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Today, we're digging up how Fruity Pebbles kept the Flintstones from becoming fossils
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The series went off the air in 1966, but thanks to its groundbreaking popularity
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it didn't exactly go away. Via frequent appearances in syndicated reruns, TV specials, and educational films, the Flintstones remained a dominant presence
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on television and in pop culture for years afterward. Meanwhile, breakfast cereal manufacturer
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Post was having trouble building market share for a product called Sugar Rice Crinkles
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To remedy the situation, an executive named Larry Weiss decided to license the Flintstone characters
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from production company Hanna-Barbera and rebrand the cereal with their likenesses. That doesn't really sound like a big deal these days
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because supermarket shelves are now lined with breakfast cereals based on popular fictional characters
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But what would come to be known as the Pebbles cereal line was the first cereal brand specifically designed as a tie-in to an existing intellectual property
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Ironically, given Pebbles cereal is still on the shelves over 50 years later
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Post execs weren't enthusiastic about Weiss's idea. They assumed the idea of a character cereal would be a fad
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But for whatever reason, they gave it a shot anyway. So, in 1969, what was then just called Pebbles, in honor of Fred and Wilma's daughter
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was introduced on the west coast of the United States. The fruit-flavored cereal, which retained its rice-crinkle shape
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quickly became so popular Post decided to distribute it nationally the following year In fact they immediately got to work on a second variety In anticipation of that release they renamed the original cereal Fruity Pebbles After two varieties of the cereal showed up on the shelves of supermarkets across America in 1970
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Pebbles quickly became one of Post's best-selling cereals, and has remained so to this day
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Those two varieties were fruit and chocolate, originally meant to be called Flint chips and Rubble Stones
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But at the last minute, one of Post's top advertising associates suggested Fruity Pebbles and Cocoa Pebbles
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Today, in addition to the standard fruity and cocoa varieties, there's also Marshmallow
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Fruity Pebbles and Marshmallow Cocoa Pebbles. You can also buy limited editions of the cereal
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Pebbles has been cashing in on the limited editions ever since 1997
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It's difficult to quantify how much the survival of the Flintstones franchise currently owes
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to the Pebbles cereal line. But as we mentioned earlier, it's worth noting that the show ended way back in 1966
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Since then, there have been more than a few short-lived television spinoffs. there were even two live-action theatrical films. At this point, even the two theatrical movies are
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both over a quarter-century old. In much the same way that there are now generations which only know
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boxer George Foreman as a guy who sells grills, it's entirely possible there are 20-somethings
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watching this video who only know the Flintstones as cereal brand mascots no different from Tony the
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Tiger or the Trix Rabbit. So, while it's impossible to say how much Fred and Barney owe to the cereal
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they've been fighting over for much longer than they were ever on the air. Since 1970
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the most consistent and long-running place to see the Flintstones in action has been in commercials for Fruity and Cocoa Pebbles
