Throwback: Kellogg’s Cornelius Rooster

Nothing gets you crowing in the morning like Kellogg’s Corn Flakes!

When the Kellogg Company was first founded in 1906, its very first product was Corn Flakes. A woman holding a shock of corn referred to as “The Sweetheart of the Corn” made her debut in print advertising for the brand in 1907. However, she was more of a character than a mascot. As Corn Flakes began to rise in popularity around the world, Kellogg’s sought out an agency to create a brand mascot for its cereal packaging. Already seeing great success in Snap, Crackle, and Pop for Rice Krispies and Tony the Tiger for Frosted Flakes, none other than Chicago ad agency Leo Burnett (AKA “the critter agency”) was recruited to create the signature early bird himself, Cornelius Rooster.

Cornelius, or Corny as he is often nicknamed, was an instant cock-a-doodle-doo hit with consumers. Debuting on cereal boxes in 1957, Cornelius was designed with a green body, red comb, and yellow beak and given a confident personality.

For decades, his commercial spot appearances have depicted the happy-go-lucky rooster attempting to crow, but being held back due to silly mishaps. Only if he poured a bowl of Corn Flakes and ate it was Cornelius able to get crowing — and subsequently get the morning off to a good start.

Famous for rarely speaking, there have been a handful of Corn Flakes ads where Cornelius has been spotted with a speaking role. In this spot, Corny has a Southern accent and takes a young boy on an adventure to ride a dinosaur. As they ride along on a friendly dinosaur, a hungry T-Rex and crocodile nearly trap the young boy and Corny on an island. Luckily, Corny hatches a plan to save the day — telling the young boy to eat some Corn Flakes. The cereal allows the boy to grow tall and escape with Corny back to the breakfast table as Corny sings a little jingle.

Tall up, and up,

And up and up and up,

With the tall corn taste

From Kellogg’s!

Whew, now that’s an adventure. Sounds like they were just barely able to wing it!

^{Images courtesy of Kellogg’s.}