Cap'n Crunch
Encyclopedia
Product lining
Product lining is the marketing strategy of offering for sale several related products. Unlike product bundling, where several products are combined into one, lining involves offering several related products individually. A line can comprise related products of various sizes, types, colors,...
of sweetened corn
Maize
Maize known in many English-speaking countries as corn or mielie/mealie, is a grain domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. The leafy stalk produces ears which contain seeds called kernels. Though technically a grain, maize kernels are used in cooking as a vegetable...
and oat
Oat
The common oat is a species of cereal grain grown for its seed, which is known by the same name . While oats are suitable for human consumption as oatmeal and rolled oats, one of the most common uses is as livestock feed...
breakfast cereal
Breakfast cereal
A breakfast cereal is a food made from processed grains that is often, but not always, eaten with the first meal of the day. It is often eaten cold, usually mixed with milk , water, or yogurt, and sometimes fruit but sometimes eaten dry. Some cereals, such as oatmeal, may be served hot as porridge...
s introduced in 1963 and manufactured by Quaker Oats Company
Quaker Oats Company
The Quaker Oats Company is an American food conglomerate based in Chicago. It has been owned by Pepsico since 2001.-History:Quaker Oats was founded in 1901 by the merger of four oat mills:...
. Quaker Oats has been a division of PepsiCo
PepsiCo
PepsiCo Inc. is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Purchase, New York, United States, with interests in the manufacturing, marketing and distribution of grain-based snack foods, beverages, and other products. PepsiCo was formed in 1965 with the merger of the Pepsi-Cola Company...
since 2001. The product line is heralded by a cartoon mascot named Cap'n Crunch, a sea captain (full name: Horatio Magellan Crunch).
Development
Pamela LowPamela Low
Pamela Low was an American flavorist, best known for developing and creating the flavor coating for Cap'n Crunch breakfast cereal....
, a flavorist
Flavorist
A flavorist, also known as flavor chemist, is someone who uses chemistry to engineer artificial and natural flavors. The tools and materials used by flavorists are almost the same as that used by perfumers with the exception that flavorists seek to mimic or modify both the olfactory and gustation...
at Arthur D. Little
Arthur D. Little
Arthur D. Little is an international management consulting firm originally headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, and formally incorporated by that name in 1909 by Arthur Dehon Little, an MIT chemist who had discovered acetate. Arthur D. Little pioneered the concept of contracted...
and "the mother of Cap'n Crunch," developed the original Cap'n Crunch flavor from a brown sugar and butter recipe that her grandmother had served over rice.
In 1965, the Quaker Oats Company awarded Robert Rountree Reinhart, Sr., the Fredus N. Peters Award for his leadership in directing the development team of Cap'n Crunch. Reinhart developed a technique in the manufacture of Cap'n Crunch, using oil in its recipe as a flavor delivery mechanism — which initially presented problems in having the cereal bake properly. This delivery mechanism requires the cereal to go through a deep freeze after the baking process.
Variations
- Cap'n Crunch: The original Cap'n Crunch cereal, which at the time was referred to as The Crunchy Captain's Cereal (CCC), is made of sweetened, yellow, square-shaped corn and oat pieces. The cereal was launched in 1963, bolstered by a successful advertising campaign created by noted animator Jay WardJay WardJ Troplong "Jay" Ward was an American creator and producer of animated television cartoons. He produced animated series based on such characters as Crusader Rabbit, Rocky & Bullwinkle, Dudley Do-Right, Peabody and Sherman, Hoppity Hooper, George of the Jungle, Tom Slick, and Super Chicken...
introducing the cereal's longtime naval mascot, Cap'n Crunch. - Cap'n Crunch's Crunch Berries: Cap’n Crunch's Crunch Berries cereal was introduced in 1967 and contained, in addition to the yellow pieces found in the original Cap'n Crunch, spherical red Crunch Berry pieces. There was a version of Crunch Berries available briefly in which the berries, instead of being spherical, were three small berries in a cluster. The Crunch Berry Beast mascot was introduced alongside the cereal. There are currently four Crunch Berry colors: red, green (introduced in 2002), blue, and purple (both introduced in the '90s). All the berry pieces are flavored the same, regardless of color.
- Peanut Butter Crunch: Peanut Butter Crunch was first released in 1969, with a large elephant named Smedley as its mascot; according to sales charts, this version was the most successful at the time.
- Punch Crunch, Vanilly Crunch, Cinnamon Crunch: Three more editions were issued in the early ’70s -- Punch Crunch, Vanilly Crunch, and Jean LaFoote’s Cinnamon Crunch -- but were later discontinued. Punch Crunch was fruit-flavored cereal rings, and the mascot was sailor-clad hippopotamus named Harry.
- Choco Crunch: In 1982, a variant called Choco Crunch, featuring the mascot "Chockle the Blob", was introduced. This version contained the yellow corn squares, plus chocolate flavored pieces similar to Crunch Berries. Recently, the "Choco Crunch" brand was reintroduced, but this time only consisting of chocolate flavored corn squares.
- Christmas Crunch: A special edition named ChristmasChristmasChristmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
Crunch was first released for the 1988 holiday season and contained Cap’n Crunch with red and green Crunch Berries in a green box with the Cap’n wearing a Santa ClausSanta ClausSanta Claus is a folklore figure in various cultures who distributes gifts to children, normally on Christmas Eve. Each name is a variation of Saint Nicholas, but refers to Santa Claus...
hat (originally also containing a toy or Christmas tree ornament inside the box). This variety is now only available in certain regions of the United States (and was recently changed to a gold box). - Deep Sea Crunch: A version of the cereal introduced in 1993, which featured Crunch Berries shaped like sea creatures. This version was discontinued but returned in 2009.
- Oops, All Berries: First released in 1997, “Oops! All Berries” contained nothing but the berry flavored Crunch Berries and none of the corn squares. This version was discontinued the following year. In 2008, 2009, and again in 2010, "Oops! All Berries" has made limited time only returns. Recent boxes do not state "Limited Time Only" printed on the box. Current "Oops! All Berries" colors are red, purple, blue and green.
- Halloween Crunch: A limited edition version of the cereal introduced in 2007. This includes green Crunch Berries in the form of ghosts.
- Galactic Crunch: A discontinued version which featured space-related marshmallows.
- Choco Doughnuts: A discontinued version which featured chocolate flavored doughnut shaped cereal with candy sprinkles.
- Soft Crunch: A discontinued version which featured softer cereal rings, designed to prevent cuts in the roof of consumer's mouths.
- Home Run Crunch: A limited edition version of the cereal, currently available, released in 1995 which featured baseball-related marshmallows, like home plates, caps, and mitts. It has the flavor of Berry Crunch but the pieces of the cereal are shaped as bats and balls.
- Cap'n Crunch's Mystery Volcano Crunch: Red and yellow fruit flavored berries with "'free' packet of lava rocks that pop in milk!".
- Cap'n Crunch's Oops! Smashed Berries: Oops! All Berries cereal with flat berries that the kids smashed.
- Cap'n Crunch's CoZmic Crunch: Star shaped berries with "'free' orange space dust that turns milk green".
- Polar Crunch: A version of the cereal in which the Crunch Berries change color to blue when milk is poured.
- Cap'n Crunch's Crunch Treasures: Star shaped crunchy yellow corn and oat rings. Contains 1/2 the sugar of regular Cap'n Crunch.
Advertising
Cap'n Crunch TV commercialsTelevision advertisement
A television advertisement or television commercial, often just commercial, advert, ad, or ad-film – is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization that conveys a message, typically one intended to market a product...
have aired since 1963. The first Cap’n Crunch commercials featured a four-child crew (Alfie, Brunhilde, Carlyle, and Dave) and the canine Sea Dog, who sailed with the Cap’n on his ship, The Good Ship Guppy. The crew was tasked with keeping the cereal safe from the Cap’n’s nemesis, Jean LaFoote
Jean LaFoote
Jean LaFoote is a fictional pirate character from the Cap'n Crunch breakfast cereal's character set. The character's name is wordplay on that of the historical pirate, Jean Lafitte....
, the Barefoot Pirate. The characters also appeared in a comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
included in Cap’n Crunch cereal boxes.
Jay Ward
Jay Ward
J Troplong "Jay" Ward was an American creator and producer of animated television cartoons. He produced animated series based on such characters as Crusader Rabbit, Rocky & Bullwinkle, Dudley Do-Right, Peabody and Sherman, Hoppity Hooper, George of the Jungle, Tom Slick, and Super Chicken...
is credited with the creation of the Cap’n Crunch character and his Jay Ward Studios produced the first Cap’n Crunch commercials. Author Philip Wylie wrote a series of short stories, Crunch and Des, beginning in the 1940s, which featured a similarly named Captain Crunch Adams. The Cap'n Crunch commercials have historically used basic cartoon animation
Animated cartoon
An animated cartoon is a short, hand-drawn film for the cinema, television or computer screen, featuring some kind of story or plot...
by Hanna-Barbera
Hanna-Barbera
Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. was an American animation studio that dominated North American television animation during the second half of the 20th century...
animation; however, Vinton Studios produced a claymation
Clay animation
Clay animation or claymation is one of many forms of stop motion animation. Each animated piece, either character or background, is "deformable"—made of a malleable substance, usually Plasticine clay....
ad during the ’80s
1980s
File:1980s decade montage.png|thumb|400px|From left, clockwise: The first Space Shuttle, Columbia, lifted off in 1981; American President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev eased tensions between the two superpowers, leading to the end of the Cold War; The Fall of the Berlin Wall in...
.
In the 1980s, a regular theme featured Cap’n Crunch battling off the evil “Soggies” who attempted to “sog out” the taste of his cereal.
During the 1990s, most advertisements would feature Cap'n Crunch trying to help a teenager or a group of teens and solving their problems by offering them a bowl of one of his cereals.
In early 2000, an advertising campaign starred Cap'n Crunch where he was missing making him unable to appear on a TV show, a commercial, a dinner apppointment, getting the morning paper, and a trip to the moon. A transmission received on a News Report had stated that Cap'n Crunch travelled to the center of the Earth where the city of Volcanica is located. Upon arrival, he learns that the main ingredient in Cap'n Crunch cereal (known as Crunchium) was being stolen by "The Crunchium Thieves." Cap'n Crunch turned for help to the creatures that live in Volcanica called "The Crunchlings." During this campaign, a PC game known as Cap'n Crunch's Crunchling Adventure was released with the cereal to raise a Crunchling and train it to defeat the leader of the Crunchium Thieves in a skateboarding, jumping, or throwing contest.
In modern TV ads, Cap’n Crunch is often seen riding his ship through a wall as the whistle blares. He often comes in the middle of a predicament and uses his cereal to solve the problem at hand by “Crunch-a-tizing” it.
In May 2007 Cap'n Crunch's full name was revealed as Cap'n Horatio Magellan Crunch. It was also revealed on Cap'n Crunch's own baseball card (Cap'n Crunch's Home Run Crunch cereal) that he was "young" in 1963 but according to the picture, old enough to have white hair and mustache.
Daws Butler
Daws Butler
Charles Dawson "Daws" Butler was a voice actor originally from Toledo, Ohio. He worked mostly for Hanna-Barbera and originated the voices of many famous animated cartoon characters, including Yogi Bear, Quick Draw McGraw, Snagglepuss, and Huckleberry Hound.Daws Butler trained many working actors...
was the original voice of the Cap’n and continued in the role until his death in 1988. Other characters in the original ads were voiced by Ward Studio veterans June Foray
June Foray
June Foray is an American voice actress, best known as the voice of many animated characters...
, Bill Scott, and Paul Frees
Paul Frees
Paul Frees was an American voice actor and character actor.-Biography:He was born Solomon Hersh Frees in Chicago...
.
In a recent ad, Jean LaFoote
Jean LaFoote
Jean LaFoote is a fictional pirate character from the Cap'n Crunch breakfast cereal's character set. The character's name is wordplay on that of the historical pirate, Jean Lafitte....
returns, this time trying to steal the Cap'n's cereal recipe.
Cap’n Crunch was the most popular children's cereal from 1965–1971 when Post released its fruit-flavored crispy rice cereal known as Fruity Pebbles. It took six years for Crunch to dominate the segment again, releasing a new flavor of the crunch berry ingredient, grape.
Media speculation that the brand was being retired appeared in March 2011, but this was denied by Quaker Oats.
Nutrition
A report released in 2009 by the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at YaleRudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale
The Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity is a non-profit research and public policy organization devoted to improving the world’s diet, preventing obesity, and reducing weight stigma. Located in New Haven, Connecticut at Yale University, the Rudd Center was co-founded in March 2005 by benefactor...
gave Cap'n Crunch's Crunch Berries the worst nutritional score of any cereal marketed to children and families.
Relation to hacking culture
John Draper
John Thomas Draper , also known as Captain Crunch, Crunch or Crunchman , is an American computer programmer and former phone phreak. He is a legendary figure within the computer programming world.- Background :Draper is the son of a U.S...
(later self-nicknamed Captain Crunch, Crunch, Crunchman, or Mr. Crunchtastic) was informed by his phone phreak
Phreaking
Phreaking is a slang term coined to describe the activity of a culture of people who study, experiment with, or explore telecommunication systems, such as equipment and systems connected to public telephone networks. As telephone networks have become computerized, phreaking has become closely...
friend Joe Engressia
Joybubbles
Joybubbles , born Josef Carl Engressia, Jr. in Richmond, Virginia, USA, was an early phone phreak. Born blind, he became interested in telephones at age four. Gifted with absolute pitch, he was able to whistle 2600 hertz into a telephone . Joybubbles said that he had an IQ of “172 or something.” ...
that a toy whistle that was, at the time, packaged in boxes of the cereal could be easily modified to emit a tone at precisely 2600 Hertz
Hertz
The hertz is the SI unit of frequency defined as the number of cycles per second of a periodic phenomenon. One of its most common uses is the description of the sine wave, particularly those used in radio and audio applications....
, the same frequency that was used by AT&T
AT&T
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications corporation headquartered in Whitacre Tower, Dallas, Texas, United States. It is the largest provider of mobile telephony and fixed telephony in the United States, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services...
long lines
Long line (telecommunications)
In telephone systems nomenclature, a long line is a transmission line in a long-distance communications network such as carrier systems, microwave radio relay links, geosynchronous satellite links, underground cables, aerial cables and open wire, and Submarine communications cables...
to indicate that a trunk line
Trunking
In modern communications, trunking is a concept by which a communications system can provide network access to many clients by sharing a set of lines or frequencies instead of providing them individually. This is analogous to the structure of a tree with one trunk and many branches. Examples of...
was ready to route a new call. This would effectively disconnect one end of the trunk, allowing the still-connected side to enter an operator mode. This resulted in, among other things, the ability to place free phone calls to anywhere in the world and operator-like control over the phone system. Experimenting with this whistle inspired Draper to build blue boxes, electronic devices capable of reproducing this 2600 Hz tone and other tones required to control trunk lines. After being featured, under his pseudonym of Captain Crunch, in an article in the October 1971 issue of Esquire Magazine titled "Secrets of the Little Blue Box", he was sentenced in 1972 to five years’ probation
Probation
Probation literally means testing of behaviour or abilities. In a legal sense, an offender on probation is ordered to follow certain conditions set forth by the court, often under the supervision of a probation officer...
for toll fraud.
Cereal litigation
On May 21, 2009, Judge Morrison England, Jr., of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California dismissed the case Sugawara v. PepsiCo, Inc.. The plaintiff, Janine Sugawara, claimed she had purchased the cereal Cap'n Crunch with Crunchberries because she believed "crunchberries" indicated she was eating real fruit. Sugawara alleged that after four years of purchasing the product she had only recently discovered to her dismay that said "berries" were in fact simply brightly-colored cereal balls. The judge commented "In this case...it is simply impossible for Plaintiff to file an amended complaint stating a claim based upon these facts. The survival of the instant claim would require this Court to ignore all concepts of personal responsibility and common senseCommon sense
Common sense is defined by Merriam-Webster as, "sound and prudent judgment based on a simple perception of the situation or facts." Thus, "common sense" equates to the knowledge and experience which most people already have, or which the person using the term believes that they do or should have...
. The Court has no intention of allowing that to happen."
Cultural references
Country singer Ronnie MilsapRonnie Milsap
Ronnie Lee Milsap is an American country music singer and pianist. He was one of country’s most popular and influential performers of the 1970s and 1980s...
referenced Cap'n Crunch cereal in his 1974 hit song "Pure Love
Pure Love
"Pure Love" is a song made famous by country music singer Ronnie Milsap. Originally released in 1974, the song became Milsap's first No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart in the late spring of the year...
" written by Eddie Rabbitt.