Overview
Pebbles is a brand of breakfast cereal introduced in the United States by Post Consumer Brands on October 20, 1971 featuring characters from the animated series The Flintstones as spokestoons. The product line includes Cocoa Pebbles and Fruity Pebbles.
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 with a sugar content of 9 grams per serving for Fruity Pebbles and 10 grams per serving for Cocoa Pebbles. It is the oldest cereal brand based on characters from a TV series or movie that is still sold.
Product history
Fruity Pebbles and Cocoa Pebbles Cereal were reintroductions of a low market-share 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 (now part of Warner Bros. Animation) 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. Fruity Pebbles was introduced on the West Coast in 1969 first under simply the name “Pebbles” and strong consumer demand led to national distribution under the cereal re-name of “Fruity Pebbles”. In 1970 Cocoa Pebbles was introduced as a second flavor. 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 Flintstones' 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.
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