Honey Smacks is a sweetened
puffedPuffed grain includes ancient puffed grains like popcorn as well as puffed rice. Modern puffed grains are often created using high pressure.High pressure puffed grain is created by placing whole grains under high pressure with steam...
wheatWheat is a worldwide cultivated grass from the Fertile Crescent region of the Near East. In 2007 world production of wheat was 607 million tons, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize and rice...
breakfast cerealA breakfast cereal is a packaged breakfast food. It is eaten cold, usually mixed with milk or water, but sometimes eaten dry. Some cereals, such as oatmeal, may be served hot as porridge. Some companies promote their products for the health benefits from eating oat-based and high-fiber cereals....
made by
Kellogg'sKellogg Company is the world’s leading producer of cereal and a leading producer of convenience foods, including cookies, crackers, toaster pastries, cereal bars, frozen waffles, and meat alternatives...
.
In a 2008 comparison of the nutritional value of 27 cereals, U.S. magazine
Consumer ReportsConsumer Reports is an American magazine published monthly by Consumers Union. It publishes reviews and comparisons of consumer products and services based on reporting and results from its in-house testing laboratory. It also publishes cleaning and general buying guides...
found that both Honey Smacks and
Post CerealsPost Foods, LLC, also known as Post Cereals was founded by C.W. Post. It began in 1895 with the first Postum, a "cereal beverage", developed by Post in Battle Creek, Michigan...
'
Golden CrispGolden Crisp is a breakfast cereal made by Post Cereals and introduced in 1949 as Sugar Crisp. It consists of sweetened puffed wheat.In a 2008 comparison of the nutritional value of 27 cereals, U.S...
were the two brands with the highest sugar content - more than 50 percent (by weight) -, commenting "There is at least as much sugar in a serving of Kellogg's Honey Smacks [...] as there is in a
glazedA glaze in cooking is a coating of a glossy, often sweet, substance applied to food. Egg whites and icing are both used as glazes. For example, doughnut glaze is made from a simple mixture of confectioner's sugar and water. A typical medieval English glaze was the 'Elizabethan' glaze made from...
doughnutA doughnut is a sweet, deep-fried piece of dough or batter. The two most common types are the torus-shaped ring doughnut and the filled doughnut, a flattened sphere injected with jam, jelly, cream, custard, or other sweet filling. A small spherical piece of dough may be cooked as a doughnut hole...
from Dunkin’ Donuts".
Honey Smacks is a sweetened
puffedPuffed grain includes ancient puffed grains like popcorn as well as puffed rice. Modern puffed grains are often created using high pressure.High pressure puffed grain is created by placing whole grains under high pressure with steam...
wheatWheat is a worldwide cultivated grass from the Fertile Crescent region of the Near East. In 2007 world production of wheat was 607 million tons, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize and rice...
breakfast cerealA breakfast cereal is a packaged breakfast food. It is eaten cold, usually mixed with milk or water, but sometimes eaten dry. Some cereals, such as oatmeal, may be served hot as porridge. Some companies promote their products for the health benefits from eating oat-based and high-fiber cereals....
made by
Kellogg'sKellogg Company is the world’s leading producer of cereal and a leading producer of convenience foods, including cookies, crackers, toaster pastries, cereal bars, frozen waffles, and meat alternatives...
.
Sugar content
In a 2008 comparison of the nutritional value of 27 cereals, U.S. magazine
Consumer ReportsConsumer Reports is an American magazine published monthly by Consumers Union. It publishes reviews and comparisons of consumer products and services based on reporting and results from its in-house testing laboratory. It also publishes cleaning and general buying guides...
found that both Honey Smacks and
Post CerealsPost Foods, LLC, also known as Post Cereals was founded by C.W. Post. It began in 1895 with the first Postum, a "cereal beverage", developed by Post in Battle Creek, Michigan...
'
Golden CrispGolden Crisp is a breakfast cereal made by Post Cereals and introduced in 1949 as Sugar Crisp. It consists of sweetened puffed wheat.In a 2008 comparison of the nutritional value of 27 cereals, U.S...
were the two brands with the highest sugar content - more than 50 percent (by weight) -, commenting "There is at least as much sugar in a serving of Kellogg's Honey Smacks [...] as there is in a
glazedA glaze in cooking is a coating of a glossy, often sweet, substance applied to food. Egg whites and icing are both used as glazes. For example, doughnut glaze is made from a simple mixture of confectioner's sugar and water. A typical medieval English glaze was the 'Elizabethan' glaze made from...
doughnutA doughnut is a sweet, deep-fried piece of dough or batter. The two most common types are the torus-shaped ring doughnut and the filled doughnut, a flattened sphere injected with jam, jelly, cream, custard, or other sweet filling. A small spherical piece of dough may be cooked as a doughnut hole...
from Dunkin’ Donuts". (The cereals are both sweetened puffed wheat.) Consumer Reports recommended parents to choose cereal brands with better nutrition ratings for their children.
Marketing history
Introduced in 1953, the cereal has undergone several name changes. It started out as
Sugar Smacks. In the 1980s, it was renamed
Honey Smacks. In the early 1990s, perhaps because the product
mascotThe term mascot – defined as a term for any person, animal, or object thought to bring luck – colloquially includes anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name...
, Dig'em Frog, had customarily been portrayed as calling the cereal "Smacks", the word "Honey" was dropped from the name and the product was then simply called
Smacks. In 2004, the cereal was given back the name
Honey Smacks, which is now its current name. It is known in
MexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
as
SMAK.
Several slogans have been used in the advertising of Honey Smacks, including "They're Honey Smackin' good!" from 1984 to 1987, "I Dig'em" from 1991 to 1994, and "Satis-Smack-tion!" from 1995 to 1997.
Various
clownClowns are comical performers, stereotypically characterized by their grotesque appearance: colored wigs, stylistic makeup, outlandish costumes, unusually large footwear, red-nose, etc., who entertain spectators by acting in a hilarious fashion. The types of their acts varies greatly...
s served as the advertising
mascotThe term mascot – defined as a term for any person, animal, or object thought to bring luck – colloquially includes anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name...
from 1953 to 1956, including
Cliffy the ClownCliffy the Clown was an American clown beginning in 1949. The clown debuted on an ABC-TV show called Super Circus. The family oriented show aired on Sunday afternoons for an hour. Cliffy's sidekicks on the show were Scampy and Nicky, both clowns. Cliffy was the head of the group. He had a bald...
. In 1957, a sailor-suit-wearing
sealPinnipeds or fin-footed mammals are a widely distributed and diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals comprising the families Odobenidae , Otariidae , and Phocidae...
named Smaxey became the mascot. The
Hanna-BarberaCartoon Network Studios is an American animation studio. A subsidiary of the Turner Broadcasting System , Cartoon Network Studios focuses on producing and developing animated programs for and related to Cartoon Network...
cartoon horse
sheriffA sheriff is in principle a legal official with responsibility for a county. In practice, the specific combination of legal, political, and ceremonial duties of a sheriff varies greatly from country to country....
Quick Draw McGrawQuick Draw McGraw is an anthropomorphic cartoon horse starring in The Quick Draw McGraw Show, the third cartoon television production created by Hanna-Barbera following their success with The Ruff & Reddy Show and The Huckleberry Hound Show. The show debuted in syndication in the fall of 1959,...
took over in 1961, followed in 1965 by The Smackin' Bandit, a half-
muleA mule is the offspring of a male donkey and a female horse. Horses and donkeys are different species, with different numbers of chromosomes. Of the two F1 hybrids between these two species, a mule is easier to obtain than a hinny...
, half-
kangarooA kangaroo is a marsupial from the family Macropodidae . In common use the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, especially those of genus Macropus, Red Kangaroo, Antilopine Kangaroo, Eastern and Western Grey Kangaroo...
who kissed everyone in sight. He was replaced in 1966 by the Smackin' Brothers, two boys dressed in boxing shorts and boxing gloves. In the early 1970s, an Indian Chief appeared briefly, replaced by Dig 'Em Frog in 1972. He continued as spokesfrog when the cereal was rechristened Honey Smacks. Dig 'Em was replaced by an animal more associated with
honeyHoney is a sweet food made by some insects using nectar from flowers. The variety produced by honey bees is the one most commonly referred to and is the type of honey collected by beekeepers and consumed by humans...
, Wally the Bear, in 1986, but was brought back by popular demand in 1987. During the 1990s, advertising campaigns for the cereal featured Dig 'Em attempting to have a bowl of Smacks while trying to outsmart his nemesis, Kitty. By 1997, these commercials were discontinued.
In the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
, the cereal was promoted with the character
Barney Bee and rivaled Quaker's
Sugar PuffsSugar Puffs is a breakfast cereal made from sugar coated wheat that is sold in the United Kingdom. For many years it was made by the Quaker Oats Company but in 2006 it was sold to Big Bear t/a Honey Monster Foods....
brand. However, due to Sugar Puffs' long established popularity, "Puffa Wheats", as they are now called, are only available in
PoundlandPoundland is a British-based variety store chain which sells every item in its stores for £1. Established in April 1990 by Dave Dodd and Stephen Smith, Poundland stock a variety of around 3,000 home and kitchen-ware, gifts, healthcare and other products, many of which are brand name and clearance...
or other Pound stores in the United Kingdom.
In Australia, the product has been known as Honey Smacks since the 1970s. In
NorwayNorway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a country in Northern Europe occupying the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, as well as Jan Mayen and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard under the Spitsbergen Treaty...
, it is known as "Honni Korn Smacks".
External links