Cereal Commercial Mystery - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

Cori aka ChrisSCrush · 10-29-2008, 04:39 AM

Here is my own private mystery: (from reading the posts, most people here seem younger than I, but) does ANYONE, besides me, remember a cereal promoted in the late 1960s as "Jets, the cereal for boys"? By the early 1970s both the commercials and the cereal itself had been banned by a feminist group due to the EXTREME political incorrectness of the ads.

What gets me is that, although this was a major source of childhood trauma, I've been unable to turn up anything on this, anywhere. There have been a few references to a cereal called "Sugar Jets," with advertising featuring both a boy and a girl, but nothing on the Jets cereal controversy. Thanks for any assistance.

Dislimb · 10-29-2008, 04:46 AM

Why don't you ask one of the nerds over at the TZC about it? I know you still post there and those dorks have no life so someone should know.

tv star collector · 10-29-2008, 09:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cori aka ChrisSCrush

Here is my own private mystery: (from reading the posts, most people here seem younger than I, but) does ANYONE, besides me, remember a cereal promoted in the late 1960s as "Jets, the cereal for boys"? By the early 1970s both the commercials and the cereal itself had been banned by a feminist group due to the EXTREME political incorrectness of the ads.

What gets me is that, although this was a major source of childhood trauma, I've been unable to turn up anything on this, anywhere. There have been a few references to a cereal called "Sugar Jets," with advertising featuring both a boy and a girl, but nothing on the Jets cereal controversy. Thanks for any assistance.

Since I'm a "dork who has no life" (as someone so rudely put it), I will attempt
to answer your question: try Topher's Breakfast Cereal Characters website
at this link ... www.lavasurfer.com/cereal-generalmills.2html. Hope that helps.

icomeinpeace · 10-29-2008, 07:24 PM

I did find a still from a commercial here: http://bedazzled.blogs.com/bedazzled/jay_ward/

Cori aka ChrisSCrush · 10-30-2008, 12:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tv star collector

Since I'm a "dork who has no life" (as someone so rudely put it), I will attempt
to answer your question: try Topher's Breakfast Cereal Characters website
at this link ... www.lavasurfer.com/cereal-generalmills.2html. Hope that helps.

POWER TO THE DORKS! Thanks to this, http://www.lavasurfer.com/cereal-generalmills2.html I was able to learn that Sugar Jets were by General Mills, and changed their name to Jets sometime in the 1960s, at that time featuring juvenile football players. This narrows down identifying the objectionable advertising campaign.

Cori aka ChrisSCrush · 10-30-2008, 12:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by icomeinpeace

I did find a still from a commercial here: http://bedazzled.blogs.com/bedazzled/jay_ward/

Yeah, one of the Rocky and Bullwinkle ads is on You Tube but that's not the one that got it banned.

Dislimb · 10-30-2008, 03:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tv star collector

Since I'm a "dork who has no life" (as someone so rudely put it)

Do you post at the TZC? No, you don't. That's where the dorks are.

tv star collector · 10-30-2008, 08:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dislimb

Do you post at the TZC? No, you don't. That's where the dorks are.

Not all of us.

Some of us nerds hang out at the Big Cartoon Forum and/or The Comic Book Resources Forum. (Not sure what the difference is
between a nerd, a geek and a dork, so I'll leave that to the sociologists.)

Cori aka ChrisSCrush · 10-31-2008, 12:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tv star collector

Not all of us.

Some of us nerds hang out at the Big Cartoon Forum and/or The Comic Book Resources Forum.

Are these good resources for my question?

icomeinpeace · 10-31-2008, 02:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cori aka ChrisSCrush

Yeah, one of the Rocky and Bullwinkle ads is on You Tube but that's not the one that got it banned.

What happened with their advertising that caused them to be banned? It's driving me crazy; I'm imagining the worst. Was there something suggestive about the shape of the cereal??

Cori aka ChrisSCrush · 11-01-2008, 01:27 AM

The objectionable advertising campaign promoted Jets as "the cereal for boys." Earlier campaigns were cartoons targeting "kids," including girls, but I wasn't around for those.

These ads were live-action, featuring a girl invading some male domain, such as a clubhouse or treehouse, where the cereal was kept, whereon a gang of at least three boys would discover her and proceed to beat holy crap out of her for daring to touch "their" cereal. At the end of the ad, the girl would be sitting with a black eye and a big smile, convinced this cereal was good enough to be worth getting beaten up.

As a six-year-old girl, NO food was good enough to be worth being beaten by a gang of boys! I was terrified to even go in the cereal aisle of the supermarket alone, for fear some boy should think I was after "the" cereal and make an issue of it! Several years after this, I was surprised to read in TV Guide that not only the ads but the cereal itself was banned due to the actions of a feminist group. Whoever was involved, I'd like to thank them, but I've been unable to learn any further details. It does seem to have been a General Mills product. There have been books on the worst advertising campaigns in history but as far as I know, this stinker did not receive its just inclusion.

(By the way, I thought I had mentioned it on TZC--Twilight Zone Cafe--but it's not there so must have been on an earlier forum, The Fifth Dimension. No one recalled it. Maybe I imagined it...in the Twilight Zone.)

Dislimb · 11-03-2008, 10:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cori aka ChrisSCrush

(By the way, I thought I had mentioned it on TZC--Twilight Zone Cafe--but it's not there so must have been on an earlier forum, The Fifth Dimension. No one recalled it. Maybe I imagined it...in the Twilight Zone.)

The Fifth Dimension? Now that was a class joint! I loved that forum. I can't say the same about the collection of worthless whiners over at the TZC. They're probably some of the biggest losers in the whole world.

wiseguy182 · 11-03-2008, 09:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dislimb

The Fifth Dimension? Now that was a class joint! I loved that forum. I can't say the same about the collection of worthless whiners over at the TZC. They're probably some of the biggest losers in the whole world.

I used to post a little bit at the Twilight Zone cafe. I stopped after one of the moderators talked to me about my not issuing a spoiler warning for an episode that was, you know, like 50 YEARS OLD!!

Dislimb · 11-04-2008, 02:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wiseguy182

I used to post a little bit at the Twilight Zone cafe. I stopped after one of the moderators talked to me about my not issuing a spoiler warning for an episode that was, you know, like 50 YEARS OLD!!

Really? What was your screen name over there? And was it James B. W. Bevis that gave you a hard time about the spoilers? I'll bet it was.

crystaldawn · 11-05-2008, 09:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dislimb

Really? What was your screen name over there? And was it James B. W. Bevis that gave you a hard time about the spoilers? I'll bet it was.

Geez Dislimb whats your problem on this thread? Three rude entirely unprovoked posts. I suggest you keep the nasty comments to yourself or discuss them in a pm with someone that will listen. Anymore will be removed.

10-29-2008, 04:39 AM	#1
Cori aka ChrisSCrush Member Senior Member Join Date: Dec 30, 2001 Location: USA and still trying to be proud of it! Posts: 2,071	Cereal Commercial Mystery Here is my own private mystery: (from reading the posts, most people here seem younger than I, but) does ANYONE, besides me, remember a cereal promoted in the late 1960s as "Jets, the cereal for boys"? By the early 1970s both the commercials and the cereal itself had been banned by a feminist group due to the EXTREME political incorrectness of the ads. What gets me is that, although this was a major source of childhood trauma, I've been unable to turn up anything on this, anywhere. There have been a few references to a cereal called "Sugar Jets," with advertising featuring both a boy and a girl, but nothing on the Jets cereal controversy. Thanks for any assistance.

10-29-2008, 04:46 AM	#2
Dislimb Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Mar 23, 2006 Location: Cleveland, OH Posts: 431	Why don't you ask one of the nerds over at the TZC about it? I know you still post there and those dorks have no life so someone should know.

10-29-2008, 07:24 PM	#4
icomeinpeace Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Oct 20, 2004 Posts: 27	I did find a still from a commercial here: http://bedazzled.blogs.com/bedazzled/jay_ward/

11-01-2008, 01:27 AM	#11
Cori aka ChrisSCrush Member Senior Member Join Date: Dec 30, 2001 Location: USA and still trying to be proud of it! Posts: 2,071	The objectionable advertising campaign promoted Jets as "the cereal for boys." Earlier campaigns were cartoons targeting "kids," including girls, but I wasn't around for those. These ads were live-action, featuring a girl invading some male domain, such as a clubhouse or treehouse, where the cereal was kept, whereon a gang of at least three boys would discover her and proceed to beat holy crap out of her for daring to touch "their" cereal. At the end of the ad, the girl would be sitting with a black eye and a big smile, convinced this cereal was good enough to be worth getting beaten up. As a six-year-old girl, NO food was good enough to be worth being beaten by a gang of boys! I was terrified to even go in the cereal aisle of the supermarket alone, for fear some boy should think I was after "the" cereal and make an issue of it! Several years after this, I was surprised to read in TV Guide that not only the ads but the cereal itself was banned due to the actions of a feminist group. Whoever was involved, I'd like to thank them, but I've been unable to learn any further details. It does seem to have been a General Mills product. There have been books on the worst advertising campaigns in history but as far as I know, this stinker did not receive its just inclusion. (By the way, I thought I had mentioned it on TZC--Twilight Zone Cafe--but it's not there so must have been on an earlier forum, The Fifth Dimension. No one recalled it. Maybe I imagined it...in the Twilight Zone.)