Friday, July 23, 2010

Trix: The Happy Cereal

First introduced to stores as a breakfast/snack product in 1954 by General Mills, this ad for Trix "The Sugar Cereal with the Fruit Flavor" appeared in magazines and comics 2 years later in 1956. Pre-mascot days too as the silly Trix Rabbit wouldn't arrive on the scene for another 3 years in '59. Eat enough bowls kiddies and your eyes will turn into hopped-up sugared corn puffs too!



My favourite part of this superbly surreal ad though is the line at the very bottom-- "Now in Canada, too!" I guess that would make them "Fruit FLAVOURED" then, eh? Find out more aboot delicious Trix Cereal HERE!

+++++++++++++++++

EXTRA! My buddy Mykal sends over another great 50's Trix ad, this one from the back of Tom and Jerry Comics No. 148, November 1956 (by the way, my Trix ad scan was from Bugs Bunny's Halloween Fun #4, same year.) Thanks Mykal!

8 comments:

Mykal Banta said...

Ah, the red-hued gaze of the addict. I love the "nourishing and crisp." I also love the hands of the children. Cool stuff. Interesting to wonder how the 3d shadow below the trix balls was achieved before the simple click of the photoshop button (don't worry - I've had my photoshop rant for the month!).

Kitty LeClaw said...

In Canada, tew? That's mewtiful!

This blog is totally cute -- I love it!

Patrick Owsley said...

Wow...really enjoying this blog, Steve!

Mr. Karswell said...

>wonder how the 3d shadow below the trix balls was achieved

Probably something totally CRAZY and illogical, like-- photographed as a REAL shadow maybe?! *gasps!* haha

>This blog is totally cute -- I love it!

This blog loves you too, Mewzer!

>Wow...really enjoying this blog, Steve!

Thanks Patrick, I know me and you are on the same page about all of this stuff I post here, we've talked endlessly about great design and illustration over the years. Did you see the KISS Fanzine a few posts back?

Mykal Banta said...

Karswell: regarding the shadows - looking at it blown up, it looks like the little shadows are screen tone sheets cut to shape! That last one of the little girl couldn't be a photo unless they suspended the little trix balls in space.

Anonymous said...

Cute ad, I haven't eaten Trix cereal in years but the ad makes me want a bowl.

Mr. Karswell said...

I had a bowl of Trix about a year or so ago and it didn't taste the way I remembered it from my childhood, like they've changed the recipe or something.

Okay, the next post will definitely include a silly rabbit-- in fact, it will include THE KING of silly rabbits. See ya in a few...

Unknown said...

Ah, the 50's ads with smiling line-drawn kiddies. Of course Trix is pretty well harmless (unless you have diabetes, anyway.) But I recall an ad featuring a smiling young fellow eating a plate full of something that had been seasoned with Accent. And it said, bold as brass, "Pure Monosodium Glutamate." Well, now it's a well-known fact that MSG is a foul substance that makes a lot of people sick. (Myself included--I must have gotten a good size helping of it in my "Southwest Salad" the other night--I got the headache from hell and felt sort of woozy for several hours, and don't even ask about what happened when it reached the end of the digestive tract.) But hey, it made that kid happy! A lot of moms--mine included--sprinkled it on food gleefully back in the day. No wonder I always had such terrible digestive trouble and headaches!