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| Little did John Philip Sousa know that his iconic “The Stars and Stripes Forever” would be used to sell cereal |
The tune was “The Stars and Stripes Forever,” and during one part of it, I found myself mouthing lyrics that included the words, “...and all sorts of craa-zy shaaaapes.”
“Where did that come from?” I wondered. I knew it was some old TV commercial that I had seen as a kid but I had no idea what product it was. But it showed how savvy the advertising agency was that produced the commercial, because it was still stuck in my subconscious a half-century later thanks to the iconic music.
I knew this was going to bug me until I figured it out.
I had a hunch that it might have been cereal. What other product came in a bunch of different shapes? And I was also guessing that there were other people out there who remembered the commercial as well.
It didn’t take too much Googling to find out what product it was.
On the “Memorable advertising jingles for defunct products” on the Straight Dope Message Board, I found my answer: Post Alpha Bits!
The whole ‘crazy shapes’ thing was part of a temporary promotion in the mid-1960s during which pieces of cereal shaped like stars, planes, etc. were mixed in with the usual letter-shaped Alpha Bits pieces. It’s a strange idea that would seem to dilute the special quality of the brand – so maybe that’s why the gimmick didn’t last. (The cereal is still around, however.)
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| Courtesy TheImaginaryWorld.com |
I probably have dozens of other obscure cereal commercials rattling around in my brain (such as the one for the Quaker Puffed Cereals that used the 1812 Overture as background music). But it’s nice to know that I’m not ‘crazy’ when it comes to remembering this one.
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To hear “The Stars & Stripes Forever” in all its glory and learn the story behind it too, visit this link on the Marines website. Or, play it on YouTube below.
9 comments:
Bran and Prune Flakes? Don't remember that one.
I can't say that I remember the Alpha-Bits commercial, but as a kid I remember a couple of TV shows that used classical music as their theme music. Everyone is probably familiar with the William Tell Overture, which was the theme music for The Lone Ranger, but I always liked the theme music for the Alfred Hitchcock Show which is The Funeral March of the Marionette, by some 19th century composer whose name escapes me at the moment.
I remembered that song, but I thought it was for Sugar Jets, from General Mills. Thanks!
Remember Twinkles, the cereal with the storybook on the back?
I’m old enough to remember Twinkles, with the elephant on the front of the box and the couple of story pages that were glued to the back. It was a great little gimmick.
I remember eating Alpha-bits. Loved them! The other "shapes" and theme music, not so much. Saturday morning cartoons and live action shows I remember more. Recently ran across a clip of H B's Banana Splits at Kings Island. I knew of Brady Bunch and Partridge Family visits but not the Splits.
I was just humming along to da da da dah and all sorts of crazy shapes and couldn’t find it on Google or YouTube. Bless you for your memory and your research abilities. Hard to believe it was Alpha Bits, but there you have it in black and white. Thanks a million. How fabulous are you? Awesome!
I was trying to remember what commercial had the song with 'all kinds of crazy shapes' as lyrics to John Phillip Sousa. So happy to find it here - and in
Lorain County? I grew up in Bay Village, just over the border!
I was digitizing an old LP yesterday, and found myself singing "...and all sorts of crazy shapes..." to "Stars and Stripes Forever"...and I remembered it was some sort of cereal ad. Thanks for the post, and for letting me know that I wasn't the only one!
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