Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Trix Presents Saturday Morning Cartoons

We hear sneaky music as 2 mysterious ears travel along behind the couch.
A familiar face comes up.
It's the Trix Rabbit and he hops over the couch and sits down.
He pours delicious nuggets of Trix into a bowl.
He reaches off stage for milk.
He thinks he is getting away with something and chuckles.
He picks up the TV remote.

He turns on the TV.

A General Mills sponsored cartoon starts up.
He gets ready to enjoy his 2 favorite pleasures...

He contemplates the delicious flavors he is about to indulge in.



T.R. pours Trix nuggets towards his hungry mouth.
He is startled by the voice of a kid. "Silly rabbit...
...Cartoons are for kids!"
Girl: "And so are Trix!"

He Hog the Atomic Pig starts up on TV.
Kids: YAAAY! IT'S HE HOG! Thank you General Mills!

We zoom in on the TV until the cartoon fills the screen.

Monday, September 6, 2010

Reviving Beloved Mascots by Telling Stories


General Mills has a cast of iconic mascots. The Cheerios Kid, the Trix Rabbit, Sonny the Cuckoo Bird, the Monsters and Sir Charms the Leprechaun have entertained kids for decades and made breakfast an exciting experience.

The earliest incarnations of the characters were, I think, the most creative and fun. In the 1960s, the cereal commercials told stories and let us empathize with the personalities of the characters. They had great design, but they also had personality and charm, something missing from much advertising today.


TRIX RABBIT DREAMS

I think we could bring the classic GM characters back to life, not just s logos, but as characters that kids want to spend time with. We can tell new stories and bring back the fun atmosphere of breakfast time that existed in the 1950s and 60s.
THE ORIGINAL SONNY THE CUCKOO BIRD
Today we have more media to play with: Internet, mobile, video games and as always, television. We can do more now than they could even back when cereal was so much fun 40 and 50 years ago.

I think the trick is to tell stories again, and not just animate flashy special fx like many other cereal companies do.




We should take our cue from the classic General Mills commercials. They not only sold the product, they entertained and told stories. Kids looked forward to the commercials in the old days, just as if they were cartoon shows themselves.