From the mid 1950's until the mid 1970's, Cheerios used The Cheerios Kid as their spokesperson. During the early sixties, the cereal manufacturer also used Bullwinkle & Underdog as sellers, of the donut-shaped toasted, oat cereal. On a previous blog entry, I have written about Bullwinkle being a top notch sales-moose for the cereal. This blog entry will continue the conversation, by looking at the contribution of The Cheerios Kid and Underdog.

Below are two comic book ads with The Kid. One of the ads capitalizes on the popularity of outer space, during the mid to late 1960's. The advertisement has a picture of The Cheerios Kid floating in space, next to the Intelsat III satellite. Smart thinking for the advertising executives. Tie a popular subject in with the product that you are trying to sell, equals added sales. Kids during that period loved adventures in space.



During the early sixties, The Cheerios Kid and Bullwinkle made several commercials together. Most of the commercials that featured Bullwinkle had him "acting" with Rocky the Flying Squirrel. The Rocky & Bullwinkle Show was sponsored by General Mills, the manufacturer of Cheerios.

Below is the commercial with the two top sales-beings for Cheerios, starring in the same ad. Ladies & Gentleman, it is my pleasure to introduce BULLWINKLE J. MOOSE & THE CHEERIOS KID in a cinematic masterpiece.




I also have another classic comic book advertisement that I have posted. This ad is from the late 1950's to the early 60's. The ad ties The Cheerios Kid in with the thrilling adventures of an experimental supersonic bomber, the XB-70. Every boy during the late 50's & early 60's LOVED airplanes & space adventures. Beautifully conceived ad campaign, I applaud the person who thought it up.

As a side note, only two B-70 planes were built, at a total cost of 1.5 Billion Dollars.




The late Wally Cox was the voice of Underdog, a Super Hero dog, who could probably beat up Superman with one paw tied behind his back. The sponsor of the Underdog program was Cheerios, and as such, Underdog made several commercials for the sponsor. They were little 60 second stories with a sinister plot, by mean old Dr. Simon Barsinister, to ruin Cheerios. The hero of the 1 minute story is -- UNDERDOG. He will save the day, he is my HERO!!!

I hope you will enjoy this early 1960's Underdog commercial, that I have uploaded for your entertainment.




As a side note, as I stated earlier, Wally Cox was the voice of Underdog. Wally definitely did not look the part of a Super Hero.



His family moved to Evanston, Illinois, when he was in his teens. He was a close friend of Marlon Brando, who also lived in the Chicago suburb of Evanston. Teenager, Marlon Brando actually tied Wally to a fence and left him there overnight. With friends like that, you don't need enemies. I bet Wally could of used his Super Hero powers, on the night he was tied up.







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