Cap'n Crunch - Advertising

Advertising

Cap'n Crunch TV commercials have aired since 1963. The first Cap’n Crunch commercials featured a four-child crew (Alfie, Brunhilde, Carlyle, and Dave) and the canine Sea Dog, who sailed with the Cap’n on his ship, The Good Ship Guppy. The crew was tasked with keeping the cereal safe from the Cap’n’s nemesis, Jean LaFoote, the Barefoot Pirate. The characters also appeared in a comic book included in Cap’n Crunch cereal boxes.

Jay Ward is credited with the creation of the Cap’n Crunch character and his Jay Ward Studios produced the first Cap’n Crunch commercials. Author Philip Wylie wrote a series of short stories, Crunch and Des, beginning in the 1940s, which featured a similarly named Captain Crunch Adams. The Cap'n Crunch commercials have historically used basic cartoon animation by Hanna-Barbera animation; however, Vinton Studios produced a claymation ad during the 1980s.

In the 1980s, a regular theme featured Cap’n Crunch battling off the evil “Soggies” who attempted to “sog out” the taste of his cereal.

During the 1990s, most advertisements would feature Cap'n Crunch trying to help a teenager or a group of teens and solving their problems by offering them a bowl of one of his cereals.

In early 2000, an advertising campaign starred Cap'n Crunch where he was missing making him unable to appear on a TV show, a commercial, a dinner apppointment, getting the morning paper, and a trip to the moon. A transmission received on a News Report had stated that Cap'n Crunch travelled to the center of the Earth where the city of Volcanica is located. Upon arrival, he learns that the main ingredient in Cap'n Crunch cereal (known as Crunchium) was being stolen by "The Crunchium Thieves." Cap'n Crunch turned for help to the creatures that live in Volcanica called "The Crunchlings." During this campaign, a PC game known as Cap'n Crunch's Crunchling Adventure was released with the cereal to raise a Crunchling and train it to defeat the leader of the Crunchium Thieves in a skateboarding, jumping, or throwing contest.

In modern TV ads, Cap’n Crunch is often seen riding his ship through a wall as the whistle blares. He often comes in the middle of a predicament and uses his cereal to solve the problem at hand by “Crunch-a-tizing” it.

In May 2007 Cap'n Crunch's full name was revealed as Cap'n Horatio Magellan Crunch. It was also revealed on Cap'n Crunch's own baseball card (Cap'n Crunch's Home Run Crunch cereal) that he was "young" in 1963 but according to the picture, old enough to have white hair and mustache.

Daws Butler was the original voice of the Cap’n and continued in the role until his death in 1988. Other characters in the original ads were voiced by Ward Studio veterans June Foray, Bill Scott, and Paul Frees.

In a recent ad, Jean LaFoote returns, this time trying to steal the Cap'n's cereal recipe.

Cap’n Crunch was the most popular children's cereal from 1965–1971 when Post released its fruit-flavored crispy rice cereal known as Fruity Pebbles. It took six years for Crunch to dominate the segment again, releasing a new flavor of the crunch berry ingredient, grape.

Media speculation that the brand was being retired appeared in March 2011, but this was denied by Quaker Oats.