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Cap'n Crunch
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==Marketing== Quaker Oats had a marketing plan for Cap'n Crunch, before it had developed the cereal.<ref name= "UNH">{{cite web | title = Meet the Mother of Cap'n Crunch | work=Alumni Profiles| publisher = University of New Hampshire| via= unhmagazine.unh.edu| url = http://unhmagazine.unh.edu/sp02/pamlow.html}}</ref> The product line is heralded by a [[cartoon]] [[mascot]] named Cap'n Horatio Crunch.<ref name= "wsj6">{{cite news | title = U.S. Navy: No Record of Cap'n Crunch Service |newspaper=[[The Wall Street Journal]] | first= Dion| last= Nissenbaum| date= June 19, 2013| url = https://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2013/06/19/u-s-navy-no-record-of-capn-crunch-service/ |url-access= subscription}}</ref> The character was created by [[Allan Burns]], who became known for co-creating ''[[The Munsters]]'' and ''[[The Mary Tyler Moore Show]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2017-10-22|title=Allan Burns|url=https://interviews.televisionacademy.com/interviews/allan-burns|access-date=2021-02-15| website= TelevisionAcademy.com |language=en}}</ref> The commercials themselves were originally produced by [[Jay Ward Productions]]. Cap'n Crunch is depicted as a late 18th-century [[Captain (naval)|naval captain]], an elderly gentleman with white eyebrows and a white moustache, who wears a [[American Revolutionary War|Revolutionary]]-style [[Uniforms of the United States Navy|naval uniform]]: a [[bicorne]] hat emblazoned with a "C" and a [[Epaulette|gold-epauletted]] blue coat with gold bars on the sleeves. While typically an American [[Captain (naval)|naval captain]] wears four bars on his sleeves, the mascot has been variously depicted over the years wearing only one bar ([[Ensign (United States)|ensign]]), two bars ([[Lieutenant (navy)|lieutenant]]), or three bars ([[Commander (naval)|commander]]). As of May 26, 2024, he is now depicted on cereal boxes with the four bars of a naval captain. Voice actor [[Daws Butler]] created Cap'n Crunch's voice, basing it on that of Hollywood and radio character actor [[Charles Butterworth (actor)|Charles Butterworth]].<ref name="NYTBIO">{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/movies/person/9959/Charles-Butterworth/biography |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140427023021/http://www.nytimes.com/movies/person/9959/Charles-Butterworth/biography |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 27, 2014 |department=Movies & TV Dept. |work=[[The New York Times]] |author=Hal Erickson |author-link=Hal Erickson (author) |date=2014 |title=Charles Butterworth |accessdate=February 2, 2016}}</ref> Animated television commercials featured the adventures of Cap'n Crunch commanding the "good ship" ''Guppy'' on its sea voyages accompanied by his canine first mate Seadog and loyal crew of sailor children named Alfie, Dave, Brunhilde, and Carlyle. Jean LaFoote, "The Barefoot Pirate", often attacked the ''Guppy'' in order to steal its cargo of Cap'n Crunch cereal. According to ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'' (2013), the character, Horatio Magellan Crunch, captains a ship called the ''Guppy'', and was born on Crunch Island, a magical island in the Sea of Milkβwith talking trees, crazy creatures and a mountain (Mt. Crunchmore) made out of Cap'n Crunch cereal."<ref name="wsj6"/> The article refers to the Captain's bicorne as a "[[Napoleon]]-style" hat,<ref name="wsj6"/> and claims that this has led to speculation that he may be [[French people|French]].<ref name="wsj6"/> Cap'n Crunch's original animated television commercials used the slogan, "It's got corn for crunch, oats for punch, and it stays crunchy, even in milk."<ref>{{cite book |title=Cerealizing America: The Unsweetened Story of American Breakfast Cereal |last1=Bruce |first1=Scott |last2=Crawford |first2=Bill |year=1995 |publisher=Faber and Faber |location=Boston |isbn=0-571-19851-1 |page= [https://archive.org/details/cerealizingameri00scot/page/216 216] |url-access=registration |url= https://archive.org/details/cerealizingameri00scot/page/216 }}</ref> In 2013, sources including ''The Wall Street Journal''<ref name="wsj6"/> and ''[[Washington Times]]''<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/jun/18/cereal-liar-capn-crunch-fights-charge-hes-really-c/ |title=Cereal fibber? Cap'n Crunch fights charge he's really a commander |work= [[The Washington Times]] |date=2013-06-18 |access-date=2013-06-24}}</ref> noted that the three stripes on the mascot's uniform indicate a rank of [[Commander]] rather than the four that denote the rank of Captain. In jest, ''The Wall Street Journal'' reported that the [[U.S. Navy]] had no record of Crunch and that the [[Naval Criminal Investigative Service]] (NCIS) was investigating him for impersonating a naval officer.<ref name="wsj6"/> Daws Butler provided the original voice of the Cap'n until his death in 1988.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0124889/bio|title=Daws Butler Biography|website=IMDb|access-date=April 16, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-05-20-mn-3601-story.html|title=Obituaries: Daws Butler; Voice of Well-Known Cartoon Characters|work=Los Angeles Times|date=1988-05-20|access-date= 2013-12-20}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Daws Butler, Characters Actor|isbn=1593930151|last1=Ohmart|first1=Ben|last2=Bevilaqua|first2=Joe|date=2005|publisher=BearManor Media}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://voicechasers.com/database/showprod.php?prodid=51|title=The Voices of Cap'n Crunch Cereal (1963, Commercial) β Voice Cast Listing|website= Voicechasers.com|access-date=2013-12-20}}</ref> From 1991 to 2007, George J. Adams voiced him,<ref name="George Adams">{{cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1997-06-27-9706270377-story.html|title=TALK ABOUT A GOOD JOB|date=March 3, 2023|website=Chicago Tribune|archive-url=https://archive.today/20230303205828/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1997-06-27-9706270377-story.html|archive-date=March 3, 2023|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Cap'n Crunch at BTVA">{{cite web|url=https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/commercials/Capn-Crunch/Capn-Crunch/|title=Cap'n Crunch Voice β Cap'n Crunch (Commercial)|website=behindthevoiceactors.com|date=|publisher=|access-date=}}</ref> followed by [[John Gegenhuber]] in ''The Cap'n Crunch Show'' in 2013,<ref name="Crunch Show 1">{{cite web| url= https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/tv-shows/The-Capn-Crunch-Show/Capn-Crunch/|title=Cap'n Crunch Voice β The Cap'n Crunch Show | website= behindthevoiceactors.com | date= | publisher=| access-date=}}</ref> and Mike Stoudt since 2021.<ref name="Mike Stoudt 1">{{cite web|title=Mike Stoudt|url=https://mikestoudt.com/|publisher=Mike Stoudt|access-date=February 26, 2024}}</ref><ref name="Mike Stoudt 2">{{cite web|title=After so long in radio, then going full-time in voiceover and acting, I'm very thankful for the opportunities I have through my agents and manager. I get to be the voice of the iconic cereal character, Cap'n Crunch, for a run of commercials! (August 18, 2022)|url=https://www.facebook.com/MikeStoudtVOActor/videos/1706298806397166/|publisher=Facebook|access-date=February 26, 2024}}</ref> In the 1960s Cap'n Crunch cereal boxes came with whistles which coincidentally had the specific frequency ([[2600 hertz]]) required to exploit a vulnerability of [[in-band signaling]] enabling a phone to make free calls by entering an 'operator mode'. This was discovered by [[John Draper]]. Author [[Philip Wylie]] wrote a series of short stories, ''Crunch and Des'', beginning in the 1940s, which featured a similarly named but otherwise unrelated character, Captain Crunch Adams.<ref>{{cite book| url= https://books.google.com/books?id=2X4FAQAAIAAJ&q=big+ones+get+away+wylie | title=The Big Ones Get Away!| first= Philip| last= Wylie | publisher= Farrar & Rinehart, Inc.|via=[[Google Books]] |date=1940}}</ref> [[Will Vinton#Will Vinton Studios|Vinton Studios]] produced a [[Clay animation|claymation]] ad during the 1980s.<ref>{{cite web| url= http://www.animateclay.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Sections&file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=101&page=1| website= animateclay.com| title= Vinton Studio Commercials | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20071015053303/http://animateclay.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Sections&file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=101&page=1| archive-date= October 15, 2007| access-date= April 16, 2016| url-status= dead}}</ref> ===Brand characters=== {{anchor|Jean LaFoote}} ''Jean LaFoote'' is a fictional [[pirate]] character from the Cap'n Crunch breakfast cereal's character set. The character's name is [[wordplay]] on that of the historical pirate, [[Jean Lafitte]].<ref name= "taylor">{{cite web|last1=Taylor|first1=Heather|title=The Legend of Jean LaFoote|url=http://360.advertisingweek.com/legend-jean-lafoote/|website=AdvertisingWeek.com|publisher=|access-date=26 April 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190426135134/https://www.advertisingweek360.com/legend-jean-lafoote/|archive-date=2019-04-26}}</ref> In the mid-1970s, he was the primary mascot for Jean LaFoote's Cinnamon Crunch cereal.<ref name="taylor"/> LaFoote was originally voiced by [[Bill Scott (voice actor)|Bill Scott]], followed by Adam Shapiro from 2006 to 2007,<ref name="Jean LaFoote at BTVA">{{cite web|url= https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/commercials/Capn-Crunch/Jean-LaFoote/|title=Jean LaFoote Voice β Cap'n Crunch (Commercial)|website=behindthevoiceactors.com|date=|publisher=|access-date=}}</ref> Joe Nipote in ''The Cap'n Crunch Show'' in 2013,<ref name="Crunch Show 2">{{cite web|url=https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/tv-shows/The-Capn-Crunch-Show/Jean-LaFoote/|title=Jean LaFoote Voice β The Cap'n Crunch Show|website=behindthevoiceactors.com|date=|publisher=|access-date=}}</ref> and Isaac Robinson-Smith since 2024.<ref name="Isaac Robinson">{{cite web|title=Isaac Robinson-Smith on Instagram: "I can't believe I get to follow in the legendary footsteps of Bill Scott as the new voice of Cap'n Crunch's arch-nemesis Jean LaFoote!"|url=https://www.instagram.com/p/C7W6UEPrIlS/|date=May 24, 2024|publisher=Instagram|access-date=May 21, 2025}}</ref> In the 1980s, the Captain's main adversaries were the ''Soggies'', strange alien creatures resembling blobs of milk, whose goal was to make everything on Earth soggy. The only thing that was immune was Cap'n Crunch cereal, and many ads revolved around their attempts to "soggify" the cereal and everything else, to no avail. Their leader, Squish the Sogmaster (voiced by [[Dick Gautier]]), was a large mechanical creature (with a pair of eyes peeking out from an opening in the head, implying it was a suit of armor for a smaller figure) who was mostly seen ordering the Soggies to carry out his plans to "ruin breakfast"; several commercials that tied in with contests had story arcs involving the Sogmaster attempting to capture Cap'n Crunch.
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