MEMORIES:
CATCH PHRASE:
Move over, Tony the Tiger. There’s another cat in town, with his own frosted cereal. It’s the Pink Panther, that elegant cartoon feline with the cool theme music. (Is it already playing in your head? Good.)
Open the pink box and pour out a bowl. The flakes are almost neon pink, practically glowing. Add milk, and watch as the pink food coloring seeps out, turning the milk into pink soup. Lift a spoonful to your mouth. It’s soooo sweet! Dig into the box. Is it a Pink Panther spoon topper? Or maybe you got the five-in-one spy device! Soon, the sugary rush kicks in and you’re ready for a few antic hours of Saturday morning cartoon watching.
Click on the TV, and soon, your favorite panther is onscreen, tormenting the “pale man” who co-starred in so many cartoon shorts. But this is a commercial, fully animated by DePatie-Freleng, but the familiar tune now has words:
“Pink Panther Flakes – are pink – and sweet as you can see – the color of piiiink – Tickle Me Pink!”
Post Cereals introduced Pink Panther Flakes in 1973, when the frisky character was a Saturday morning mainstay. The product was heavily frosted, and quite a bit sweeter than Kellogg’s Sugar Frosted Flakes, which it resembled. Pink Panther Flakes were only on the market for about a year, but in that time, they made a lasting impression on kids, who long remembered the animated ads and soon pined for the sugary overload, colored pink. (There are online petitions even now, asking Post to put this product “back in the pink.”)
