Snap, Crackle, Keith: When the Rolling Stones Recorded a Rice Krispies Jingle

When people talk about the discography of the Rolling Stones, songs like “Satisfaction” and “Gimme Shelter” usually come up. Mentioned less frequently is their contribution to the sounds of the breakfast cereal industry. In 1964, the group recorded a television commercial jingle for Rice Krispies.

A year before “Satisfaction” would help make the band a household name in the United States, the Stones tackled a purely corporate gig by recording a song, “Juke Box,” for Kellogg’s rice cereal brand. Snopes confirmed the ad is real and was apparently the product of J.W. Thompson, their ad agency in the United Kingdom. Early Stones member Brian Jones, who passed away in 1969, wrote the jingle.

The Stones released their first single in June 1963 in the UK, so the spot didn’t exactly capture the group at the height of their popularity. It remains an interesting time capsule, particularly as the lyrics include the cereal’s famous “snap, crackle, pop.” A sampling:

Wake up in the morning there’s a snap around the place / Wake up in the morning there’s a crackle in your face / Wake up in the morning there’s a pop that really says Rice Krispies for you and you and you.

Stones fans who missed this hidden gem in the group’s history shouldn’t consider it an oversight. The ad only aired in the UK. And while they didn’t write any more jingles, a number of their songs wound up being used for commercials, including “Satisfaction” for Snickers and “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” for Levi’s in Canada. Credit should go to J.W. Thompson for recognizing talent when they saw it.