from The Flintstones for Fruity and Cocoa Pebbles (Also, Snagglepuss was the Cocoa Krispies mascot at one time). Sugar Bear for Super Sugar Crisp (now called Super Golden Crisp).

At the end of The '70s , sugar gained a reputation not unlike arsenic or Zyklon B, so the word "sugar" was dropped from the names of all major cereal brands in the United States (Sugar Frosted Flakes became Frosted Flakes, Sugar Smacks became Honey Smacks, Sugar Pops became Sugar Corn Pops and then Corn Pops, etc.). But what do you do when your mascot has "Sugar" for his first name? Why, you emphasize the "Super" in the cereal's name instead, by having him transform into Super Bear — a full sized grizzly bear with an angry expression and teeth and claws. Needless to say, this wasn't the best image to associate with a product aimed at young easily-frightened children, and Super Bear quickly regained Sugar Bear's teddy-bear-like face before being dropped entirely. In the earliest years (and still is in Canada), the cereal was just called "Sugar Crisp". It got the "Super" added to its name when they added vitamin fortification. And who can ever forget Count Chocula, Frankenberry, Fruit Brute et al. from their namesake cereals?

Fruit Brute was later replaced by Fruity Yummy Mummy, perhaps because General Mills thought a decaying Egyptian corpse coming to life to fulfill an ancient curse is less intimidating than a werewolf. All of these characters have been given their own webcomic, Breakfast of the Gods . Be warned: it's pretty violent. The knock-off brand Malt-o-Meal has the kangaroos Blue and Lil' Oaty. The slightly terrifying Hunger used to be the mascot for Shreddies, on the basis that it "kept hunger locked up...till lunch". Nowadays they use a group of old ladies who are knitting the cereal. Slightly creepily, Felix (cat) for Felix (cat food). Slogan: "Cats like Felix... like Felix." The creepy, silent Burger King , who shows up in the most random places ( like your bed ) to give people BK food (Actually a subversion of an earlier version of the King, who was played straight as a cheerful kids' mascot a la Ronald McDonald). He talked, too. Straight may not be the best possible choice of phrasing to describe the 1970s version of the King .

Applebee's had a talking apple voiced by Wanda Sykes Hall. The character was discontinued after new owners took over. Fast food chain Jack in the Box has Jack, a man with a clown-head who is both mascot and Kayfabe CEO of the company. Like the King, Jack is a subversion of an earlier mascot, a clown-head which stood atop the original Jack in the Box restaurant and which appeared on their drive-thru menus for many years. The ad campaign featuring Jack has run continuously since 1995, making it one of the longest-running in history. Kool-Aid Man. Ooohhh yeeeeeaaaaaahh! Round Table, a pizza place, has a knight in full-body armour, complete with pointy face-guard. There was a brand of cat food called "Kattomeat" and they started advertising it with a white tomcat called "Arthur"...became such a good mascot that not many months later they had to rename the catfood "Arthur's". Ronald McDonald has gone pretty much un-subverted to this day thanks to becoming part of the greater American pop-cultural landscape.

Save for a brief period in the mid '90s where he was depicted engaging in such activities as clubbing and playing golf as part of the ad campaign for the execrable "Arch Deluxe" burger (a "sandwich for 'adults'," as demonstrated by ads showing kids recoiling in disgust; surely the best way to convince someone to eat one). In The '70s , The '80s , and part of The '90s , McDonalds had a whole army of mascots in McDonaldland. There was Mayor McCheese, the Grimace (who, like Godzilla , started as a bad guy but quickly became a good guy), the Hamburglar, Big Mac (the cop who chased the Hamburglar down), the French Fry Goblins (who bear an eerie resemblance to the ghosts in Pac-Man , although the French Fry Goblins came earlier), an orange juice tree, Birdie the bird, and a host of other minor players. They also had Mac Tonight in the late 80s, a cheesy moon-faced (literally) lounge singer character intended to promote the idea of eating dinner (as opposed to lunch) at McDonald's.

Weight Watchers has Hungry, an furry orange monster that constantly tempts you to eat junk food and thus ruin your diet. originally meant to personify the munchies . 2008 saw the manufacture of a limited number of Mr Yummy handpuppets, which sold out within weeks. The Chik-fil-A cows, exhorting people to "Eet Mor Chikin". Captain Birdseye, face of Birdseye frozen foods. Similarly, the Jolly Green Giant for Green Giant frozen and canned vegetables. Ho ho ho! Quizno's submarine sandwich restaurant had horribly animated, screechy voiced rat thingies from the that sang about loving their subs, that they are toasted, and that they have a pepper bar. They're sponge monkeys. Twinkie the Kid for Hostess Twinkies (duh), before he was relegated to package duty only. They also had Captain Cupcake for Hostess Cupcakes and Fruit Pie The Magician for Hostess Fruit Pies. In Japan, Pepsi had an Iron Butt Monkey mascot in form of PEPSI-MAAAAAANNNN!!!! Milky Bar had The Milky Bar Kid, who was actually played by a number of children over the years.

"The Milky Bars are on me!" The M&M's Spokescandies. Oddly enough, since 1999 there were only five of them (Red, Yellow, Blue, Green, and Orange) when the standard color mix includes six (with brown being the sixth color). They have finally rectified this in 2012, so the spokescandies finally match up with the color mix. Though this happened because each of the five was one of the M&M's types (Red is milk chocolate, Yellow is peanut, Blue is almond, Green is peanut butter, and Orange is crispy and pretzel)... meaning Brown is only there to complete the set. The California Raisins. GEICO has four mascots: Their British-accented gecko, who began with commercials stressing the difference pronunciations of "GEICO" and "gecko." A bunch of pissed off Neanderthals who didn't like the slogan, "So easy, a caveman can do it!" The writers of the ads attempted to create a sitcom from those Neanderthals. Thankfully, it bombed. Especially thankful is Geico, which could not run ads with the characters during the series' run.

Kash, the pile of money with googly eyes and his own theme song has also been slowly adapted into a third(!) mascot for Geico. The "stupid questions" man, who opened every commercial with, "Does switching to GEICO save you 15% or more on car insurance? Does the question inserted here have an obvious answer? " One of his ads even references the still-pissed-off Neanderthals. The duck that quacks, "AFLAC!" Flo the checkout girl in the Progressive Insurance commercials. Erin Esurance, a pink-haired Action Girl in a Spy Catsuit , who hawked Esurance. Now retired due to becoming a magnet for cheesecake pictures and fanporn. Also made a guest appearance on Who Wants to Be a Superhero? ! Churchill, the little nodding dog mascot of Churchill Insurance. All together now: "OH YES!!" The General, for The General Car Insurance. Eastwood Insurance had a gunslinger mascot imitating Clint Eastwood . Snoopy for MetLife. The other Peanuts characters appear in commercials from time to time. Alexander Orlov, spokesmeerkat for Compare The Market dot com.

From this Oswald used to be one for Walt, but then.... Bugs Bunny, for Looney Tunes , as well as Warner Bros.' entire animation division. Nickelodeon has SpongeBob SquarePants , formerly Henry and June and Tommy Pickles . In the early days of the official Cirque du Soleil website (1996-97), the Baron from Saltimbanco served as the "host". From 1998 to 2001 or so, the Great Chamberlain from the retired show Nouvelle Experience took on this duty. Nowadays, several of the shows have a character who effectively is the face of it in advertisements, but that falls under Series Mascot . The former WB Network had Michigan J. Frog from the Looney Tunes short, " One Froggy Evening ". Kermit was the mascot of The Jim Henson Company back when they owned the Muppet franchise. The World Cup and the Olympic Games have pretty much always had mascots. Theme Parks Figment from Journey into Imagination is frequently used as the mascot of Epcot . Shamu (an orca whale) has been SeaWorld 's mascot practically since its beginning.

Universal Studios tends to flip-flop between Woody Woodpecker and the Minions when it comes to mascots. Other Honda has Mr. Opportunity (voiced by Rob Paulsen ) for their yearly Clearance. The Pep Boys, Manny, Moe and Jack, for the automotive parts retailer of the same name (including the character names). (The characters are based on the company founders.) The Car Fox, a puppet used in CarFax.com commercials, is something of a Heelï¿½Face Turn example: it first appeared as a deceptive knock-off competitor of CarFax, but was cute and popular enough that it now promotes their used-car-information service directly. Orange Guy, the mascot of the New Zealand Electoral Commission. He was first introduced in 2002 and was designed to be as politically-neutral as possible. A rare game show example is from Catch Phrase , where a small, cylindrical robot named either Herbie (for the short-lived US version) or Mr. Chips in the UK; he often appears on the screen as part of the "catch phrases" the contestants must decipher. :: Indexes ::

Question: What is the name of the mascot for the cereal Cocoa Puffs?
Answer: Sonny