Honeycomb Kid
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Honeycomb Kid was the mascot of Post's Honeycomb cereal for several decades until 1995, when he was replaced by Crazy Craving. Over the years, the Kid appeared in various incarnations.
Contents |
[edit] The Cowboy
Initially, as his name would indicate, The Kid was a Cowboy figure, complete with pistols and a ten-gallon hat.
[edit] High-Tech Honeycomb Kid
In the early 1990s he was redesigned as a sort of Science hero adventurer who had two young sidekicks. In this form, elements of his original cowboy image were still present. For example one commercial features him in an undersea showdown with an octopus in an adventure entitled “Showdown at the O.K Coral Reef” an obvious reference to the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral.
[edit] Young Dare-Devil Archaeologist Honeycomb Kid
His final reworking saw The Kid as a young Indiana Jones style character who sought the “Secret of Honeycombs' great taste” in various ancient temples and tombs around the world. In the first of these commercials a genie tells him that there are actually three answers which, when combined, reveal the secret of Honeycombs' great taste. The first is the “Crunch”, the second is the “Shape”, however before the Genie can reveal the third secret he sneezes, which causes him to vanish. In all the subsequent commercials the results were essentially the same: Honeycomb Kid would show up in a temple, ask some sage figure “the secret of honeycombs great taste”, be told the first two parts of the secret (crunch and shape) and then inevitably be somehow prevented from hearing the final secret. In the final commercials of the series (which were rendered in a noticeably different style of animation than those preceding them) The Honeycomb Kid changes the phrasing of his question. Instead of asking what “the secret of honeycombs great taste” is he instead claims to be looking for “The Honeycomb secret”. In the very last commercial Honeycomb Kid battles Opera Bear a mysterious ursine version of the Phantom of the Opera. Upon defeating his opponent, it is revealed to the Kid that “the honeycomb secret” is The “Crunch”, “the Shape” and finally “The Taste.” Since the original wording of the question was “What is the secret of honeycomb’s great taste” giving the taste itself as the answer seems like a redundant if not somewhat disappointing answer. However there are several possibilities why this answer was given.
[edit] Possibility 1
The makers of the commercial had never come up with an answer to the original question in the first place. Realising they had no answer they opted to change the question itself, while at the same time keeping the answers the same. They hoped that by the time the final answer “Taste” was revealed that the audience would have forgotten the original question. This seems the most likely answer.
[edit] Possibility 2
Honeycomb Kid’s rewording of his question from “Secret of Honeycomb’s great taste” to “Honey comb Secret” did not actually imply any departure from the first question at all. He was merely using “Honeycomb Secret” as short hand for the longer question “What is the secret of Honeycombs great taste?”. As such the final answer to the question, “what is the secret to Honeycomb’s great taste” is in fact the taste itself. It is possible that this answer was meant to be a sort of Zen like philosophical statement intended to induce enlightenment or some form of transcendental state within the enquirer. Indeed, Honeycomb Kid’s various trials to find the final answer bear similarity to an ancient mystery religion, where various secrets are revealed to the initiate through increasingly esoteric rites of passage, culminating in a final great revelation were all becomes clear. In this sense the question is comparable to something like this
- Question: “Where am I?”
- Answer: “You are here.”
[edit] Possibility 3
The commercials that occurred after the question changed represent a new reality, entirely separate from that of the prior commercials. In this reality Honeycomb Kid has always been seeking the “Honeycomb Secret” not “The Secret of Honeycomb’s great taste”. The fact that the answer to both of these questions begin with “Shape and Crunch” is purely coincidental. In this case it is possible that the final answer that would have been given to the Honeycomb Kid of the Initially Reality was not “Taste” but something else entirely.
Whatever the answer, Honeycomb Kid seemed to disappear after this series of commercials.
