Cereal Vice Reward: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

{{quote|''For a long time it gave me nightmares, having to witness an injustice like that. It shows you just how cruel this world can be. I can still hear them taunting him... "Silly Rabbit, Trix are for kids." ''Why couldn't they just give him some cereal?!'' ''|'''Carlton''', ''[[The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air]]''}}

 

For all the struggles over making sure normal television shows have "[[Moral Guardians|positive influences]]", [[Double Standard|commercials seem exempt from this]].

 

{{examples}}

* "Apple Jacks" and "Cinnamon Toast Crunch" repeatedly has children mocking adults such as scientists, parents, life guards, etc. for being clueless and not understanding what the appeal of their cereals are. There was one Cinnamon Toast Crunch commercial where the adult guessed why kids loved it on the first guess, but the kids promptly ignored him. [[Family-Unfriendly Aesop|The moral seems to be: kids]], [[Adults Are Useless|your parents]] [[Biting the Hand Humor|are stupid]].

* The kids in "[[Trix]]" ads take delight in making certain the Trix Rabbit ''never'' gets any of the cereal. If he ever gets a box, even if he ''[http://www.bash.org/?75154 bought it with his own money]'', they take it away from him, telling him "silly rabbit, Trix are for kids!". In one early, early, EARLY commercial, he actually got away with the pilfered cereal by hiding it -- "And sometimes for tricky rabbits!". There have been events where people could vote whether he could have some. He's always won, but often, he still only gets to enjoys a couple of spoonfuls before the kids take it away again - either that or he eats it all in one go, only to find the kids won't let him get any more.

* Honeycomb cereal apparently transforms the child into a small, feral, hairy dog-like creature with stubby limbs and wide, manic eyes (and of course an insatiable craving for Honeycombs). He's called "The Craver", or something like that, and he comes out when the kid ''wants'' Honeycomb (complete with [[Catch Phrase]]...wait for it..."ME WANT HONEYCOMB!"). So it's not desirable...it's inevitable.

** Honeycomb commercials from [[The Eighties]] featured large people (including some famous professional wrestlers) breaking-and-entering into the Honeycomb Hideout, demanding a big cereal to match their stature. They were rewarded, not with an arrest warrant for trespassing or a frightened hideout-owner shooting the intruder, but with a song assuring them that Honeycomb is not small, no no no.

* An episode of ''[[Codename: Kids Next Door]]'' featured Those Delightful Children From Down The Lane frequently capturing children in order and torturing them by having a birthday cake in front of them - and not sharing. The main characters frequently stop the Delightful Children from eating the cake, thus invoking the trope ''themselves''...but with a reasonable justification and the goal of sharing the cake with the captives.

** A straighter example was Op. MUNCHIES. The kids and their villains spend the episode at the supermarket fighting over the last box of Rainbow Munchies cereal.

 

== Parody or referential examples ==

* The [http://breakfastofthegods.com/ webcomic] ''[[Breakfast of the Gods]]'' revels in this trope. Sonny is a pathetic, psychotic junkie and the Trix Rabbit and Sugar Bear have both kicked their habits and are desperately trying to stay clean and sober. Count Chocula and Franken Berry are leading the forces of darkness, and Tony The Tiger and Cap'n Crunch are the pillars of good.

** In ''[[Drawn Together]]'' they were sort of half-cult, half-mafia instead. Lead by Frankenberry once again.