Uncle John’s Blog is part of a balanced breakfast.
Cap’n Crunch?
A few years back, news spread online that Cap’n Crunch wasn’t a captain (or cap’n)—on cereal boxes, his sleeve boasts three stripes, not four, making him a commander, at least if he were in the U.S. Navy. Cap’n Crunch manufacturer Quaker Oates’ response: Cap’n Crunch (full name Horatio Magellan Crunch) was a naval captain for “Magical Crunch Island,” which gives its naval captains three stripes.
Generic and store brand cereals
Generic and store brand cereals generally have names that hint at the name brand they’re imitating (Honey-Os for Honey Nut Cheerios, for example), but the one you won’t ever see changed is Raisin Bran. In addition to dozens of store brand “Raising Brans,” big cereal makers Kellogg’s and Post both produce a cereal called Raisin Bran. The reason is that in 1944, a district court ruled that “raisin bran” was such a plain, descriptive phrase that it was impossible to trademark.
Names for cereals in French Canada
Cinnamon Toast Crunch is known as “Croque-Cannelle” (“Toasted Cinnamon”)
Cap’n Crunch: “Capitaine Crounche”
Cereal is one of the top 3 products advertised on TV
All those TV commercials mean some future stars are bound to show up in one. Here’s alternative rock star Tori Amos in a mid-’80s commercial for Just Right:
And before he won two Emmys for Breaking Bad, Aaron Paul was in a Corn Pops ad:
The Simpsons Cereal
The Simpsons has been on the air for 25 years, so it’s produced several tie-in cereals, including Bart Simpson’s Peanut Butter Crunch and Homer’s Cinnamon Donuts. Two more played on Bart Simpson catchphrase: No ProblemO’s, and Eat My Shorts, in which the cereal pieces were literally shorts-shaped. Frosted Krusty O’s were released briefly in 2007, which, unlike their depiction on the show, did not contain pieces of jagged metal.
There have even been cereals based on video games
The first two game with the home video game explosion in 1982: Donkey Kong Crunch and Pac-Man Cereal. In 1989, Ralston introduced Nintendo Cereal System. Each box contained two cereals based on Nintendo Entertainment System games: Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda.
First cereal based on a made-for-TV movie
High School Musical Cereal (2006).