Cereals of The 1950s

Following WWII, the cereal industry saw a new market: Children. With the continuation of the 40’s/50’s baby-room, breakfast cereal companies began marketing their new products (now with more sugar) on television, in newspapers, billboards, etc.

In the 1922, the hugely successful Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flake Company was renamed the Kellogg Company after its founders Will Keith Kellogg and his brother John Harvey Kellogg. In the 1950s, the Kellogg Company established itself as a dominant economic force with the introduction of several new cereal brands and a line-up of new animate mascots marketed towards children.

Kellogg’s New 1950s Cereals Brands
Sugar Smacks (now called Honey Smacks), whose mascot went from Cliffy the Clown in 1949 to Smaxey, sailor-suit-wearing seal:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9WkLVZrrSI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4mRDcOD2g4

Sugar Pops (now called Corn Pops): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZ5CPCvf6aA

And most famously: Sugar Frosted Flakes (now just called Frosted Flakes, featuring Tony Tiger who later became a cultural icon. Frosted Flakes is one of few major cereal brands to keep the same mascot since its introduction. Thurl Ravenscroft remained the voice of Tony the Tiger until his death in 2005.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUxnpQFlsS4

General Mills, who already dominated the breakfast cereal industry, introduced Trix in 1954, Cocoa Puffs in 1958, and Total in 1961 (videos at the bottom) And also starting in the 1950s, General Mills used “The Cheerios Kid” as their mascot for the already widely popular product: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRm9BPxc94k This was in response to Kellogg’s cereals animated mascots.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SWk54W0IJM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8W5v4zxcuY