Super Cereal Spokesman...or Creepy Peeping Tom?

Superman and Kellogg's go way back...all the way back to the early 1940's with Kellogg's PEP cereal, a frequent advertiser of the Superman radio show. In fact, a rare store display for PEP cereal featured a magnificent painting of Superman visiting with his young fans (click on the image for a larger view).

The Kellogg's/Superman alliance continued into the 1950's when the cereal company became a key sponsor of the Adventures of Superman TV series. In a series of commercials for the new Sugar Frosted Flakes cereal, Superman star George Reeves (as Clark Kent) is shown strolling through 1950's suburbia and occasionally stopping to eavesdrop on families and friends discussing the tasty new cereal.

Peering through fences and pup tents with his x-ray vision, Clark's most egregious violation of privacy occurred when he observed a squabbling brother and sister...who ultimately come together through the healing power of Sugar Frosted Flakes. As "Peeping Tom" Kent summed it up, "Kids may argue, but never about Kellogg's Sugar Frosted Flakes". Check it out:

Comments

[Pat Curley]

I'm just old enough to remember PEP. It was Kellogg's knockoff of Wheaties. The only reason I remember it is that they had it in those mini 10-packs where you actually cut open the cardboard and plastic liner and poured the milk right in and ate it out of the box.

Of course, if you listened to the Superman radio show, you got the impression the product they were advertising consisted of the comic character pins inside every box of Pep.

[Brian Disco Snell]

"Clark Kent--the star of Superman!"?? Uhhh...oh, nevermind, it's just a silly kids commerical...

[Mark Engblom]

"The only reason I remember it is that they had it in those mini 10-packs where you actually cut open the cardboard and plastic liner and poured the milk right in and ate it out of the box."

I don't remember PEP, but I *do* remember eating cereal out of those little boxes.

""Clark Kent--the star of Superman!"?? Uhhh...oh, nevermind, it's just a silly kids commerical..."

Yeah, this was obviously still the era when the Powers That Were preferred that Superman not be identified as the actor playing him. He was simply "Superman" or (as in this series of commercials) "Clark Kent"...in order to preserve the illusion that he was the real Superman.

[meng]

that's a strikingly modern version of Superman in the display ad... not the squinty eyed, barrel chested, thick necked version usually seen from that era.

it's also interesting to see earlier renditions of the S shield. this one still looks like an "S" on a red outlined shield. it hasn't sprouted the top serif, the ball/foot at the bottom nor has the top left separated from the edge yet...

[Mark Engblom]

Some great observations, meng. You bring up a good point about Superman's softer, more modern look (which wouldn't hit the comics until Curt Swan's interpretation). Perhaps the ad agency or the Kellogg's people wanted a friendlier-looking Superman than the brash "slab" of a man from the comics.

Love the big, billowy cape as well!

[Greg Scott]

Sure, Clark Kent's affinity for secretly watching neighborhood children is creepy, but what about the way the kids in some of those commercials are positively *jonesing* for Frosted Flakes? "Forget the milk, I'm going to eat it right out of the box!" Not since Chris Rock in NEW JACK CITY have we seen such a brutal and unflinching portrayal of addiction.

And check out George Reeves in the vid again. I can understand the need to have Superman's costume padded, but Clark Kent's? He looks like an offensive lineman.

The blog is as awesome as ever, Mark. You're still keeping me in stitches.

[suedenim]

"that's a strikingly modern version of Superman in the display ad... not the squinty eyed, barrel chested, thick necked version usually seen from that era."

True, and I was just thinking he bears more than a slight resemblance to Christopher Reeve!

In the recent book "Superman vs. Hollywood," it's mentioned that all the characters appeared in Kelloggs ads (and Jack Larson said he might have gotten more money from Kelloggs than he did from the actual TV show!)... but with one exception. Lois Lane never appeared in any of these ads, apparently because they felt showing a single woman sharing breakfast with an unmarried co-worker would raise too many questions!

(That said, I imagine it would've been easy enough to get around that if they'd really wanted to - Lane and Kent sharing breakfast at the office, because they had a hot early-morning "scoop" that necessitated skipping their usual respective breakfast times, for example....)

[Mark Engblom]

"...but what about the way the kids in some of those commercials are positively *jonesing* for Frosted Flakes? "Forget the milk, I'm going to eat it right out of the box!"

LOL! Hi, Greg....good to hear from you (Greg's an old friend). Yeah, you can almost see their hand tremors if you look closely.

Glad you're still enjoying the blog (Greg is the guy you need to hold responsible for "Comic Coverage" since he urged me to try it out).

[Mark Engblom]

"apparently because they felt showing a single woman sharing breakfast with an unmarried co-worker would raise too many questions!"

Wow....I hadn't heard that. I just love stuff like that....and how quaint it looks in comparison with today's "anything goes" advertising climate (no...really...I *don't* want to hear about "male problem" medication and its possible side effects).

[Brian]

Hey Greg, thanks for encouraging Mark to start Comic Coverage-- we're all in your debt!

This ad is awesome-- I found it on YouTube when I did my superman birthday tribute awhile back, and I love it precisely because it is "dated," and so much a marker of its era. I mean, I can't imagine Hugh Jackman doing an ad for "Wolverine Puffs," or something ("Eat, em! Eat 'em now, bub!").

[John Nowak]

>Sure, Clark Kent's affinity for secretly watching neighborhood children is creepy, but what about the way the kids in some of those commercials are positively *jonesing* for Frosted Flakes?

First bowl's free...

[Greg Scott]

If y'all get a chance to look at the commercial I'm referring to on the THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN VOL 1 dvd, the two boys are practically fighting over the cereal box like it's the last rock in a crack den. Yet all the while, they're calling it by it's full name. "Hey, it's MY turn to eat Kellogg's Frosted Flakes!" "But you already had your turn to eat Kellogg's Frosted Flakes!"

And just for the record, I take absolutely *no credit* for Mark's rise to internet fame and fortune. I dimly recall that I may have encouraged Mark to send an email or two to Scott Tipton, but the fact is that Mark's uncanny brand of wit and smartassery would have found a high profile, public outlet sooner or later.

Not to oversell it, but he's that good. Delicious Kellogg's Frosted Flakes good.

[watch friends online]

what is so sad is that i remember this commercial.