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39-549: Introduced in 1953, the cereal has undergone several name changes, starting out as "Sugar Smacks". In the 1980s, it was renamed "Honey Smacks" in order to downplay its sugar content, even though the sugar content stayed the same. In the early 1990s, the word "Honey" was dropped from the name and the product was then simply called "Smacks". That name is still used in Germany, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, and France. However, in

78-553: A 5 out of 5 rating ("Outstanding!") for Fun Factor, and Challenge. It received a 4 out of 5 ("Great job!") for Gameplay and Graphics, the latter calling it decent. Its lowest rating was for its Music, 3 out of 5 ("Good job"), saying that the music sounds like a Playskool tune. Years after its release, Wally Bear and the NO! Gang found renewed notoriety through mentions such as an August 15, 1999 article at seanbaby.co]. The National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information (NCADI),

117-403: A block of stuck-together Sugar Puffs as one of its main ingredients. The cereal features in the 2018 Interactive film Black Mirror: Bandersnatch . As a result of Honey Monster appearing in a Sugar Puffs advert, wearing the kit of Newcastle United F.C. , sales of Sugar Puffs fell by 20% in the north-east of England, as fans of Newcastle's traditional rivals , Sunderland A.F.C. , boycotted

156-477: A number of variations on the basic product during the 1990s and 2000s, including: The cereal's mascot is the Honey Monster, a large, hairy, yellow humanoid creature who was first seen on TV in 1976 in an advertisement created by John Webster of the advertising agency BMP . The advert focused around a nutritional message which was illustrated by the parent and child relationship of actor Henry McGee and

195-523: A part of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration , has used Wally Bear and related characters for several years as part of alcohol and drug and health awareness aimed at children. NCADI rebranded the team "Wally Bear and the KNOW Gang" before 1994, and expanded their message to include social and general health topics. An eighth character was added, Recycleman. Recycleman

234-479: A self-deprecating sketch called 'The Greatest Minds in Advertising'. As the punchline Honey Monster silences his colleagues by singing a song in falsetto (not his trademark deep voice) exhorting people not to buy advertised products but to give their money to Comic Relief instead. In January 2013, John Wright in a blog for The Guardian newspaper made what he described as "a perfect breakfast beer" by using

273-527: A series of off the wall adverts in the 1990s. An advertisement showing the Honey Monster onstage with Boyzone at Wembley Arena aired in 1996, and was voted #17 in ITV's Best TV Ads Ever 2 list in 2006, sharing the position with the original 1976 advert. Another of the 1996 adverts showed him winning a football match. In 1998, an advert which depicted him as "Puff" Daddy aired. In 1999, an advert called "Monster Men vs Breakin' Boyz" aired. A modern style remake of

312-506: Is a breakfast cereal manufactured in the United Kingdom from puffed wheat sweetened with sugar and honey, fortified with vitamins and iron. The cereal was originally sold as Sugar Puffs , but was re-branded in 2014. It was labelled as Honey Monster Sugar Puffs for a time. The cereal is known for its Honey Monster mascot, a large, hairy, yellow creature introduced in 1976. Sugar Puffs were first launched in 1957, with Jeremy

351-469: Is incongruous, if not misrepresentative, since honey is actually a minor ingredient in the recipe. The ingredient label indicates that sugar and dextrose are at least two-thirds of the sugar ingredients by weight. Conversely, the proportion of honey in the recipe could range from trace amounts to one-third. Kellogg's announced a voluntary recall of certain Honey Smacks packages on June 14, 2018, due to

390-728: The American Medical Association and the National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information. Wally Bear and related characters were originally conceived by Walter J. Marsh, founder of Foglesville, Pennsylvania Edutainment, Inc. The company was founded in April 1990, and a trademark for "Wally Bear and the No Gang" was established in September of that year. A newer character, Recycleman,

429-737: The Bear the cereal's promotional character. Jeremy was a live European female brown bear . The cereal was invented by William Halliday Davies (1919–2009), production manager at the Quaker Oats mill in Southall . For many years they were made by the Quaker Oats Company , but in 2006 they were sold to Big Bear t/a Honey Monster Foods, based in Leicester . In 2014, along with the name change from Sugar Puffs to Honey Monster Puffs,

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468-583: The Bear, in 1986 (1984 in France). These ads featured Wally (not to be confused with the Wally Bear from Wally Bear and the NO! Gang ) pestering a kid eating a bowl of Honey Smacks and doing anything to get some, and the kid would always refuse or just ignore Wally completely. Animated by Kurtz & Friends, these commercials performed poorly since they seemed too much like the Trix commercials, and Dig'em Frog

507-479: The Honey Monster. The monster shouts "Tell them about the honey, mummy!" to which McGee responds "I'm not his mummy!". The monster then proceeds to destroy the set. Between 1989 and 1991, "Sugar Puffs" advertisements featured the slogan "You'll Go Monster-Mad for the Honey". These advertisements portrayed children trying to get access to a packet of Sugar Puffs with someone or something then preventing them from getting

546-588: The NO! Gang contained a cut-out postcard that allowed the purchaser of the game to join the Wally Bear and the NO! Gang Club. The postcard could be mailed to a post office box in Fogelsville, Pennsylvania (the address of Edutainment, Inc. at the time) along with $ 3.50. A club member received a poster, stickers, and a bi-monthly newsletter with the "gang's adventures, and products with special membership discounts". The game received mixed reviews at release. In its May 1992 issue, GamePro magazine gave Wally Bear

585-530: The NO! Gang , as an unlicensed Nintendo Entertainment System game cartridge, did not work on systems manufactured after October 1990. Newer NES consoles, with a "revision 11" circuit board, contained hardware protections preventing unlicensed game cartridges from running properly. The manual explains this (along with a no symbol above 'Rev. 11', and the title "Just Say NO!"), then provides instructions on how to modify an NES game console to bypass Nintendo's hardware protections. The game manual for Wally Bear and

624-426: The NO! Gang, and converses with them about drug and alcohol use. Upon reaching Uncle Gary Grizzly's house, Gary reveals that the rest of the NO! Gang has arrived ahead of Wally. Gary breaks the fourth wall , suggesting that Wally has brought a friend with him (meaning, the player of the game). The game ends with a cutscene of the party in progress, and Wally offers anti-drug advice to the player. Wally Bear and

663-454: The Smackin' Brothers, two cartoon boys who loved to roughhouse, became the new mascots. These ads usually featured the brothers wanting Sugar Smacks but winding up smacking each other instead. Also during 1966, promotional box designs were briefly introduced featuring characters from Star Trek . Later commercials were similar to most Cheerios commercials as they demonstrated how the cereal

702-509: The Sugar Puffs. The children would then cry "I Want My Honey" (the "honey" being dubbed on in the Honey Monster's voice). The child or children would then transform into the Honey Monster (normally bursting out of their clothes) and collecting the box of Sugar Puffs while the scene descended rapidly into chaos. There were a number of settings for these advertisements. The advertisements themselves were: The slogan "You’ll go monster-mad for

741-507: The US the name reverted to "Honey Smacks" in 2004. In the UK in 1957, a similar product called Sugar Puffs debuted. In Norway and Finland , it is known as "Honni Korn Smacks". In Australia, the cereal had been known as Honey Smacks since the 1970s. However, Kellogg's Australia no longer markets the brand. Presweetened breakfast cereals first appeared in 1939. At the time of its introduction in

780-642: The advertising mascot from 1953 to 1956, including Cliffy the Clown and Lou Jacobs from the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus . Ads with these clowns were known for showing them doing the "Sugar Smack Swing". Smaxey the Seal In 1957, a sailor-suit-wearing seal named Smaxey became the mascot. Quick Draw McGraw The Hanna-Barbera cartoon horse sheriff , Quick Draw McGraw , took over in 1961. The Smackin' Brothers In 1966,

819-432: The brand. Wally Bear and the NO! Gang Wally Bear and the NO! Gang is an educational Nintendo Entertainment System game that was released in 1992 exclusively for a North American audience. It was not licensed by Nintendo . The game teaches children to say no to potentially harmful drugs like tobacco , alcohol and marijuana . Wally Bear and the NO! Gang was designed in cooperation with, and endorsed by,

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858-483: The cereal's recipe was changed to have 8% less sugar and 20% more honey, so that the total sugar content is now 29% by mass, and the honey content has increased from 3% to 3.6%. In 2016, food manufacturer Brecks Company based near Selby , North Yorkshire took over production of Honey Monster Puffs under licence. In 2020, Honey Monster won the Lausanne Index Prize – Silver Award. There have been

897-495: The early 1950s, Sugar Smacks had the highest sugar content in the US cereal market (56% per weight), surpassing Sugar Crisp (later renamed "Golden Crisp") by competitor Post Cereal which had debuted with what The Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets would later call "an astonishing sugar content of 51 percent". (The cereals are both sweetened puffed wheat.) In a 2008 comparison of the nutritional value of 27 cereals, US magazine Consumer Reports found that both Honey Smacks and

936-523: The honey" which featured at the end of these adverts was read by actor Norman Lovett. To coincide with the adverts the packaging was amended to have an "I want my Honey" speech bubble coming from the Honey Monster's mouth. After these advertisements, the Sugar Puffs Honey Monster was then seen in advertisements in which he was depicted playing football and also as a James Bond -style hero. Punk poet John Cooper Clarke also featured in

975-667: The mailing address for the NCADI, a post-office box in Rockville, Maryland . This club, unrelated to the one attached to the NES game, allowed ordering posters and other materials. The hotline gained traction as a standalone children's drug use prevention hotline, as evidenced by a 1995 newspaper article that did not mention the NES game at all. The hotline received national exposure in the February 18, 1996 issue of Parade magazine, and

1014-416: The original 1976 advert aired in 2003. In March 2008, a new campaign was launched with a television advertisement. The spot featured Honey Monster and his housemate sitting at their breakfast table, singing a nonsense song about Sugar Puffs, in the scat style. Finishing with the strapline 'Feed the fun', the advertisement represented the idea that Honey Monster brings out the child in everyone. The advert

1053-604: The possible presence of salmonella . Although the recall included only packages with a specific range of expiration dates, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention later advised consumers to avoid eating the cereal entirely. The cereal returned to the shelves in November of that year. Since the cereal was introduced in 1953, there have been various different mascots. Cliffy the Clown Various clowns served as

1092-410: The rest of his friends to the party, and to reach his uncle Gary's house before dark. They give him parting advice to stay away from drugs. Wally skateboards everywhere he goes in the game on his way to Gary Grizzly's house. The game is a side-scroller , and levels vary from suburban streets, subway cars, industrial areas, demon fortresses, and city streets. Along the way, Wally meets up with members of

1131-483: The rights to distribute it were purchased by American Video Entertainment . Wally Bear and the NO! Gang was originally going to be titled Wally Bear and the Just Say No Team , but due to an existing trademark of the phrase " Just Say No ", it was renamed during development. Wally Bear's uncle, Gary Grizzly, has planned a party for Wally and the NO! Gang. At Wally's house, his parents tell him to go invite

1170-412: The similar Golden Crisp were still the two brands with the highest sugar content, more than 50 percent (by weight), commenting "There is at least as much sugar in a serving of Kellogg's Honey Smacks [...] as there is in a glazed doughnut from Dunkin' Donuts ". Consumer Reports recommended parents choose cereal brands with better nutrition ratings for their children. The product title Honey Smacks

1209-463: The tagline (as said by the Honey Monster) "Don't tell 'em about the honey, mummy", a reference to the Sugar Puffs endline from the 1970s. Sugar Puffs posters can clearly be seen in the 1966 film Daleks – Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D. . They helped to finance the film, and in return held a giveaway contest in which the grand prize was a Dalek prop made for the film. The Honey Monster mascot

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1248-504: Was "vitamin-powered". Paul Frees narrated these ads. Dig'em Frog In the early 1970s, an Indian Chief appeared briefly, replaced by Dig'em Frog in 1972. He continued as the mascot when the cereal was rechristened Honey Smacks in the early 1980s. In these ads, Dig'em would appear in front of a group of kids, and they would eat some cereal together. Wally the Bear Dig 'em was replaced by an animal more associated with honey , Wally

1287-479: Was billed as the KNOW Gang's favorite superhero, and was half man, and half machine. A toll free telephone number was created and run by the NCADI. Callers to 1-800-HI-WALLY (1-800-449-2559) would be greeted by Wally Bear, and could hear various anti drug and messages relating to topics like alcohol, cigarettes, smokeless tobacco and marijuana. They could join the Wally Bear and the KNOW Gang Club through

1326-398: Was brought back the following year by popular demand. Dig'em Frog (redux) During the 1990s, advertising campaigns for the cereal featured Dig'em attempting to have a bowl of Smacks while trying to outsmart his nemesis, Kitty. By 1997, these commercials were discontinued. Dig'em's voice was provided by Len Dresslar and later Frank Welker . Sugar Puffs Honey Monster Puffs

1365-538: Was criticised by Julian Barratt and Noel Fielding of the comedy duo The Mighty Boosh , who considered it to be a plagiarism of the " crimping " songs in their television series. In August 2008 the Honey Monster featured in a charity video and single by the group Samanda , called "Honey Love". Another new advert was broadcast for the Honey Waffles cereal variant, returning the Honey Monster to his true self along with his undying love for honey. The ad ends with

1404-575: Was retired. It was replaced with the Building Blocks for a Healthy Future program, featuring "Wally Bear and Friends", later the "Building Blocks Friends". The new program still featured Wally Bear, but his six animal friends had different names or genders (and the second rabbit of the team was changed into a cat). The program featuring the team focused on childhood development, parental interaction with children, and drug and alcohol awareness. The Building Blocks Friends were retired entirely from

1443-448: Was trademarked in November 1991. Long after the release of this NES game, and separate from it, Wally Bear and related characters are still used by the National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information in publications, for the purposes of substance abuse awareness and prevention, and the promotion of general health. Wally Bear and the NO! Gang was developed by American Game Cartridges . Due to financial problems at AGC by 1991,

1482-466: Was used as part of a recurring gag in the film Four Lions ; one of the main characters uses an outfit of the character as a disguise in the final act. Paul Calf was frequently seen eating Sugar Puffs. In the British science-fiction show Red Dwarf , Dave Lister is fond of Sugar Puff sandwiches. In 2009, as part of Red Nose Day , Honey Monster appeared with many other advertising icons in

1521-461: Was used on the health.org website in its kids area in the early 2000s. The content on the hotline was not updated to reflect a complete retool of the Wally Bear franchise in June 2004. Nevertheless, the hotline was still active as late as 2006 with old "Wally Bear and the KNOW Gang" material. The NCADI Wally Bear hotline had been disconnected by June 2007. In June 2004, "Wally Bear and the KNOW Gang"

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