Cocoa Puffs is a brand of chocolate-flavored puffed grain breakfast cereal, manufactured by General Mills.[1] Introduced in 1958, the cereal consists of small spheres of corn, oats and rice that have been flavored with cocoa. Essentially, Cocoa Puffs are Kix cereal with added chocolate flavoring. (Similarly, Trix was, for most of its existence, Kix plus fruit flavoring and coloring.) Kix cereal is produced at the same factories as Cocoa Puffs, but differs in both density and circumference.
The mascot of Cocoa Puffs is Sonny the Cuckoo Bird, whose catchphrase is "coocoo for Cocoa Puffs". Sonny originally wore a striped pink and white shirt, but this has been removed since 1993.[citation needed]
On several occasions, Cocoa Puffs boxes have stated that they are made with real Hershey's chocolate. Cocoa Puffs are sold in Latin America and Canada under the Nesquik brand thanks to a partnership between Nestlé and General Mills; Nestlé and Hershey are major competitors in the chocolate business.
A cereal bar of Cocoa Puffs has also been made. A layer of dried, sweetened condensed milk is added to the bottom of it, and marketed as a substitute for a bowl of milk and cereal.
The newest addition was introduced in the summer of 2008, Cocoa Puffs Combos, which consists of the recognizable chocolate puffs as well as vanilla puffs. Unlike the original Cocoa Puffs, the Combos cereal does not contain any real cocoa. Instead, it contains artificial, imitation cocoa.
In December 2009, General Mills announced that it would cut the sugar in 10 cereals including Cocoa Puffs to less than 10 grams of sugar per serving. This could represent a 25% decline in the sugar content from the original level and 18% from the current level of 11 grams per serving.[2]
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Advertising
Original advertising campaigns in the 1960s and 1970s would feature Sonny going somewhere with his grandpa, who would give Sonny some Cocoa Puffs causing him to go cuckoo for them.
Ads in the 1980s and some of the '90s would have Sonny alone just doing his regular everyday thing, but then a group of kids would tempt him with a bowl of Cocoa Puffs trying to get him to go cuckoo. Sonny would try his hardest to hold it in but eventually let it out.
Most ads in the '90s would feature Sonny trying to get other people to go cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs who offer to take the challenge and bet that they won't go cuckoo because they think they're tough enouch not to. As a result, they wind up going cuckoo anyway.
Commercials in the late '90s and early 2000s were set in Sonny's Chocolatey World where he and other kids can eat all the Cocoa Puffs they want.
Recent ads would feature Sonny trying not to go cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs by trying to do something to keep his mind off of them but always failed.
Cultural references
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Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (September 2008) |
- In music, becoming mainstream with rapper Nelly's song "Country Grammar", the term "Cocoa Puffs" refers to lightly sprinkling cocaine over marijuana. "Cocoa" refers to Cocaine; "Puffs" refers to the act of snorting or the attempt to smoke the mix.
- In the television show Boston Legal attorney Denny Crane indicates that he's "Cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs"
- In the film Reality Bites, Vickie jokingly explains away Lelaina's strange behavior as her drinking too many Diet Cokes, to which Troy replies "Yeah, this girl is just cuckoo for coke-o puffs."
- In the Black Eyed Peas songs, My Humps, they make reference to Cocoa Puffs.
- In the 2005 movie Beauty Shop, the food lady, who makes several references to food, mentions she was going Cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs near the end of the movie.
- The Nostalgia Critic put Sonny on his list of 'The Top 11 Greatest Cereal Mascots', and also joked that Cocoa Puffs were a drug which Sonny was addicted to. (He jokingly said, "Remember kids, life may be tough, but don't do the Puffs with photos of celebrities who died from drug usage.)
References
External links
- Official website
- First Cocoa Puffs box
- Old Cocoa Puffs box with train promotional offer
- Old Cocoa Puffs box with contest to win a car
- Old Cocoa Puffs box with the "Sonny" mascot
- Old Cocoa Puffs box with the "Sonny" mascot 2
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