Advertising / Pebbles Cereal

The Pebbles Cereal brand was originally introduced in 1969 in an effort to revive an older Post-brand cereal called Sugar Rice Krinkles. It was Larry Weiss, then-Product Group Manager of the company, who had the idea to license use of the characters from then hit Hanna-Barbera cartoon The Flintstones to act as mascots and Fruity Pebbles cereal was born. While the gimmick of having a cereal being associated with Fred and Barney was thought to be a fad at the time, high consumer demand led to the creation of a companion cereal, Cocoa Pebbles, to be created only one year later. While the recipe for both cereals had changed over the years, Fruity Pebbles and Cocoa Pebbles has always been a popular children's cereal Adjacent to This Complete Breakfast and it still sells more than 50 years later.

The commercials associated usually follow the same formula: Fred Flintstone is enjoying a delicious bowl of the iconic cereal, and Barney Rubble goes through a convoluted, Trix Rabbit-esque plan to steal Fred's cereal for himself. Unlike the Trix Rabbit, Barney succeeds, and the commercial ends with Fred finding out that he had been tricked and he chases Barney off into the sunset while the narrator closes out the commercial.

While the brand has had many different Limited-Time flavors — Berry, Cinnamon, Dino S'Mores, Marshmallow, Peanut Butter & Cocoa, Crunched, Ice Cream — Fruity Pebbles and Cocoa Pebbles will always hold-up as classic cereals.

Pebbles Cereal can be purchased on any grocery store and their website can be visited here.

---

The Pebbles Cereals provide examples of:

• 2D Visuals, 3D Effects: Numerous commercials from The '90s or later blend traditional and CGI animation.
• Alien Abduction: Two commercials begin with Fred unmasking a Pebbles-stealing alien as Barney, before they both get abducted by actual Pebbles-stealing aliens.
• Beach Episode: This commercial for brighter-colored Fruity Pebbles sends the Flintstones and Rubbles to sunny Bronto Beach.
• Balloon Belly: Barney dreams of developing one after he dives into a giant bowl of Cocoa Pebbles, and makes the cereal "disappear".
• Celebrity Endorsement: John Cena temporarily replaced the Flintstones and Rubbles as the spokesperson in 2013, after Dwayne Johnson ridiculed him for resembling "a big fat bowl of Fruity Pebbles" in his colorful shirts.
• Courtroom Episode: This commercial has Fred take Barney's theft of his Cocoa Pebbles to Cocoa Court.
• Cereal Vice Reward: Most Pebbles commercials involve someone stealing a bowl and box of the stuff from Fred. Usually it's Barney, though other times it's Pebbles, Bamm-Bamm and Dino.
• Christmas Episode:
  • The iconic 1986 Commercial has Fred leaving his cereal out for Santa Claus. Barney disguises himself as Santa to try to steal his Pebbles, only to find that Santa was already there enjoying it. While Fred is pissed, Santa persuades him to share and they all enjoy the cereal for the holidays.
    Santa Claus: 'Tis the season to be sharing, Fred.
  • This commercial places Fred in Yet Another Christmas Carol, warning that he'll have a miserable future if he doesn't share his Pebbles.
• Creator Cameo: Cocoa Court has William Hanna and Joe Barbara among the jurors.
• Cycle of Revenge: This commercial has Fred try to trick Barney into returning his stolen Fruity Pebbles, but Barney steals them again with another trick.
• Disguised in Drag:
  • In the Cocoahontas commercial, Barney disguises himself as the titular "Cocoahontas" in an "And Now You Must Marry Me" gambit to steal Fred's Cocoa Pebbles.
  • Another commercial, available in two versions, has Barney follow Fred and his Fruity Pebbles out to sea by disguising as a mermaid.
  • The aforementioned Cycle of Revenge commercial has Fred disguise as their old teacher, Miss Stonewall.
• Disney Villain Death: This commercial has Barney fake falling to his doom to try and guilt-trip Fred into giving him a bowl of Cocoa Pebbles.
• Faking the Dead: At least two commercials, including this one and the one under Disney Villain Death above, have Barney disguise as an angel.
• Intangible Theft: The Great Gazoo steals the color orange from Bedrock in this commercial, advertising a contest with a trip to Florida as the grand prize.
• Karma Houdini Warranty: While in the original commercials Barney would get away with stealing Fred's Pebbles, in the Stop-Motion commercials anyone who eats his cereal without his permission would transform into some kind of animal.
• Original Flavour: Fruity Pebbles and Cocoa Pebbles are the two original cereals of the brand and they are the only ones sold consistently throughout its run.
• Phrase Catcher: Whenever Barney's disguise slips after he takes Fred's Pebbles, Fred would yell out "Barney!", and on occasion would add "My pebbles!".
• Pungeon Master: Each ad usually ends with Barney delivering a relevant pun.
• Teleporter Accident: The aforementioned Alien Abduction commercials end with Fred and Barney teleporting back to Bedrock with their body parts all scrambled up.
• Totem Pole Trench: In the aforementioned Christmas Carol spoof, Pebbles becomes the Ghost of Christmas Past by standing on Bamm-Bamm's shoulders.
• Tuxedo and Martini: This commercial depicts Fred and Barney as tuxedo-clad "secret agent dudes" hunting down some Fruity Pebbles thieves (including some of the baddies from The Man Called Flintstone) to the accompaniment of a Tina Turner sound-alike.
• Yank the Dog's Chain: One Cocoa Pebbles commercial has Fred take Barney to court for the latter's repeated attempts to steal the former's cereal. Barney says he loves Cocoa Pebbles almost as much as he loves Fred. Fred is so moved by this he willingly gives him the cereal...only for the judge to jump down, grab the bowl, and run off shouting "Case Dismissed!" as Fred and Barney cry in each other's arms.

---