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Coco the Monkey (commonly shortened to Coco Monkey or just Coco) is the mascot of Kellogg's cereals under the Coco Pops, Choco Krispies and Chocos brands.
Coco made his debut in a black-and-white animated TV ad for Coco Pops in 1961, alongside an unnamed jungle reporter. In this first appearance his design is radically different, donning a yellow sun-hat and an orange T-shirt, and only can say "Coco Pops." He was replaced in the mid-1960s, but returned in 1981, as a more anatomically correct chimp. Coco would take a minor role in ads from 1981-1985, only seen briefly swinging by a box of Coco Pops on a white background. In 1986, Coco was redesigned again, now more anthropomorphic and a new outfit, a blue baseball cap with the letter 'C' encased by a yellow circle on it, a white T-shirt with his name in large brown letters stamped on it, and jeans which are folded upwards at his ankles. This time Coco was the star, singing a little jingle about the cereal, which varied from advert to advert, but always ended with Coco saying "I'd rather have a bowl of Coco Pops!" which became the cereal's new slogan. Coco would eventually befriend Shortie the Giraffe, Osmelder the Ostrich, Alan the Anteater, Kylie the Kangaroo and Hefty the Hippo. To reflect this, the slogan was altered, becoming "We'd rather have a bowl of Coco Pops!" Coco's primary enemy, Croc (sometimes known as Crafty Croc) first showed up in 1990, an evolution of a group of crocodile villains who'd showed up in earlier ads. Coco's commercials showed up on US television in 1991, in these ads he has to defend himself from wild animals who are out to pinch his Cocoa Krispies. Coco Pops was renamed to Choco Krispies in 1997, and Coco's little jingle changed along with it. This didn't last long, and Coco Pops was the name again by 1999. in Australia, Coco was depicted using a yellow plane-like vehicle called the Coco-Copter, rushing to the aid of hungry animals, ghosts and even King Kong. However in 1998 he was redesigned, the hat being reversed and recoloured red, the white shirt changing to purple with red text and black shorts, as well as blue sunglasses and a necklace, in an effort to make the character seem older and cooler. The 2000s saw a series of new ads in the UK, usually playing out in two parts. The first ad would set up Croc's latest plan to steal the cereal, and Coco would often call on the viewers for their assistance. This could range from a simple game on the back of Coco Pops boxes to sending Kellogg's a letter to inform him of an incoming threat. Down under, Coco was redesigned again, this time taking on more teenage proportions and accompanied by a cast of new supporting characters, with a theme of Coco fighting a foe who wanted to take the Coco Pops World Cup from him. Meanwhile in India, Coco replaced Choco the Bear as the mascot for Chocos, starring in a series of CGI commercials.
As the 2000s drew to a close, Coco was once again side-lined in the UK, this time the ads followed a theme of 'What goes on in that bowl?' with Coco only appearing briefly and never speaking. Australia redesigned him again, but this design wouldn't get to do much. In 2011, Coco returned, in a new space-age factory called 'Coco and Co.' with large biodomes dedicated to the various cereals Kellogg's marketed under the 'Coco Pops' name. The ads were formatted as Coco recalling an attempt by Croc to bring the factory to a halt, and soon after he returned to his typical antics. The supporting cast had been scaled back to just Hefty (now just Hippo) and a new female giraffe replacing Shortie, Croc's gorillas were changed to a pair of dim-witted hyenas and Coco was given more realistic fur. A new Coco Pops mountain setting was later introduced as well as a dolphin who could turn the cereal's chocolate white. In 2020, Kellogg's faced criticism for the fact Coco was advertising a chocolatey cereal, as monkeys were often a racial stereotype, but these efforts were unsuccessful, and Coco continues to appear on boxes of the cereal to this day.
Quotes[]
"Coco Pops."
"My name's Coco, I'm a monkey like you!"
"Coco the Monkey swinging from the trees, with really big news about Cocoa Krispies."
"Thanks for calling me, you lot are tops!"
"Breakfast break!"
"The choc helps me ROCK!"
"Mmmm, Coco Pops. So chocolatey."