Rice Krispies

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A Rice Krispies box

Rice Krispies (called Rice Bubbles in Australia) is a brand of breakfast cereal that has been produced by Kellogg's since 1928. They are made of rice grain which is cooked, dried and toasted. These kernels bubble and rise in a manner which forms very thin walls. When the cereal is exposed to milk or juices, these walls tend to collapse suddenly, creating the famous "Snap, crackle and pop" sounds. This is in contrast to puffed rice, which was introduced in 1904.

1 Marketing
2 'Rice Krispie treats'
3 Controversy
4 Names and Variants
5 Taglines
6 Languages
7 Tom Jones Restaurant
8 References
9 External links

[edit] Marketing

Krispies are marketed with the phrase "Snap, crackle, pop", which is supposed to be the sound made when milk is poured over them. The elfin characters of Snap, Crackle and Pop appear on most Rice Krispies boxes. In the United States and Canada, opinion varies concerning Crackle's occupation, but Snap is always portrayed as a baker and Pop as a soldier. To demonstrate the marketing penetration of this brand and contrast it with American political ignorance, pollster Kellyanne Conway reported in 2002 that while most Americans could name the three elves, they could not name any three of the nine sitting Supreme Court Justices. Considering the age group involved, this may have been due to the very famous commercial aired in the 1960s using the music from the tenor aria in Pagliacci with the words "No More Rice Krispies" or the fact that the same jingle was used for decades in its other commercials.

[edit] 'Rice Krispie treats'

In 1941, a Kellogg's employee by the name of Mildred Day concocted and published a recipe consisting primarily of Rice Krispies and melted marshmallow as an item for a Camp Fire Girls bake sale, which has remained a very popular snack dubbed Rice Krispie treats. One variation is to use chocolate instead of marshmallow and is known in many parts of the world as "Chocolate Crackles". Kellogg's themselves have now produced commercial varieties of both marshmallow and chocolate-based treats under the name "Rice Krispies Squares".^[1]^[2],

In addition, many candy bars that have chocolate or peanut butter include some form of Rice Krispies to add crunch.

[edit] Controversy

In the summer of 2006, Kellogg's teamed up with Autism Speaks for a campaign called "Know the Signs". The claimed intent was to promote autism awareness via Rice Krispies cereal boxes.^[3] However many adult autistics protested the partnership with Autism Speaks citing (amongst other things) ignoring the adult population and in their video allowing one mother to talk about killing her autistic daughter. Kellogg's has since removed the promotion and campaign from their website. This has been seen as the biggest victory of the Autistic Civil Rights movement to date.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Names and Variants

Rice Krispies are known by different names depending on the country. In Australia Kellogg's sells the product under the name Rice Bubbles.

As well as 'plain' Rice Krispies, a number of different versions have been sold by Kellogg's. Their names vary depending on where they are sold, but there are essentially four basic versions in existence today:-

Rice Krispies with a sugar-frosted coating (including "Frosted Rice Krispies" and "Ricicles")
Rice Krispies with chocolate (including "Cocoa Krispies", "Cocoa Rice Krispies" and "Coco Pops")
Rice Krispies with berry flavors (including "Berry Krispies" and "Berry Rice Krispies")
Rice Krispies with Banana flavor (including Banana bubbles and "Banana Krispies")

Rice Krispies with dehydrated miniature marshmallows ("Marshmallow Rice Krispies") were sold briefly in the U.S. and Canada. "Matt" at x-entertainment.com speculates upon the reason for their demise; "If a kid did eat Rice Krispies, it's because his mother wouldn't let him have a cereal with all the marshmallows. So it's not like he'd be able to get his hands on this one anyway." ^[4] Despite surviving longer in Canada than the U.S., they were finally discontinued altogether during the mid-late 1980s.

In addition to the products above, the 'Rice Krispies' branding has also been associated with other products containing (or related to) Rice Krispies. These include commercial versions of 'Rice Krispie treats' known as 'Rice Krispies squares', cereal bars, and a multi-grain cereal known as "Rice Krispies Multi-Grain" (formerly "Muddles"^[5]) sold on the UK market. Primarily aimed at children, 'Multi-Grain' contains a prebiotic and is claimed by Kellogg's to promote good digestive health.^[6] In 2006 Kellogs made organic rice krispies.^{[citation needed]}

Many generic versions of Rice Krispies have also been produced by manufacturers other than Kellogg's.

[edit] Taglines

What does your Rice Krispies say to you? (1990 - 1998)
Wake up call to the world. (1998 - 2001)
Snap, Crackle, Pop; Rice Krispies! (1968 - present)
My Kellogg's Rice Krispies Are Talking to Me! (Unknown - Unknown)
Can you hear it? (Canada, present)

[edit] Languages

The cereal is marketed on the basis of the noises it produces when milk is added to the bowl. The onomatopoeic noises differ by language:

English: "Snap! Crackle! Pop!"
Finnish: "Riks! Raks! Poks!"
French: "Cric! Crac! Croc!"
German: "Knisper! Knasper! Knusper!"
Swedish: "Piff! Paff! Puff!"
Spanish: "Pim! Pum! Pam!"
Romanian: "Kim! Kan! Kum!"

[edit] Tom Jones Restaurant

In 2005, Kellogg's held a contest to see which restaurant served the best Rice Krispies in the nation. With 67% of the judges' votes, Tom Jones Restaurant in Brookhaven, Pennsylvania received top honors. Costumed iterations of Snap, Crackle, and Pop presented the diner with a golden box of Rice Krispies in recognition of this accomplishment.^{[citation needed]}