How Kellogg’s Brand Mascots Made It To The Moon

By Heather Taylor

“That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for a tiger and rooster!”

We might have paraphrased astronaut Neil Armstong’s famous quote when he first stepped on the moon just a little bit. 50 years ago on July 20, 1969, astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins declared liftoff in Apollo 11 and landed on the moon.

As the world celebrates 50 years since the moon landing, brands in the ad industry space are going quite literally to the moon and back with their marketing efforts. However, only two cereals and their brand mascots made it into orbit. They were both part of Kellogg’s: Frosted Flakes starring the iconic Tony The Tiger and Corn Flakes featuring Cornelius Rooster.

3, 2, 1… Kellogg’s Blasts Off!

How did Kellogg’s land on the moon? According to their corporate archives, Kellogg’s provided cereal to the Apollo 11 crew.

However, this cereal didn’t come inside a box with prizes. Frosted Flakes and fruit-flavored Corn Flakes landed in space in the form of cereal cubes developed by Whirlpool. The astronauts on board their mission were able to enjoy breakfast in outer space.

Back On Planet Earth…

What were kids doing on Earth while the astronauts explored the moon? They were enjoying out of this world cereal fun with the iconic Kellogg’s characters!

In addition to nourishing the Apollo 11 astronauts, Kellogg’s also co-sponsored the moon landing’s broadcast on live television. In 1970, the company launched a commercial theme called “Rocket Ahead In ’70.” Promotional packaging and prizes were designed to blast consumers into a whole new galaxy full of flavor.

Kellogg’s Astronaut Breakfast Game

Who will be first to have breakfast on the moon? Find out in Kellogg’s “Astronaut” Breakfast Game!

We went in for a close-up on this box’s game rules, and as a spoiler they did encourage kids to eat more cereal to win. Teams must be divided into groups of four in order to play this breakfast game. Each team “rides” one of the colored ships — red, blue, green, or yellow. The team that ate the most healthy Kellogg’s breakfasts on school days moved one space closer to the moon, and the first team to reach the moon declared the winner.

So, it was a game about eating cereal huh? Kind of, yeah. The Kellogg’s Astronaut Breakfast Game allowed kids to make the pledge to eat a healthy breakfast every morning. Personally, we would have liked to see more of Tony the Tiger in space. That’s one cool cat in an astronaut’s helmet. It’s a GR-R-REAT look!

“Corny 7” Rocket

Meanwhile, Cornelius Roster rode the “Corny 7” rocket with 30 million coupons inside specially marked boxes of Corn Flakes.

It was a spin on Apollo 11 — and one where Cornelius exclaimed “A-A-WK!” out of nervousness as he launched into space. We take it the iconic rooster may need a few Kellogg’s companions with him for his next space mission!