4th November 2010, on the menu today...
Kellogg's Coco Pops
We have seen quite a bit of brand movement from this classic Kellogg's cereal with a number of spin-offs - Moon & Stars, Coco Rocks, Mega Munchers and Choc 'n' Roll - launched in a relatively short amount of time. The latest offering, Coco Pops Choc 'n' Roll, boasts numerous health benefits that are no doubt a reaction to a lot of bad press regarding the brand's sugar levels and associated kid's advertising.
It may just be my two pennies worth but when I grew up sugar levels in cereals were much higher than they are now and kid's advertising was rife; however, not once have I ever been overweight because even though I ate - and still eat - all these so-called 'bad foods' my parents were there to make sure I developed sensible eating habits. Coco Pops, Frosties, Ricicles etc are never going to be the healthiest food options but they are tasty and fun; indeed, given the extent to which they are fortified, I can think of a lot worse things to eat. At the end of the day, those really concerned about health should look to overall eating habits and lifestyle choices and not any one food or group of foods.
Packaging
Today:
The cereal has retained the brown and yellow colour scheme of old and Coco, the cereal's monkey mascot, is still centre stage on pack. Moreover, with all the new products that have come out of late, Coco remains well featured on television unlike, sadly, Kellogg's other iconic characters.
However, with the lovely red and white banner of old now gone and colourful promotions few and far between, the box looks pretty plain to me - dull even. In addition, I am not a fan of the redesigned Coco and, as always, am not impressed with the synthetic, computer-generated look of the graphics.
Yesteryear:
Early 90's:
(Above picture is a screenshot of a third-party YouTube video)
1995:
(Above picture is a screenshot of a third-party YouTube video)
2002:
(Above picture is a screenshot of a third-party YouTube video)
Taste
It may be a psychological thing but these days the idea of sitting down to a chocolate-based food at breakfast doesn't feel or taste right to me hence my consumption of chocolate cereals is often a daytime snack thing. That said, as a kid I would merrily tuck in to a bowl of Coco Pops before I went off to school.
Sitting down to a bowl of the things, you'll notice that the cereal turns the milk a light brownish colour, as the ad says: "they turn the milk chocolatey". Additionally, like Rice Krispies, they make a crackling sound which is always amusing. Mucnhing on a mouthful, you get the same texturally experience as you would from eating Rice Krispies i.e. the drier cereal will have a delightful crunch to it whilst the soggier stuff will be chewier in consistency. Tastewise, similar to that of a Bourbon, the cereal has more of a cocoa powder taste to it than a chocolate one that I happen to really like. All in all, this isn't going to fill you up like your Shredded Wheat or Weetabix will but it certainly makes for an occasional tasty departure.
TV Advertising:
Seeing this old-school animation reminds me, once again, how horribly synthetic and cold the CGI stuff that now peppers the industry looks. That aside, the cereal box featured in the ad is how I remember the packaging from my childhood and, from a design perspective, I would say it was an awful lot better than what's currently on offer. There are no promotions featured but the brand name is bigger and displayed on a relatively large red and white banner graphic that minimizes the negative space on display and brings some much need colour in to the design. I think design teams could stand to learn a lot from packaging of old.
Above: Coco Pops ad starts at 1:09.
Have you considered...?
Coco Pops are well fortified with a range of vitamins and minerals that will help assist a child's growth and general well-being. Moreover, Kellogg's have made a commitment to reducing sugar levels in the cereal from 35g per 100g to 29.75 per 100g by next year.
History (as per the Wikipedia entry):
The cereal [reference to US version called "Cocoa Krispies"] was introduced in the United Kingdom under the "Coco Pops" name in 1961, with Mr. Jinks as the mascot. Later in the 1960s, Sooty became the mascot for "Coco Pops." In 1963, Coco the Monkey was introduced, and he remains the mascot in those countries where the cereal is known as "Coco Pops." In recent years, the design of Coco has been refined to give him a younger look. Coco's friends are Shortie Giraffe, Randy Rhino, Alan Aardvark, Heftie Hippo, Fanny Flamingo, Osmelda Ostrich, and Kylie Kangaroo, while Crafty Croc and the gorillas are his arch-enemies.
More recent advertisements (2009) in the United Kingdom have opted away from using Coco and his friends opting for things such as dancing milkmen and astronauts. Coco is still present on the box of the cereal and at the end of the advertisement but is no longer the feature character. However, the 2009 cereal box has Coco's head as the main feature, with the title 'Coco Pops' and the cereal bowl smaller and on the right of the box. Briefly Coco was seen as a real life chimp.
Related TGBD Articles:
Web Links:
Fellow food bloggers:
It's All About Limited Edition