Trix of the Trade

[vovat]

Well, I've mailed off my taxes, so that's out of the way. Hopefully next year I'll be able to file everything online, and I'll only have two forms to file. Moving to another state definitely complicates matters, but it looks like it worked out all right.

kristenjarrod recently posted a link to this article about Trix returning to its old shape (which I think I noticed when I walked by the cereal shelf at Target recently). The page includes a link to a 1991 commercial where the Rabbit actually gets to eat Trix, which of course prompted a discussion as to how many other times he's had it. I do recall reading that there was also a vote in 1980 to tie in with the presidential election. Since Democrats tend to favor government programs to help the poor, maybe if the ACTUAL election had gone differently, there would have been a federal organization to provide Trix to needy rabbits. But then, Carter had some personal issues with giant rabbits, didn't he?

The general sense of unfairness in cereal commercials is one that seems to come up frequently on the Internet, but I never really get tired of it. That same site linked to above had an entry on this very topic several years ago. I guess it's kind of universal, really. Unless you were raised Amish or as a PBS loyalist, you've seen how these commercials are constantly showing prejudice, theft, and addictive behavior. And it's not as if the advertising campaigns change much, either. Some of those mascots have been doing basically the same thing for decades.

Mind you, for my interest in cereal commercials, I've never actually EATEN that much dry cereal. I've always been more of a yogurt and oatmeal kind of guy. Besides, I don't drink milk, which is what most people use as accompaniment for cereal. That's not to say that I think I'm a healthier eater than the kids who shovel down boxes of sugar with a little bit of grain thrown in. I mean, I eat a lot of Hot Pockets, and those probably contain little enough nutrition to make Trix and Lucky Charms seem like health food.

Comments

[onib.livejournal.com]

I actually stopped eating Trix when they shifted to fruit shapes. I always thought they really changed the formulas at the same time, because the cereal was MUCH fruitier after that. I even really like things sweet, and it was far too much for me.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Hey, maybe if it's back to its old shape, it's back to its old flavor as well! I'm guessing it isn't, though.

[rockinlibrarian.livejournal.com]

I have been really into dry cereal all week. Of course the sugary-est cereal I have right now is frosted mini-wheats, which makes up for the sugar-- for the most part-- by being whole grain. A lot of cereals are whole grain nowadays, even ones you don't expect. General Mills maintains that ALL their cereals are whole grain (even when you check the ingredients, the whole grains are at the top, it's not like "CONTAINS WHOLE GRAINS!" and then you look and it's mostly processed grain with SOME whole grains at the bottom of the list), but that would include the abovementioned Trix and I'm really not sure where those whole grains WENT to in that, particularly if they're back to being puff balls (which I agree strangely taste better than the fruit shaped ones). I love Trix though. But not as much as Berry Berry Kix, which are like the healthy version.

Anyway, so I've been eating tons of cereal lately, but that's just me. And I also love milk.

But yeah, I never thought of that-- cereal commercials DO tend to be very mean-spirited, don't they? I always felt bad for that Rabbit.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

it's not like "CONTAINS WHOLE GRAINS!" and then you look and it's mostly processed grain with SOME whole grains at the bottom of the list

That seems to be how it generally is with bread. I've seen loaves of twelve-grain bread where enriched flour was the only one of those grains to appear high up on the list of ingredients.