The breakfast cereal thread

[Drtooth]

Here's another ..eh..interesting commercial for a Japanese Kellogg's cereal.

As you can see, this was filmed with obviously not Japanese looking kids who were awkwardly dubbed and animated by a Western firm. While commercials with decidedly not Japanese people in it are actually surprisingly common in Japan, it's weird how not made in Japan this Japanese exclusive product is.

Of course, research into seeing if Melvin the Elephant existed outside Japan brought me to find a couple interesting bits.

Apparently Kellogg's Kombos (the cereal with Kombo the Gorilla from Japan) existed in the US decades early, but never caught on. Instead of a Blue Gorilla, we got a purple Gnu. And there were two other flavors besides chocolate.

Be great if that came back. If that disappointing Smores cereal has had a resurgence, this really should as well.

Also, Japan seems to have adopted the 1960's Corn Pops Sugar Pop Pete mascot well after he was discontinued in the US.

In regards to something from an earlier page, I haven't yet found the supposed new Shrek cereal. Now, Wal*Mart has some odd deal with Dreamworks, but all I've found are several different Fruit Snacks (From Madagascar to Home) and an exclusive line of Choco Treasures (the dollar store clone of Kinder Surprise Eggs that somehow are legal to sell in the US). Also have seen (and technically this is cereal) Shrek green apple and Madagascar Chocolate Chip oatmeals for sale at the dollar store. Might just go to the one around the corner and grab a box of Madagascar.

EDIT: Okay, I found info on the 2015 Shrek Cereal. Never seen it probably because it's off brand.

And...I have to admit the brand name of the company sounds a little creepy to this Futurama fan...

 

[D'Snowth]

I'm not entirely sure, but I believe I happened to pick up another bad box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch: it seems a little stingy on the cinnamon.

 

[Drtooth]

I haven't had a box that recently, but had one when they had the small "Droid viewer" promotion. Yeah, I think you must've got a bad box because I had no problem with mine. Though I do remember a few years back I got a box of Cheese Nips that didn't taste like anything somehow.

Now, I apologize if it seems I'm spamming a lot of Japanese cereal ads in this thread. Backstory, I went to a convention a week and a half back and they showed odd commercials and that always gets me watching them again on youtube. Then my "recommended" flooded with the things, and a lot of them started being cereal based. I say that because I found a famous collection of characters who once had a breakfast cereal over there and thus had some commercials. Now, this will be a fun little contrast to the off model Flintstones ones I posted in another thread because these seem to be animated by the firm that's always animated their TV specials... Yep. Good Ol' Charlie Brown and Snoopy.

Of course, Ol Chuck and the Gang are no strangers to shilling cereal.

 

[Bliffenstimmers]

@Drtooth -- I knew Melendez/Mendelson, apart from the movies and TV shows, did all kinds of ads with the Peanuts characters for the US (in fact the earliest animated appearance of the Peanuts was for a series of Ford commercials Bill Melendez did in the early 60s!) but I never would have expected his studio to do anything overseas. Incredible find!

On the subject of Peanuts and Advertising:

I love the style of these Brazilian ads! It's odd but charming how much bouncier and more expressive some of them are than the usual Peanuts animation. The YOPA ice cream ads do look a bit more spot on, however, and to some extent the Sadia gelatin ad. Seeing Charlie Brown with teeth is a bit startling though. When he's not grinning, I mean. I'm not sure where I first saw these, but I wouldn't be surprised if you had linked 'em before on here.

...and apparently Snoopy was going to shill for Milkbones too. I wonder if this ad ever got finished or if it only got to this rough. Looks like Melendez would've done this one too.

Let me see, what can I do to get this thread back on topic... uh, I finished a box of Froot Loops with Marshmallows today. Yay?

 

[Drtooth]

@Drtooth -- I knew Melendez/Mendelson, apart from the movies and TV shows, did all kinds of ads with the Peanuts characters for the US (in fact the earliest animated appearance of the Peanuts was for a series of Ford commercials Bill Melendez did in the early 60s!) but I never would have expected his studio to do anything overseas. Incredible find!

I know there's no way this could be true, but it really seems that Charles Schulz saw the Flintstones ads I mentioned and was horrified that they'd be that off model and do 1980's anime wild takes. Seems more like when the licensed out the cereal either the cereal company wanted that authentic Peanuts look or Schulz demanded that they'd have to have their regular studio animate the ads. Though it is not unheard of that international commercials are animated by Western firms. Had a few animation professors talk about how hard it was to animate to a language they didn't understand.

But there are Japanese animated Peanuts commercials recently (mostly for Japan's Metlife branch). They're more like digitally animated if not Flash, and they seem to ape the look of the comics and a more Western style. More like something akin to a Disney cartoon TV show animated in Japan that barely has the look of their regular stuff.

I really dig those Brazilian ads. They keep the look and spirit and have a thin inspiration of European animation to them. No doubt Schulz and the comic syndicate found them to be a trusted studio to have them animate so many commercials.

Let me see, what can I do to get this thread back on topic... uh, I finished a box of Froot Loops with Marshmallows today. Yay?

I got that once because they were on sale (Big G and Quaker usually seem to be on sale more than Kelloggs is) and I missed out on the just discontinued Froot Loops Treasure Middles (or whatever they were called). And I mean just discontinued that week, and I kicked myself for not picking up that one box on clearance at Target. But I got the Marshmallow one because it was different. I didn't care for it. The marbits were the standard sugar cube flavor, not pulling a Monster Cereals and having them flavored. So basically it made the bowl sweeter than it should have been and it really felt like they didn't incorporate marbits into it so much as dump them in, and they really didn't go with the Loops. I don't think I'd get that one ever again.

 

[mr3urious]

Though it is not unheard of that international commercials are animated by Western firms.

The Simpsons and C.C. Lemon, anyone?

And because it usually airs on expensive satellite networks, most Japanese people are more familiar with the characters as mascots for this soft drink than for the TV show.

 

[Drtooth]

Here's another Japanese Peanuts Cereal ad.

Now they have a very awkwardly English song in there too. And it looks just like the same animation from Peanuts specials around that time.

Looking at some other Peanuts Japanese ads, still looks like they used Melendez for most of them.

 

[Drtooth]

Here's something I thought I'd never see.

Fruity Pebbles recons The Flintstones Kids cartoon as canon! Huh.

Reminds me how What's New Scooby-Doo? used the Pup incarnations of the characters in a flashback.

 

[D'Snowth]

I got to thinking, and I'm sure Drtooth can weigh in on this, but remember how back in the day, it seemed like almost every PBS show was sponsored by at least one cereal?

Like when Frosted Flakes sponsored Barney:

Or Rice Krispies sponsored Teletubbies:

Or Cheerios sponsored BTL:

Or Alpha-Bits (which was virtually non-existent after a while in my area) at one point sponsored Arthur:

Or Kix sponsored Clifford:

I'm almost sure SST had its share of cereal sponsorship over the years. That Cheerios spot actually makes me think of Mayfield, what with the yellow and the cow and all.

 

[Mynameisdean]

Lately, for breakfast I've been having Honey Nut... Chex. It's not wild kiddy flavor retro nostalgia or whatever else, but it's good. I think I like it more than Honey Nut Cheerios.