If you've ever reached for a bag of breakfast cereal, the first thing to catch your eye are the brightly colored cereal mascots. Sonny the Cuckoo Bird, Horatio Magellan Crunch, and Dig 'Em Frog were easily found on every cereal aisle, and half the fun of picking cereal as a child was getting to see your cartoon friends on the cereal box. You've probably never noticed it, but none of your favorite cereal characters are women. After all, most of them are cartoon characters or animals.
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Cereal giants like Kelloggs and General Mills use their mascots, jingles and catch phrases to entice kids and adults into purchasing more cereal. Marketing cereal is almost a scientific process, with some cereal mascots going back half a century. While many of the cereal mascots are male, several of the companies' high level executives and brand representatives are women.
In the last several years, people have been starting to ask the question, "Where are all the female cereal mascots?" Let's find out a little more about the most famous cereal mascots, as well as the answer to that question.
The Most Well-Known Cereal Mascots
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Tony the Tiger
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Can anyone even eat a bowl of frosted flakes without seeing Tony the Tiger and his signature catch phrase playing in their head? Kellogg's Frosted Flakes tiger may be one of the most popular mascots. Tony actually competed for the public's love with Katy the Kangaroo (one of the first female mascots), but Tony won out.
Trix Rabbit
The Trix Rabbit is another well-known mascot. Trix is known to be an extremely hyperactive and silly rabbit, making for eye catching commercials in the 90s. After all, kids love silly cartoons characters.
Lucky the Leprechaun
Lucky Charms stays true to its Luck of the Irish theme by using Lucky the Leprechaun as their mascot. Leprechauns are traditionally male, so we can't really fault them for this one.
Buzz the Bee
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Honey Nut Cheerios' mascot is Buzz Bee, a hardworking bee. The bee didn't actually have a name until Kristine Tong from Texas won a contest to name him.
Where Are All the Female Cereal Mascots?
Think about your own cereal selections and you'll see the list goes on and on. Froot Loops has Toucan Sam, Snap, Crackle and Pop are all boys, and even seasonal Halloween monster cereal is male dominant. Boo Berry, Count Chocula, Yummy Mummy, Frankenberry, and Fruit Brute were all male monsters. Perhaps the most confusing cereal is Fruity Pebbles. Pebbles is the adorable daughter of the Flintstones, yet only Barney and Fred appear on the box. In any case, there isn't a whole lotta love for the ladies.
To be fair, there have been minimal releases of some pop culture female icons, like Betty White's face on the Golden Girls limited edition cereal. OffLimits is creating a cereal brand with a high-powered female bunny named Dash, which just kind of seems like a ripoff of the Trix rabbit to us.
Still, times are changing, and more female representation in all areas is never a bad thing. You can still love your Cocoa Puffs, Sugar Smacks, Cap'n Crunch, and even Little Mikey with a little more girl power. At the end of the day, though, whether you love Rice Krispies, Golden Crisp, Honey Smacks, or even Quaker Oats, the most important part of any cereal is taste. If you're losing sleep over the gender of your cereal mascots though, we're sure there will be a little more fun to be had by the ladies in the future.
