Sugar-coated memories
Excerpt from the book 'Krazy Kids's Food!' by Steve Roden
Page [1] [2]
In 1935, Post cereals licensed the rights to a popular new movie character, Mickey Mouse, and thus the marketing of kids' food changed forever. Mickey was placed prominently on Post Toasties cereal boxes and sales soared. Other manufacturers jumped on the character marketing bandwagon and the kids' food business as a whole took off. Throughout the 1940s and early 1950s movie and comic book characters were licensed to appear on packages of cereal, cookies, and candy. Companies raced to create new identities for themselves by marrying their products to existing characters such as the Lone Ranger, whose blazing guns appeared on the fronts of Cheerios boxes. Disney used their stable of characters, including Donald Duck, to promote everything from bread to chocolate syrup. Characters from the Sunday funnies, such as Dick Tracy and Prince Valiant, got their faces on the fronts of candy boxes. Some companies even began to create new products specifically marketed to kids, including Popeye-shaped macaroni and cookies based on the popular Christmas character Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
In the mid-1950s the first black-and-white animated television commercials were produced, and marketing strategies changed again. Licensing of existing characters was becoming expensive, so many food companies turned to ad agencies. The agencies designed the first generation of animated characters specifically intended to sell things to kids via television. The Spoonmen came from outer space and landed on the front of spoon-size Shredded Wheat boxes; while Marky Maypo screamed "I want my Maypo" on TV sets across the country. Children mimicked his cry and moms everywhere were forced to buy the oat cereal for their screaming kids.
The 1960s turned out to be the golden age of kids' food. As the "modern" world became more hectic, new products were created to make meals faster and easier. Pop-Tarts were an instant hot breakfast from the toaster, Fizzies tablets made water into soda, and a box of Kreme Krunch cereal contained chunks of freeze-dried ice cream. As the products got crazier, so did the characters that pitched them. Quisp the "quazy" alien had his own cereal from Quaker, while Pillsbury created talking fruit characters such as Goofy Grape and Choo Choo Cherry for its Funny Face instant drink mix packets. Animated cartoon characters also had their share of the limelight. The enormously popular primetime cartoon family, the Flintstones, appeared on candy, bubble bath, vitamins, and cereal boxes. The 1960s also left a legacy of characters still in existence today, such as Cap'n Crunch and Poppin' Fresh, the Pillsbury Doughboy; and recognizing the temper of the times, caricatures of "10 Little Indians," Frito Bandito, and buck-tooth Chinese men were all still considered acceptable to sell to kids.
Page [1] [2]
Page [1] [2]
In 1935, Post cereals licensed the rights to a popular new movie character, Mickey Mouse, and thus the marketing of kids' food changed forever. Mickey was placed prominently on Post Toasties cereal boxes and sales soared. Other manufacturers jumped on the character marketing bandwagon and the kids' food business as a whole took off. Throughout the 1940s and early 1950s movie and comic book characters were licensed to appear on packages of cereal, cookies, and candy. Companies raced to create new identities for themselves by marrying their products to existing characters such as the Lone Ranger, whose blazing guns appeared on the fronts of Cheerios boxes. Disney used their stable of characters, including Donald Duck, to promote everything from bread to chocolate syrup. Characters from the Sunday funnies, such as Dick Tracy and Prince Valiant, got their faces on the fronts of candy boxes. Some companies even began to create new products specifically marketed to kids, including Popeye-shaped macaroni and cookies based on the popular Christmas character Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
In the mid-1950s the first black-and-white animated television commercials were produced, and marketing strategies changed again. Licensing of existing characters was becoming expensive, so many food companies turned to ad agencies. The agencies designed the first generation of animated characters specifically intended to sell things to kids via television. The Spoonmen came from outer space and landed on the front of spoon-size Shredded Wheat boxes; while Marky Maypo screamed "I want my Maypo" on TV sets across the country. Children mimicked his cry and moms everywhere were forced to buy the oat cereal for their screaming kids.
The 1960s turned out to be the golden age of kids' food. As the "modern" world became more hectic, new products were created to make meals faster and easier. Pop-Tarts were an instant hot breakfast from the toaster, Fizzies tablets made water into soda, and a box of Kreme Krunch cereal contained chunks of freeze-dried ice cream. As the products got crazier, so did the characters that pitched them. Quisp the "quazy" alien had his own cereal from Quaker, while Pillsbury created talking fruit characters such as Goofy Grape and Choo Choo Cherry for its Funny Face instant drink mix packets. Animated cartoon characters also had their share of the limelight. The enormously popular primetime cartoon family, the Flintstones, appeared on candy, bubble bath, vitamins, and cereal boxes. The 1960s also left a legacy of characters still in existence today, such as Cap'n Crunch and Poppin' Fresh, the Pillsbury Doughboy; and recognizing the temper of the times, caricatures of "10 Little Indians," Frito Bandito, and buck-tooth Chinese men were all still considered acceptable to sell to kids.
Page [1] [2]
Krazy Kids' Food! - Vintage Food Graphics
Flexicover, 14 x 19.5 cm (5.5 x 7.7 in.), 192 pages
Icons
$ 9.99
Icons
$ 9.99
Mid-century American junk food heaven
