Mascots
Cocoa Krispies first appeared in the United States in 1958, represented by a monkey named Jose.[6] He was reportedly replaced by Coco the Elephant in 1960 when Mexican Americans complained about the ethnic stereotype. In 1963, the Hanna-Barbera character Snagglepuss took over as the mascot. Ogg the Caveman took over towards the end of 1967.
By the end of 1973, Tusk the Elephant became the mascot of the cereal, and he remained until the end of 1982, when Snap, Crackle and Pop (the mascots of Rice Krispies) replaced and retired Tusk the Elephant. In 1991, the mascot became Coco the Monkey. In 2001, Snap, Crackle, and Pop returned and they have remained the product's mascots to date. The cereal was introduced in the United Kingdom under the "Coco Pops" name in 1961, with Mr. Jinks as the mascot.
Later in the 1960s, Sweep (a dog hand puppet from the popular children's television programme The Sooty Show) 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 and Choco Pops, and some others named Choco Krispies. In recent years, the design of Coco has been refined to give him a younger look.
Late 2000s advertisements (2009) in the United Kingdom opted away from using Coco and his friends, instead 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 featured character. However, the cereal box of 2009 has Coco's head as the main feature, with the title 'Coco Pops' and a smaller cereal bowl, on the right of the box. Briefly, Coco was seen as a real-life chimp. As of 2011, Kellogg's decided to bring Coco and his friends, as well as Croc back, initially under a space age style campaign, known as the "Coco Pops Promise".
In July 2014 in Mexico, due to concerns about the sugary and caloric contents of the cereal and the relation kids made with the friendly mascot, Melvin the elephant had a physical transformation from a traditional elephant body to an athletic body, resembling a strong teenager while keeping the head of the mascot. The cereal also had a recipe transformation to add more vitamins and minerals, in order to focus the product into a "health is fun" type of communication. Due to declining sales and inconsistent design Kellogg's with the agency Interbrand Mexico redesigned the character again on 2019 on his anniversary.[7] In the United Kingdom and in Australia the mascot is Coco the Monkey.[8]
In June 2020, after the murder of George Floyd and as Black Lives Matter demonstrations were taking place around the world, former UK Member of Parliament Fiona Onasanya criticized Kellogg's use of a monkey on the box of brown, chocolate-flavoured Coco Pops whereas Rice Krispies featured Snap, Crackle and Pop, three white characters.[9] A spokesperson for Kellogg's responded that "We do not tolerate discrimination." Kellogg's also said that its founder, William Keith Kellogg, was "a pioneer in employing women in the workplace and reaching across cultural boundaries." Onasanya said that Kellogg's brother John Harvey Kellogg had founded the eugenics and racial hygiene organization Race Betterment Foundation.[9] Kellogg's was previously criticized over racially insensitive imagery in 2017 when author Saladin Ahmed noticed that a Corn Pops cereal box's only dark-skinned character was a janitor cleaning the floor.[10]
