The Stories Behind Your Favorite Cereal Mascots
By Nick Hansen
Horatio Crunch -- Cap'n Crunch
One of the grossest things about cold cereal is when it gets too soggy and turns mushy. Captain Horatio P. Crunch was born in response to a survey kids that said they hated soggy cereal. Jay Ward (above) drew the captain and, according to his daughter, based the cartoon on himself. The honorable captain was charged with guarding the Crunch from the evil barefoot pirate Jean Le-Foote. The Captain has protected his cereal from the menace of sogginess so well that there was a movement to promote him to the rank of Admiral. If you look closely at the early commercials, they look familiar to other cartoons of the day. That's because Jay Ward also animated other popular TV shows like Rocky and Bullwinkle, Dudley Do-Right and George of the Jungle.
Can you see the resemblance?
Snap, Crackle and Pop -- Rice Krispies
"Listen to the fairy song of health, the merry chorus sung by Kellogg's® Rice Krispies® as they merrily snap, crackle, and pop in a bowl of milk. If you've never heard food talking, now is your chance."
Grant's flair for fantasy caused him to draw the three characters as gnomes. Snap was the first gnome and appeared in a few solo ads before his brothers came along. When they first started appearing in 1939 they fought against their rivals Soggy, Mushy and Toughy for the hearts (and bowls) of the children. Once the television ads began to be seen by a larger and younger audience, Kellogg's decided to modernize the three and make them more human-like. Snap, Crackle and Pop are now the longest-running cereal advertising campaign in history.
The Rabbit -- Trix
Tony the Tiger -- Frosted Flakes
When Tony first appeared on cereal boxes, advertising critic James D. Wolf said, "I am very fond of breakfast cereals, but a tiger fails to give me a hankering." Evidently he didn't realize how "great" Tony would become. If Tony's singing voice sounds familiar it's because his voice actor Thurl Ravenscroft also sang "You're a mean one Mr. Grinch" for the Grinch cartoon. Tony's son also had a short lived spinoff cereal called Frosted Rice.
Lucky -- Lucky Charms