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00:00How much do you remember about the nostalgic serial mascots of the 90s and 2000s?
00:07My name is Holly Alton and I am a food and drink writer for National World.
00:11When I was growing up in the 90s and early 2000s, I remember serial mascots being a big thing.
00:17Everybody had their favourite, we all talked about them, we saw them on our television screens,
00:22on adverts and of course on the front of our favourite cereal boxes.
00:26While we love them for the way they look, their cool outfits and their catchphrases,
00:31it seems like serial mascots are a little bit of a thing of the past now.
00:35Although while I've done a little bit of digging on this, I've found that serial mascots are actually still around
00:41and a lot of them were introduced way before the 1990s, but it really seems that they were a staple of that time.
00:47Let's take a look at the brief history of some of our favourite nostalgic serial mascots.
00:53Frosties, Tony the Tiger.
00:55I would say Tony the Tiger from the Frosties serial is probably one of the most nostalgic of all,
01:02but you actually will find him still on the box.
01:06Tony the Tiger was an absolute favourite, with the catchphrase, they're great,
01:12and just the way he looked in general, we loved him.
01:15Tony the Tiger was actually first introduced though in 1952,
01:19so it is absolutely crazy that he has stood the test of time.
01:23When Tony the Tiger was first introduced, he was actually joined with a whole host of other mascots,
01:28but he was so popular that the mascots were dropped while he stayed.
01:33They even built a little bit of a story around him and he went on to be given a son named Tony Jr.
01:39and he even outlasted him.
01:41Rice Krispies, Snap, Crackle and Pop.
01:44Snap, Crackle and Pop are very nostalgic,
01:47and even though they also are still around, they've had so many redesigns over the years.
01:52The normal-like characters were first introduced in 1933,
01:56so depending on which era you grew up in, you'll remember a different version of Snap, Crackle and Pop.
02:03And of course, Snap, Crackle and Pop gained their name because of the sound that the serial makes when milk is poured onto it.
02:09Cookie Crisp, Chip the Wolf.
02:11Chip the Wolf was one of my personal favourites as a child,
02:15but whenever I ask anybody if they remember him, most people say no.
02:19He was kind of like a villain, and he was introduced in 2005,
02:22which is probably why he is still so prominent in my memory.
02:26I can't remember much of him other than what he looked like,
02:29and that he was meant to be kind of a villain character,
02:32but I think he is super nostalgic and I would love to know how many of you remember him.
02:37Coco Pops, Coco the Monkey.
02:39You might say, along with Tony the Tiger, Coco the Monkey is one of the most
02:43unmistakable, recognisable characters of all time,
02:46especially when it comes to serial mascots.
02:48And I think it helps in the fact that he hasn't been redesigned too much over the years.
02:53He was actually first introduced in 1963,
02:55so it really shows his longevity that he is still a thing to this day.
03:00Curiously Cinnamon, Crazy Squares.
03:03Now, these didn't have half as much personality as some of the other serial mascots we have mentioned,
03:08such as Tony the Tiger and Coco the Monkey,
03:10but they're still worth a mention.
03:12The Crazy Squares had a hilarious advert in the 2000s where they would actually eat each other.
03:18Now, some kids would find this absolutely hilarious,
03:21and it was kind of a marketing ploy to say how delicious this type of cereal was,
03:26that even the characters want to eat themselves.
03:29But also kind of a little bit scary as well,
03:31and if you do some digging online, some of them call them the true villains of the serial mascot.
03:36Honey Monster, Sugar Puffs.
03:38Now, you may remember the Honey Monster,
03:40and that's because he is still around to this day,
03:43though he does look a little different.
03:45But the brand name Sugar Puffs is actually no longer used.
03:48While Honey Monster was introduced in 1976,
03:51and it certainly stood the test of time,
03:53the actual brand Sugar Puffs had a complete rebound and redesign in 2014.
03:59This was because they reduced the sugar content in the brand,
04:02and because Honey Monster was so popular anyway,
04:05they completely renamed to Honey Monster Wheat Puffs.
04:09Honey Loops, Loopy B.
04:11Now, the name Loopy B might not ring a lot of bells for you,
04:15but he was one of the popular cereal mascots of the past.
04:19He isn't remembered as much these days though.
04:22However, in 2020, a TikTok video went viral,
04:26which was the Russian version of the Honey Loops theme tune,
04:30and it brought Loopy B back into the minds of ours a little bit more.
04:33Loopy B was actually replaced by a female B named Honey B,
04:37who is still quite a prominent feature on the Honey Loops packaging.
04:41And last but certainly not least,
04:43we have Toucan Sam, who was from Fruit Loops.
04:46This bird character was first introduced in 1963,
04:51and like some of the other characters on this list,
04:53is still used on the brand's packaging to this day.
04:56He also though has had quite a few redesigns,
05:00actually more than most.
05:02They wanted to make his mouth look a little bit more bird-like,
05:05which is quite the contrast to what they did with Tony the Tiger,
05:08which was to make him more human-like.
05:10And its final redesign for now was in 2021.