King Vitaman was an American brand of

breakfast cereal Cereal, formally termed breakfast cereal (and further categorized as cold cereal or warm cereal), is a traditional breakfast food made from processed cereal grains. It is traditionally eaten as part of breakfast, or a snack food, primarily in ...

produced by

Quaker Oats The Quaker Oats Company, known as Quaker, is an American food conglomerate based in Chicago. It has been owned by PepsiCo since 2001. History Precursor miller companies In the 1850s, Ferdinand Schumacher and Robert Stuart founded oat mills. S ...

and sold in the United States. The cereal was introduced in 1968, and changed mascots several times. The cereal was discontinued in 2019. King Vitaman Cereal boasted high vitamin and iron content, in addition to a more modest amount of sugar (6 grams per serving) than many more popular breakfast cereals, such as Cap'n Crunch and Lucky Charms (which contain 13 grams or more). The early television

commercials A television advertisement (also called a television commercial, TV commercial, commercial, spot, television spot, TV spot, advert, television advert, TV advert, television ad, TV ad or simply an ad) is a span of television programming produce ...

for the cereal were animated by Jay Ward Productions, the creators of '' Rocky and Bullwinkle''. The advertising featured King Vitaman (voiced by character actor Joe Flynn) and his knights, Sir Laffitup and Sir Cravenleigh, and their foes the Blue Baron (voiced by Paul Frees) and the Not-So-Bright Knight. The earlier commercials had King Vitaman tell his dimwitted knight to pour the milk over King Vitaman cereal, but instead the milk is poured over the king, prompting the king to say, angrily: "Not me, you dingaling, the cereal!" Subsequent non-animated advertisements ended with a jingle inviting children to "Have Breakfast with the King." From 1971 until his death in 1977, actor George Mann, an ex-vaudevillian in the comedic dance act

Barto and Mann Barto and Mann: Dewey Barto (né Stewart Steven Swoyer; June 10, 1896 – January 31, 1973) and George Mann (December 2, 1905 — November 22, 1977), known as the "laugh kings" of vaudeville, were a comedic dance act from the late 1920s to the ...

, depicted King Vitaman on the cereal box and in television commercials. In 2000, Quaker Oats returned to an illustrated character on their King Vitaman cereal boxes.

References

Quaker Oats Company cereals Quaker Oats Company characters Mascots introduced in 1968 Products introduced in 1968 Products and services discontinued in 2019 Jay Ward Productions Fictional kings Cartoon mascots Male characters in advertising {{food-product-stub

See also

Further reading

References