Honey Smacks
Encyclopedia
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...
made by Kellogg's
Kellogg Company
Kellogg Company , is a producer of cereal and convenience foods, including cookies, crackers, toaster pastries, cereal bars, fruit-flavored snacks, frozen waffles, and vegetarian foods...
.
Naming
Introduced in 1953, the cereal has undergone several name changes. It started out as Sugar Smacks. In the 1980s, it was renamed Honey Smacks. In the early 1990s, perhaps because the product mascotMascot
The term mascot – defined as a term for any person, animal, or object thought to bring luck – colloquially includes anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name...
, Dig'em Frog, had customarily been portrayed as calling the cereal "Smacks", the word "Honey" was dropped from the name and the product was then simply called Smacks. That name is still used in Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Benelux and France. However, in the US the name reverted to Honey Smacks in 2004, in the UK a similar product, formally produced by the Quaker Oats Company and now Big Bear t/a Honey Monster Foods, called Sugar Puffs
Sugar Puffs
Sugar Puffs are a honey-flavoured breakfast cereal made from sugar-coated wheat sold in the United Kingdom. For many years it was made by the Quaker Oats Company but in 2006 it was sold to Big Bear t/a Honey Monster Foods, based in Leicester...
In Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
and Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
, it is known as "Honni Korn Smacks".
In Australia, the cereal had been known as Honey Smacks since the 1970s. However, Kelloggs Australia no longer markets the brand. GoldenVale currently markets this cereal under the name Honey Wheats with a bear and a honey bee as mascot. In 2007, a minor consumer petition was launched calling for the re-instatement of the product. Honey Smacks are no longer sold in Italy or Mexico either.
Sugar content
In a 2008 comparison of the nutritional value of 27 cereals, U.S. magazine Consumer ReportsConsumer Reports
Consumer Reports is an American magazine published monthly by Consumers Union since 1936. It publishes reviews and comparisons of consumer products and services based on reporting and results from its in-house testing laboratory. It also publishes cleaning and general buying guides...
found that both Honey Smacks and Post Cereals
Post Cereals
Post Foods, LLC, also known as Post Cereals is a food company that was founded by C.W. Post in 1895 with the first Postum, a "cereal beverage," developed by Post in Battle Creek, Michigan. The first cereal, Grape-Nuts, was developed in 1897. Post has its headquarters in the Bank of America Plaza...
' Golden Crisp
Golden Crisp
Golden Crisp is a breakfast cereal made by Post Cereals and introduced in 1949 as Sugar Crisp. It consists of sweetened puffed wheat.In a 2008 comparison of the nutritional value of 27 cereals, U.S...
were the two brands with the highest sugar content, more than 50 percent (by weight), commenting "There is at least as much sugar in a serving of Kellogg's Honey Smacks [...] as there is in a glazed
Glaze (cooking technique)
A glaze in cooking is a coating of a glossy, often sweet, sometimes savoury, substance applied to food typically by dipping, dripping, or with a brush. Egg whites and basic icings are both used as glazes...
doughnut
Doughnut
A doughnut or donut is a fried dough food and is popular in many countries and prepared in various forms as a sweet snack that can be homemade or purchased in bakeries, supermarkets, food stalls, and franchised specialty outlets...
from Dunkin' Donuts
Dunkin' Donuts
Dunkin' Donuts is an international doughnut and coffee retailer founded in 1950 by William Rosenberg in Quincy, Massachusetts; it is now headquartered in Canton...
". (The cereals are both sweetened puffed wheat.) Consumer Reports recommended parents to choose cereal brands with better nutrition ratings for their children.
Marketing history
Ever since the cereal was introduced in 1953, there have been various different mascots.Cliffy the Clown
Various clown
Clown
Clowns are comic performers stereotypically characterized by the grotesque image of the circus clown's colored wigs, stylistic makeup, outlandish costumes, unusually large footwear, and red nose, which evolved to project their actions to large audiences. Other less grotesque styles have also...
s served as the advertising mascot
Mascot
The term mascot – defined as a term for any person, animal, or object thought to bring luck – colloquially includes anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name...
from 1953 to 1956, including Cliffy the Clown
Cliffy the Clown
Cliffy the Clown was an American clown beginning in 1949. The clown debuted on an ABC-TV show called Super Circus. The family oriented show aired on Sunday afternoons for an hour. Cliffy's sidekicks on the show were Scampy and Nicky, both clowns. Cliffy was the head of the group. He had a bald...
. Ads with these clowns were known for showing them do the "Sugar Smack Swing".
Smaxey the Seal
In 1957, a sailor-suit-wearing seal
Pinniped
Pinnipeds or fin-footed mammals are a widely distributed and diverse group of semiaquatic marine mammals comprising the families Odobenidae , Otariidae , and Phocidae .-Overview: Pinnipeds are typically sleek-bodied and barrel-shaped...
named Smaxey became the mascot.
Quick Draw McGraw
The Hanna-Barbera
Cartoon Network Studios
Cartoon Network Studios is an American animation studio. A subsidiary of the Turner Broadcasting System , Cartoon Network Studios focuses on producing and developing animated programs only for and related to Cartoon Network...
cartoon horse sheriff
Sheriff
A sheriff is in principle a legal official with responsibility for a county. In practice, the specific combination of legal, political, and ceremonial duties of a sheriff varies greatly from country to country....
, Quick Draw McGraw
Quick Draw McGraw
The Quick Draw McGraw Show is the third cartoon television production created by Hanna-Barbera starring an anthropomorphic cartoon horse named Quick Draw McGraw following their success with The Ruff & Reddy Show and The Huckleberry Hound Show. The show debuted in syndication in the fall of 1959,...
, took over in 1961.
The Smackin' Bandit
In 1965, the mascot became The Smackin' Bandit, a half-mule
Mule
A mule is the offspring of a male donkey and a female horse. Horses and donkeys are different species, with different numbers of chromosomes. Of the two F1 hybrids between these two species, a mule is easier to obtain than a hinny...
, half-kangaroo
Kangaroo
A kangaroo is a marsupial from the family Macropodidae . In common use the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, especially those of the genus Macropus, Red Kangaroo, Antilopine Kangaroo, Eastern Grey Kangaroo and Western Grey Kangaroo. Kangaroos are endemic to the country...
who kissed everyone in sight.
The Smackin' Brothers
The Smackin' Bandit was replaced in 1966 by the Smackin' Brothers, two boys dressed in boxing shorts and boxing gloves. These ads usually featured the brothers wanting Sugar Smacks but wind up smacking each other instead. Also during 1966, promotional box designs were briefly introduced featuring characters from Star Trek
Star Trek
Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...
. Later commercials were similar to most Cheerios
Cheerios
Cheerios is a brand of breakfast cereal by General Mills introduced on May 1, 1941 as the first oat-based, ready-to-eat cold cereal. Originally named CheeriOats, the name was changed to Cheerios in 1945 because of a trade name dispute with Quaker Oats. The name fit the "O" shape of the cereal pieces...
commercials as they demonstrated how the cereal was "vitamin-powered". Paul Frees
Paul Frees
Paul Frees was an American voice actor and character actor.-Biography:He was born Solomon Hersh Frees in Chicago...
narrated these ads.
Dig'Em Frog
In the early 1970s, an Indian Chief appeared briefly, replaced by Dig 'Em Frog in 1972. He continued as spokesfrog when the cereal was rechristened Honey Smacks in the early 1980s. In these ads, Dig'Em would appear in front of a group of kids, and they would have some cereal together.
Love Smack's
This character was a loveable heart shaped dog, who was featured in 1982 giving hugs to children.
Wally the Bear
Dig 'Em was replaced by an animal more associated with honey
Honey
Honey is a sweet food made by bees using nectar from flowers. The variety produced by honey bees is the one most commonly referred to and is the type of honey collected by beekeepers and consumed by humans...
, Wally the Bear, in 1986 (1984 in France). These ads would feature Wally (not to be confused with the Wally Bear from Wally Bear and the NO! Gang
Wally Bear and the NO! Gang
Wally Bear and the NO! Gang is an educational Nintendo Entertainment System game that was released in 1992 exclusively for a North American audience.-Summary:...
) pestering a kid eating a bowl of Honey Smacks and doing anything to get some, and the kid would always refuse or just ignore Wally completely. These commercials didn't do too well since they seemed too much like the Trix
Trix
Trix may refer to:* Trix , a breakfast cereal* Trix , the German company that produced Trix construction and model train sets* Trix , originally produced in Germany and later in the UK...
commercials, plus Wally was not a very attractive character, and Dig'Em Frog was brought back the following year by popular demand.
Dig'Em Frog (redux)
During the 1990s, advertising campaigns for the cereal featured Dig 'Em attempting to have a bowl of Smacks while trying to outsmart his nemesis, Kitty. By 1997, these commercials were discontinued. Dig'em's voice was provided by Len Dresslar and for present the character is voiced in commercials by Frank Welker
Frank Welker
Franklin Wendell "Frank" Welker is an American actor who specializes in voice acting and has contributed character voices and other vocal effects to American television and motion pictures.-Acting career:...
. While ads for Honey Smacks don't air in the US as of lately, more recent ads in other countries depict Dig'Em as a character who's crazily addicted to the cereal.
In the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, the cereal was promoted with the character Barney Bee and rivaled Quaker's Sugar Puffs
Sugar Puffs
Sugar Puffs are a honey-flavoured breakfast cereal made from sugar-coated wheat sold in the United Kingdom. For many years it was made by the Quaker Oats Company but in 2006 it was sold to Big Bear t/a Honey Monster Foods, based in Leicester...
brand. However, due to Sugar Puffs' long established popularity, "Puffa Wheats", as they are now called, are only available in Poundland
Poundland
Poundland is a British-based variety store chain which sells every item in its stores for £1. Established in April 1990 by Dave Dodd and Stephen Smith, Poundland stock a variety of around 3,000 home and kitchen-ware, gifts, healthcare and other products, across 16 categories many of which are brand...
or other Pound stores in the United Kingdom.
In France, the cereal was called "Smacks" with a box featuring prominently in Jean-Luc Godard
Jean-Luc Godard
Jean-Luc Godard is a French-Swiss film director, screenwriter and film critic. He is often identified with the 1960s French film movement, French Nouvelle Vague, or "New Wave"....
's 1965 film Alphaville.
Similar products
- PostPost CerealsPost Foods, LLC, also known as Post Cereals is a food company that was founded by C.W. Post in 1895 with the first Postum, a "cereal beverage," developed by Post in Battle Creek, Michigan. The first cereal, Grape-Nuts, was developed in 1897. Post has its headquarters in the Bank of America Plaza...
's Golden CrispGolden CrispGolden Crisp is a breakfast cereal made by Post Cereals and introduced in 1949 as Sugar Crisp. It consists of sweetened puffed wheat.In a 2008 comparison of the nutritional value of 27 cereals, U.S... - QuakerQuaker Oats CompanyThe 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:...
's Sugar PuffsSugar PuffsSugar Puffs are a honey-flavoured breakfast cereal made from sugar-coated wheat sold in the United Kingdom. For many years it was made by the Quaker Oats Company but in 2006 it was sold to Big Bear t/a Honey Monster Foods, based in Leicester... - AldiALDIALDI Einkauf GmbH & Co. oHG, doing business as ', short for "Albrecht Discount", is a discount supermarket chain based in Germany...
stores sell a similar product called Honey Wheats manufactured under the GoldenVale brand. - Honey Wheat (no 's') is essentially the same product produced with the Fit & Activ moniker by De-Vau-Ge Gesundkostwerk GmbH.
