Thursday, June 26, 2014

Toonfomercial: Remember when Apple Jacks had an Appleman? (1966)

In the mid-60's, Kellogg's began adding more cereals to their line, and creating their own mascots to go with them, to boot.

Take for example Apple Jacks. Ever stop to wonder why General Mills eventually added an apple-cinnamon flavor to their Cheerios line? Because Apple Jacks, basically, were Kellogg's answer to Cheerios. While General Mills had the Cheerios Kid fighting crime, Apple Jacks used their mascot to encourage kids. The apple headed fellow is voiced by the legendary Paul Frees, who was everywhere back then.

In this spot, a child is confronted by some mean, older kids, then gets some inspiration to fight back......



However, kids were still being bullied, and it still happens today. Kellogg's changed the focus of the ad campaign to encourage kids to have the energy to play, as evidenced in this next spot:




Unfortunately, the apple man went the way of a lot of mascots, and faded out a few years later. In this era of healthy eating, however, don't ya think he made a comeback?

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