1950 - 1960
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Cereal manufacturers in the 1950's produced some of the most famous and lasting advertising icons of our time.

Post Sugar Crisp cereal was introduced by General Foods in the 1950's. To promote the new kids cereal, that too-cool bear, Sugar Bear, became the first character of this prolific era in cereal advertising icons.

In 1951 W.K. Kellogg died at the age of 91. Even so, Kelloggs began a period of tremendous growth. The decade saw the introduction of Kellogg's Corn Pops, Frosted Flakes, and Honey Smacks.

Tony the Tiger made his debut as part of a series of animal illustrations appearing on boxes of Sugar Frosted Flakes cereal. The other animals included Katie the Kangaroo, Newt the Gnu and Zeke the Zebra. Originally the plan was to have a character for every letter of the alphabet. However, Tony grabbed the spotlight with his catchy slogan, "I'm here to loudly state, Sugar Frosted Flakes are Gr-r-reat!" The other characters faded into advertising history.

Today, Tony the Tiger has become the goodwill ambassador for the entire Kellogg company. His image has appeared on numerous promotions and premiums, a hot-air balloon, and a statue in the courtyard of the Battle Creek, Michigan, production facility.

General Mills jumped head first into the expanding children's breakfast cereal market in 1954 with the introduction of Trix cereal, sponsored by that zany rabbit, the Trix Playmate. The Trix Rabbit was created by Stanley Baum at the DFS advertising agency. "Silly rabbit, Trix are for kids" became a familiar phrase that is still heard to this day.