Because when you need something, you have to take care of it, right?
Oh, and skipping Friday would just be a downright sin!
This week, the running theme is cereal kids love. Yesterday, we found out kids like Apple Jacks because…they just do! Today, we focus on a kid who likes cereal…for what seems like darker reasons.
“They just do,” and “we eat what we like!” will not apply here!
Today’s commercial is from 1989, and, like yesterday, features a celebrity cameo. We had pre-fame Julia Stiles yesterday, and today, we have immersed-in-fame-already Jenny Lewis, who is probably still in Troop Beverly Hills mode…before the troop braved the woods.
Our protagonist is at a general store, picking up something for the camping trip her family is going on, but there is one little (we think so, at least) problem…
And you’re going to have to click play to find out more!
It doesn’t sound at all like these needers of Corn Pops are a tiny bit obsessive, right?
Corn Pops has been part of a complete breakfast since 1950, and underwent several name changes over the course of its lifespan – originally called Corn Pops upon introduction, changed to Sugar Corn Pops in 1951, Sugar Pops in 1978, and back to its current name in 1984. That change came at a time when cereals were dropping “Sugar” from their names for marketing purposes.
I mean, at the end of the day, your cereal may be “part of a complete breakfast,” but it still has plenty of the sweet white stuff. You can put all the coats of paint on it you want, but it isn’t hiding anything. There have been two extensions to the original brand – Chocolate Peanut Butter in 2007, and Cinnamon Corn Pops in 2012.
The “Gotta Have My Pops” marketing campaign ran from 1988 until 2000, and was revived in 2007. The commercials I grew up with featured someone discovering they were out of the cereal, or it was otherwise unattainable (locked in a car, sold out in a store, eaten by a sibling).
The kid who realizes they can’t have it acts like it is ok, but their voiceover gives them away, depicting a crazed Corn Pops-needing individual who will combust from lack of Corn Pops.
I’d say this was the ultimate foodstuff, but it was sweetened corn-flavored popped cereal. I mean, it isn’t bacon!
The commercials always resolved themselves (parents bought more, store re-stocked, the car wasn’t actually locked), but the crazy person music – er, the theme from Jaws (yes, I verified that to be fact) – had already hit a fever pitch. The kid is always satisfied, but the music…is not. The commercials were always funny, if not a bit surprising at how far someone would internally freak out over not having sugary breakfast cereal.
And it’s not like they’re the Apple Jacks Kids, who could actually provide a reason for why they liked Apple Jacks.
At least the commercials have a somewhat happy ending, and Corn Pops is still on the market today, so I’d call this a win-win.
I know you ain’t coming between me and my cereal!
Have a fantastic Flashback Friday, a great weekend…and watch out for crazed Corn Pops eaters. They’re out there.
…and they gotta have their Pops.