Honey Monster Puffs facts for kids
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| Owner | Big Bear t/a Honey Monster Foods |
|---|---|
| Introduced | 1957 |
| Previous owners | Quaker Oats Company |
| Ambassador(s) | Honey Monster |
Honey Monster Puffs are a sweet breakfast cereal made from wheat that is coated with honey and sugar. You can find them in the United Kingdom.
This cereal was first called Sugar Puffs. Later, in 2014, its name was changed to Honey Monster Puffs. For a while, it was even known as Honey Monster Sugar Puffs. The cereal is famous for its fun mascot, the Honey Monster. He's a big, furry, yellow creature who first appeared in 1976. In the U.S., there's a similar cereal called Honey Smacks.
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History of Honey Monster Puffs
Sugar Puffs first came out in 1957. Back then, their mascot was Jeremy the Bear. A person named William Halliday Davies, who worked at the Quaker Oats factory in Southall, invented them. For many years, the Quaker Oats Company made the cereal.
In 2006, a company called Big Bear, which is now known as Honey Monster Foods, bought the cereal brand. They are based in Leicester.
In 2014, when the name changed from Sugar Puffs to Honey Monster Puffs, the recipe also changed. The cereal now has 8% less sugar and 20% more honey. This means the total sugar content is about 29%, and the honey content went from 3% to 3.6%.
In 2016, another food company, Brecks Company, started making Honey Monster Puffs under a special agreement. In 2020, Honey Monster won a Silver Award at the Lausanne Index Prize.
Different Kinds of Puffs
Over the years, there have been several different types of Honey Monster Puffs. Some of these include:
- Banana Puffs
- H's And M's
- Choco Puffs
- Honey Waffles
- Spooky Puffs
- Honeycomb Puffs
- Strawberry Puffs
- Snowy Puffs
Honey Monster Advertising Campaigns
The Honey Monster is the cereal's famous mascot. He's a big, yellow, furry creature who first appeared in TV adverts in 1976. These first adverts were made by John Webster from the BMP advertising agency.
One famous early advert showed the Honey Monster with an actor named Henry McGee. The monster would shout, "Tell them about the honey, mummy!" and McGee would reply, "I'm not his mummy!" The monster would then cause a bit of playful chaos.
Between 1989 and 1991, "Sugar Puffs" adverts used the slogan "You'll Go Monster-Mad For The Honey." In these adverts, children would try to get a box of Sugar Puffs, but something would stop them. Then, they would cry "I Want My Honey!" (in the Honey Monster's voice). After that, the child would turn into the Honey Monster, often bursting out of their clothes, and grab the cereal, leading to a funny, chaotic scene.
These adverts took place in different settings:
- "Breakfast Time": A boy couldn't reach the cereal box on a high shelf.
- "School History Class": Kids saw a Sugar Puffs truck outside their classroom.
- "Boyscouts": Three Boy Scouts were trapped in their tent and couldn't get to the cereal.
- "Fairground": A girl tried to win a packet of Sugar Puffs at a hoop-throwing game.
- "Frozen/Tropical Island": A boy's milk was frozen, so he couldn't have his cereal. After transforming, he ended up on a tropical island where his milk was fine.
- "Factory School Trip": School children on a tour of the Sugar Puffs Factory turned into Honey Monsters and playfully took boxes of cereal.
The slogan "You'll go monster-mad for the honey" was spoken by actor Norman Lovett. The cereal boxes even had a speech bubble from the Honey Monster saying "I want my Honey."
After these adverts, the Honey Monster was seen playing football and acting like a James Bond-style hero. The poet John Cooper Clarke also appeared in some unusual adverts in the 1990s. In 1996, an advert showed the Honey Monster on stage with the band Boyzone at Wembley Arena. This advert was voted #17 in a list of the Best TV Ads Ever in 2006. Another 1996 advert showed him winning a football match. In 1998, an advert showed him as ""Puff" Daddy". In 1999, an advert called "Monster Men vs Breakin' Boyz" aired. A modern version of the original 1976 advert was shown in 2003.
In March 2008, a new advertising campaign started. A TV advert showed the Honey Monster and his housemate singing a silly song about Sugar Puffs. The advert ended with the slogan "Feed the fun," suggesting that the Honey Monster helps everyone feel like a kid again.
In August 2008, the Honey Monster was in a charity video and song called "Honey Love" by the group Samanda. Another new advert for the Honey Waffles cereal brought the Honey Monster back to his original self and showed his strong love for honey. This advert ended with the Honey Monster saying, "Don't tell 'em about the honey, mummy," which was a nod to the old 1970s slogan.
Honey Monster in Pop Culture
Sugar Puffs posters can be seen in the 1966 film Daleks – Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D.. The cereal company helped pay for the film, and in return, they held a contest where the main prize was a Dalek prop used in the movie.
The Honey Monster mascot was also used in the film Four Lions. One of the main characters wears a Honey Monster costume as a disguise near the end of the movie.
The character Paul Calf was often shown eating Sugar Puffs. In the British science-fiction show Red Dwarf, the character Dave Lister really likes Sugar Puff sandwiches.
In 2009, for Red Nose Day, the Honey Monster appeared with other famous advertising characters in a funny sketch. He sang a song telling people to give money to Comic Relief instead of buying advertised products.
The cereal also appears in the 2018 interactive film Black Mirror: Bandersnatch.
When Honey Monster appeared on the football kit of Newcastle United F.C., sales of Sugar Puffs actually dropped by 20% in the north-east of England. This happened because fans of Newcastle's rivals, Sunderland A.F.C., decided not to buy the brand.
Similar Cereals
- Honey Smacks (also known as Smacks, Sugar Smacks, Honni Korn Smacks)
- Post's Golden Crisp
