Trix (cereal)

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Trix box, early 1960s
Trix box, early 1960s

Trix is a brand of breakfast cereal made by General Mills. The cereal consists of fruit-flavored, sweetened, ground-corn pieces. These were originally round cereal pieces, but were later changed to puffed fruit-shaped pieces. As of December 2006, Trix is again available with round cereal pieces and a box advertising this "new" shape.

Contents

[edit] Overview

Joe Harris created the Trix Rabbit, an anthropomorphic cartoon rabbit character; in Trix animated television commercials, this rabbit (voiced by Mort Marshall and later Russell Horton[1]) would keep trying to trick kids into giving him a bowl of Trix cereal, but he would be discovered every time, and the kids would say, "Silly rabbit, Trix are for kids!" After the success of the first commercial, the Trix brand soon became one of General Mills' best sellers. Much like Warner Brothers' Wile E. Coyote, the Trix Rabbit's constant struggle to obtain the unobtainable elicits a degree of sympathy from many viewers. Little did Harris know that what began as a simple marketing ploy became a revolution in how cereal was marketed.

General Mills' Yoplait division produces a Trix-branded yogurt also marketed to children with sweetened fruit flavors such as "Watermelon Burst"[citation needed]

[edit] Ad campaigns

The earliest known successful attempt of the Trix Rabbit to obtain the cereal was in 1969. A national vote was held with ballots distributed on the back of Trix boxes, allowing kids to vote on whether to let the Trix Rabbit have some Trix. According to this campaign, he had already consumed two spoonfuls before the kids caught him. Nonetheless, it continued to be part of the advertising that the Trix Rabbit never had Trix. In two commercials he successfully tricked the children again into giving him Trix, but they were apparently cross about it.

In the 1980s, one of Trix's television ads ended in a cliffhanger accompanied by a write-in survey asking children whether the Trix Rabbit should be able to finally get a taste of Trix. America's children responded with an overwhelming "yes," and a subsequent television ad depicted the rabbit finally getting to eat a bowl of Trix cereal. While he is known to have previously enjoyed a bowl in 1976, following this public intervention in 1980 he has not succeeded in gaining access to Trix again.

Generally, the commercials begin with the rabbit having successfully managed to snatch the cereal, only to have the kids confuse him long enough for them to snatch it back. In some commercials, the rabbit successfully gets the cereal and makes a getaway, leaving the kids to ask the viewer for help.

In a live action Got Milk? commercial ad, the rabbit is disguised as a man (played by Harland Williams) in a supermarket. He buys a box of Trix, and the cashier says to him, "Trix? Trix are for kids." The rabbit returns to his home mumbling the phrase "Trix are for kids". Excited, he pours himself a bowl, yelling "Today, they're for rabbits!" and laughing maniacally, but when he is about to add milk, he discovers there's no milk left in the carton. The commercial ends with the Got Milk? screen.

In a Nintendo DS Chair commercial on television, the Trix rabbit is sitting in a Nintendo DS Chair, about to open a box of Trix, but a pesky kid comes up, holding a DS, and boots him out of the chair, along with stealing his box of Trix cereal. He then states, "Silly rabbit, Trix are for kids!".

In 2006, the phrase "Silly Rabbit, Trix are for Kids" ended up #59 on TVland's 100 greatest quotes and catch phrases.

[edit] Stages of Innovation

In 1992 Trix replaced the original round ball shape with fruit-shaped pieces. Four new fruit shapes and colors were added over the years: Grapity grape (purple) (1985-1995), Lime green (1991), Wildberry blue (1998-2006), and Watermelon (1999). In 1995, the cereal pieces were given a brighter and more colorful look. However, the different "fruits" in the cereal between 1992 and 2006 all share the same flavor. Recently in 2006 Trix has replaced their fruit shaped pieces with the original round ball shape.

[edit] In popular culture

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The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.
  • In the computer game Unreal Tournament 2004, a player committing suicide with the grenade launcher receives the message from the server: "Silly Player, grenades are for enemies!"
  • In "The Powerpuff Girls", the slogan for "Lucky Captain Rabbit King Nuggets" cereal (whose animated spokesman is an amalgamation of several children's cereal mascots) is "Ridiculous Lucky Captain Rabbit King, Lucky Captain Rabbit King Nuggets are for the youth!"
  • Rapper Snoop Dogg's song 'Real Talk' features the line "Silly rabbit, Trix are for kids!"
  • In the song "Hive" from 311's 1995 self-titled album, S.A. Martinez says, "You think I'm a silly rabbit cuz my style has tricks/Trix."
  • In the Family Guy episode Breaking Out Is Hard To Do, one of the Asian Town commercials features "Asian" Trix, where the child states "Silly rabbit, Trix are for Kids!", then an Asian version of the rabbit yells "You share!", and knocks two of the kids out, kills the third, and takes the Trix.
  • In the song "Cattle & the Creeping Things" by "The Hold Steady" the line "Silly rabbit, tripping is for teenagers" is a reference to the line in the Trix cereal ads
  • In 1994, Wayne Gretzky was said to have had trix the morning before he broke Gordie Howe's all time goal record
  • In an episode of Hey Joel, Leif was seen naked on a couch after spending the night with Michelle (whom he had sex with), a bowl of cereal opened on the front on his lap, pouring milk into it as he drunkenly says "Kix, Kix are for trids.".
  • In a Season 2 episode of Gilmore Girls, Rory asks her mother when dinner is ready. Lorelai replies with, "Silly rabbit," and Rory finishes with, "Timers are for kids."
  • In the movie Kids (1995), Jennie attends a rave where her friend Fidget forces her to take a pill he calls a 'euphoric blockbuster'. After she takes the pill, Fidget soothes her worries, saying, "You'll be floating up with the angels (...) don't you know, don't you know, tricks are for kids, silly!"
  • In this 2006 interview to promote the movie She's The Man, Channing Tatum starts to explain at 7:08 that the movie's comedy can also be appreciated by adult viewers, and that it is not just for kids. Amanda Bynes chimes in at about 7:46 with "Unlike Trix," in reference to the cereal's catchphrase. There is an awkward silence as Channing and the interviewer don't immediately understand the joke, after which Amanda laughs nervously and says, "Alright... it was funny for me."
  • In book #5 of the Captain Underpants series, during the wedding between Mr Krupp and Ms. Ribble, after the Rabbi asks the two main characters a question, they respond, "Silly Rabbi, Tricks are for kids!"
  • In the movie The Adams Family (1991), Gomez's character hits a golf ball into the window of Judge Womack who is eating a bowl of Trix, before they changed their appearance to the fruit shapes.

[edit] External links