Fruity Pebbles
Encyclopedia
Fruity Pebbles and Cocoa Pebbles are brands of breakfast cereal
introduced by Post Cereals
in 1971 featuring characters from the animated series The Flintstones
. Cocoa Pebbles contains chocolate
-flavored crisp rice cereal bits, while Fruity Pebbles contains crisp rice cereal bits that come in a variety of fruit
flavors. It is the oldest cereal brand based on characters from a TV series or movie.
The original working names for the companion cereals were Flint Chips and Rubble Stones, consistent with the appearance of the cereal and The Flintstone's Stone Age imagery. Frank Corey, Benton & Bowles' creative head for the Post Cereal business suggested the alternative names Cocoa Pebbles and Fruity Pebbles, which were adopted.
The basic product retained the Sugar Rice Krinkles form, using the existing expander process and Battle Creek production facilities. The flavors, colors and other product formulations were carefully developed by Battle Creek product experts supported by marketing using the Linescale research technique. The objective was to create product characteristics which matched the expectations of both children and parents for what The Flintstones cereals should look and taste like. After many iterations, the Cocoa Pebbles formula was set and has remained largely unchanged over the years. Fruity Pebbles also remained essentially unchanged for decades. In recent years some additions and variations have been made to the Fruity Pebbles product formulation.
Unlike its sister cereal Cocoa Pebbles, Fruity Pebbles has undergone many formula additions and variants such as "Half Sugar Fruity Pebbles", "Dino Pebbles" (late 1980s- early 1990s), "Marshmallow Mania Pebbles", and "Bamm-Bamm Pebbles". The cereal started out with three flavors: Orange, cherry, and lemon. New flavors were added over time such as grape in 1980, lime in 1984, Berry Blue in 1994, Incrediberry Purple in 1995 and Bedrock Berry Pink in 2005. A berry cereal called Bamm-Bamm Berry Pebbles was released in 2007; although they are like Fruity Pebbles, they only feature berry flavors. The formula for both versions of Pebbles had a major addition in 2006: polydextrose
became a key ingredient.
with cooperation from Hanna-Barbera
) featured the animated Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble (as voiced by Alan Reed
and Mel Blanc
, respectively) interacting cheerfully with live-action children, eating the cereal around a typical household breakfast table; others showed Fred and Barney enjoying the cereal with their wives around their Bedrock breakfast table. Commercials after about 1976 were entirely animated, and would have a typical skit and plot. Fred would be eating some Pebbles while Barney would want some as well; to that end, Barney would either disguise himself or distract Fred from his bowl of the cereal using various creative and increasingly outrageous means. While Fred was distracted, Barney would eat some Pebbles, but Fred would quickly discover Barney's lies (By anything around him Dino
or Fred
himself). Angry about his breakfast being stolen, he would normally exclaim, "Barney! My Pebbles!" Barney would then chuckle and deliver a comedic line while running away from the angry Fred, and Fred would give chase. It was only during a Christmas commercial where Fred (by the urging of Santa Claus) forgave Barney for stealing the Pebbles and agreed to share them.
In recent years, Pebbles
and Bamm-Bamm
became more prominent in the commercials. The commercial launching Bamm-Bamm Berry Pebbles had a slight twist on the skit; when Fred said "Barney! My Pebbles!" Barney replied, "My Bamm-Bamm Pebbles!" as Bamm-Bamm carried his father away from the angry Fred. One of the most recent commercials featured Pebbles eating the Fruity Pebbles cereal along with Fred and Barney; Bamm-Bamm created a Barney-like distraction in the form of a giant fruit-loving robot, much to Pebbles' delight.
, red
, yellow
& orange
. They were described on the box as "sweetened rice cereal with artificial strawberry flavor."
Breakfast cereal
A breakfast cereal is a food made from processed grains that is often, but not always, eaten with the first meal of the day. It is often eaten cold, usually mixed with milk , water, or yogurt, and sometimes fruit but sometimes eaten dry. Some cereals, such as oatmeal, may be served hot as porridge...
introduced by Post Cereals
Post Cereals
Post Foods, LLC, also known as Post Cereals is a food company that was founded by C.W. Post in 1895 with the first Postum, a "cereal beverage," developed by Post in Battle Creek, Michigan. The first cereal, Grape-Nuts, was developed in 1897. Post has its headquarters in the Bank of America Plaza...
in 1971 featuring characters from the animated series The Flintstones
The Flintstones
The Flintstones is an animated, prime-time American television sitcom that screened from September 30, 1960 to April 1, 1966, on ABC. Produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, The Flintstones was about a working class Stone Age man's life with his family and his next-door neighbor and best friend. It...
. Cocoa Pebbles contains chocolate
Chocolate
Chocolate is a raw or processed food produced from the seed of the tropical Theobroma cacao tree. Cacao has been cultivated for at least three millennia in Mexico, Central and South America. Its earliest documented use is around 1100 BC...
-flavored crisp rice cereal bits, while Fruity Pebbles contains crisp rice cereal bits that come in a variety of fruit
Fruit
In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...
flavors. It is the oldest cereal brand based on characters from a TV series or movie.
Product history
Fruity Pebbles and Cocoa Pebbles Cereal were reintroductions of a low share of market Post children's cereal brand called Sugar Rice Krinkles. The Product Group Manager at the time, Larry Weiss, licensed use of The Flintstones for cereal from Hanna-Barbera in an attempt to reinvigorate the children's cereal business for Post Cereals. Prior to that time, character licensing had been used for promotion, but there had never been a brand created around a media character. The brand was marketed despite internal concern it would be a fad and not last more than a year. Cocoa Pebbles and Fruity Pebbles were simultaneously introduced on the West Coast in 1969 and strong consumer demand led to national distribution. The brand has been one of the most consistent best sellers ever since.The original working names for the companion cereals were Flint Chips and Rubble Stones, consistent with the appearance of the cereal and The Flintstone's Stone Age imagery. Frank Corey, Benton & Bowles' creative head for the Post Cereal business suggested the alternative names Cocoa Pebbles and Fruity Pebbles, which were adopted.
The basic product retained the Sugar Rice Krinkles form, using the existing expander process and Battle Creek production facilities. The flavors, colors and other product formulations were carefully developed by Battle Creek product experts supported by marketing using the Linescale research technique. The objective was to create product characteristics which matched the expectations of both children and parents for what The Flintstones cereals should look and taste like. After many iterations, the Cocoa Pebbles formula was set and has remained largely unchanged over the years. Fruity Pebbles also remained essentially unchanged for decades. In recent years some additions and variations have been made to the Fruity Pebbles product formulation.
Unlike its sister cereal Cocoa Pebbles, Fruity Pebbles has undergone many formula additions and variants such as "Half Sugar Fruity Pebbles", "Dino Pebbles" (late 1980s- early 1990s), "Marshmallow Mania Pebbles", and "Bamm-Bamm Pebbles". The cereal started out with three flavors: Orange, cherry, and lemon. New flavors were added over time such as grape in 1980, lime in 1984, Berry Blue in 1994, Incrediberry Purple in 1995 and Bedrock Berry Pink in 2005. A berry cereal called Bamm-Bamm Berry Pebbles was released in 2007; although they are like Fruity Pebbles, they only feature berry flavors. The formula for both versions of Pebbles had a major addition in 2006: polydextrose
Polydextrose
Polydextrose is an indigestable synthetic polymer of glucose. It is a food ingredient classified as soluble fiber by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration , but not Health Canada. It is frequently used to increase the non-dietary fiber content of food, replace sugar, reduce calories and reduce fat...
became a key ingredient.
Television commercials
The earliest commercials (produced by Post's ad agency D'Arcy Masius Benton & BowlesD'Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles
D'Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles was an advertising agency in the United States with worldwide subsidiaries.DMB&B was established in November 1985 by the merger of the Benton & Bowles and D'Arcy-MacManus Masius advertising agencies...
with cooperation from Hanna-Barbera
Hanna-Barbera
Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. was an American animation studio that dominated North American television animation during the second half of the 20th century...
) featured the animated Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble (as voiced by Alan Reed
Alan Reed
Alan Reed was an American actor and voice actor, best known as the original voice of Fred Flintstone on The Flintstones and various spinoff series...
and Mel Blanc
Mel Blanc
Melvin Jerome "Mel" Blanc was an American voice actor and comedian. Although he began his nearly six-decade-long career performing in radio commercials, Blanc is best remembered for his work with Warner Bros...
, respectively) interacting cheerfully with live-action children, eating the cereal around a typical household breakfast table; others showed Fred and Barney enjoying the cereal with their wives around their Bedrock breakfast table. Commercials after about 1976 were entirely animated, and would have a typical skit and plot. Fred would be eating some Pebbles while Barney would want some as well; to that end, Barney would either disguise himself or distract Fred from his bowl of the cereal using various creative and increasingly outrageous means. While Fred was distracted, Barney would eat some Pebbles, but Fred would quickly discover Barney's lies (By anything around him Dino
Dino
Dino may refer to:* slang term for a dinosaur* Dean "Dino" Martin , American singer and actor* Dino , one of the Graiai* Japanese professional wrestler who uses the name Danshoku Dino...
or Fred
Fred
Fred may refer to:People:*Fred , pen name of French comics creator Fred Othon Aristidès*Fred Tuttle , American farmer from Vermont who ran for the U.S...
himself). Angry about his breakfast being stolen, he would normally exclaim, "Barney! My Pebbles!" Barney would then chuckle and deliver a comedic line while running away from the angry Fred, and Fred would give chase. It was only during a Christmas commercial where Fred (by the urging of Santa Claus) forgave Barney for stealing the Pebbles and agreed to share them.
In recent years, Pebbles
Pebbles Flintstone
Pebbles Flintstone is a fictional character, the red-haired daughter of Fred and Wilma Flintstone...
and Bamm-Bamm
Bamm-Bamm Rubble
Bamm-Bamm Rubble is the adopted son of fictitious characters Barney and Betty Rubble. He is most famous in his infant form on the animated series The Flintstones, but has also appeared at various other ages, including as a teenager on the early 1970s spinoff The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show and as an...
became more prominent in the commercials. The commercial launching Bamm-Bamm Berry Pebbles had a slight twist on the skit; when Fred said "Barney! My Pebbles!" Barney replied, "My Bamm-Bamm Pebbles!" as Bamm-Bamm carried his father away from the angry Fred. One of the most recent commercials featured Pebbles eating the Fruity Pebbles cereal along with Fred and Barney; Bamm-Bamm created a Barney-like distraction in the form of a giant fruit-loving robot, much to Pebbles' delight.
Bedrock Blizzard
For the 1998 holiday season the Fruity and Cocoa flavors were altered and renamed "Bedrock Blizzard." The limited edition cereal had two different flavors The "Fruity" flavor had red and green frosting; the "Cocoa" flavor had white "snow sprinkles." This cereal was replaced by Winter Fruity Pebbles in 2002.Cinna-Crunch Pebbles
In 1998, Cinna-Crunch Pebbles were introduced. Unlike the other Pebbles which were crisp rice, Cinna-Crunch Pebbles were described as "sweetened oat, corn and wheat cereal baked with a touch of real cinnamon." The box claimed that the cereal had the "Best Cinnamon Sweet Taste In Bedrock" and a "Cinnamon Sweet Taste That Goes Crunch!". Cinna-Crunch Pebbles was introduced as a Limited-Edition cereal and was only available for a limited time. They were discountinued in 2001.Winter Fruity Pebbles
In 2002, Winter Fruity Pebbles were introduced. These had red & green Pebbles and was introduced a very short time.Marshmallow Mania Pebbles
Debuting in 2005, Marshmallow Mania Pebbles are a combination of original Pebbles and marshmallows.IceBerry Pebbles
In 2006, IceBerry Pebbles were released for a limited time. The pieces were greenGreen
Green is a color, the perception of which is evoked by light having a spectrum dominated by energy with a wavelength of roughly 520–570 nanometres. In the subtractive color system, it is not a primary color, but is created out of a mixture of yellow and blue, or yellow and cyan; it is considered...
, red
Red
Red is any of a number of similar colors evoked by light consisting predominantly of the longest wavelengths of light discernible by the human eye, in the wavelength range of roughly 630–740 nm. Longer wavelengths than this are called infrared , and cannot be seen by the naked eye...
, yellow
Yellow
Yellow is the color evoked by light that stimulates both the L and M cone cells of the retina about equally, with no significant stimulation of the S cone cells. Light with a wavelength of 570–590 nm is yellow, as is light with a suitable mixture of red and green...
& orange
Orange (colour)
The colour orange occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum at a wavelength of about 585–620 nm, and has a hue of 30° in HSV colour space. It is numerically halfway between red and yellow in a gamma-compressed RGB colour space, the expression of which is the RGB colour wheel. The...
. They were described on the box as "sweetened rice cereal with artificial strawberry flavor."