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Quake
 Quake 
From: Quaker
Introduced in 1965 Quake and it's partner cereal Quisp were introduced by Quaker Oats in 1965. Quake was described in commercials as "wonderful wheelies of corn and oats... buzzin' with honey and bustin' with earthquake power." The cereal pieces were shaped like small gears with holes in the center. Quake and Quisp were almost always promoted together in television and print advertising. The cereals' mascots were developed by Jay Ward and Bill Scott, the creators of Rocky & Bullwinkle. Quaker enlisted the team to create characters that cereal brands could be built upon. Two years earlier, Quaker, Ward and Scott had great success using the mascot-precedes-the-cereal formula when they created Cap'n Crunch. The cartoon spokesman for Quake was a large (nearly menacing), muscular, broad-jawed man who wore a miner's helmet and a cape. It was implied that Quake the character and Quake the cereal both came from the center of the earth, which explains the miner's equipment and references to earthquakes. Early advertising distinctly showed that Quake had the ability to fly. That aspect of the character was later downplayed in favor of Quake's clever use of unconventional transportation such as whales or swimming horses. The mascot for Quisp cereal was a pink alien also called Quisp. By means of a propeller lodged in his head, Quisp would fly around promoting his cereal and often provoke Quake with challenges that Quisp was a better cereal with better premiums. While the two cereals were virtually identical in flavor (Quake was said to be slightly crunchier), Quisp proved to have much more consumer appeal and traditionally beat Quake in sales. Quaker placed the blame on Quake the character. 
In 1967, Quake the burly miner was transformed into a thinner, only-slightly-more-kid-friendly rendition of himself. The miner's helmet was traded in for an Australian cowboy hat. The change in appearance was explained in ads by a story line in which Quake entered a "new & improver machine". Gears and automated boxing gloves plummeted the large character until he emerged from the machine thinner (and with a new hat).Despite efforts to make Quake less daunting, Quisp continued it's reign as the more popular cereal. In 1972, Quaker asked consumers to vote on which cereal/character they liked best. The loosing cereal would be discontinued. Based on the cereal's sales in the preceding years, it was a foregone conclusion. By 1973, Quake had disappeared from grocery store shelves. The Quake character reemerged for a short time in 1974 in ads for Quake's Orange Quangaroos. While the new cereal had his name, Quake (still shown as a trim Australian-influenced cowboy) had a limited roll in commercials - playing second banana to his pet, Simon the Quangaroo. Like Quake, Quangaroos was pitted against Quisp in ads. Quisp proved to be more popular yet again and Quangaroos disappeared shortly after. Know premiums in Quake Cereal: a super spinner toy, an explorer's kit, a big slick gyro car, an assortment of rings, a Quake helmet, a QuakeMobile toy car and a Quake MiniMovie player. Click here to see all cereals from Quaker. Featuring:
Quake Cereal Theater
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Overall Average Rating = 5 (out of 5) View all 7 comments for this cereal. By eawk
They need to bring Quake back, its hard to explain the wonderful taste of this cereal. Comment submitted: 6/24/2010 (#2343) By miners hat
I remember sending a certain amount of money with either box tops or proof of purchase seals to Quaker Oats for a Quake yellow miner's hard hat that had a working flashlight. And if memory serves me well, I believe that I liked Quake cereal better than Cap'n Crunch. Comment submitted: 6/20/2010 (#2320) By lakeview
Quake was better than Quisp! Am I the only one who voted for Quake? Grumble. Comment submitted: 6/19/2010 (#2313) View all 7 comments for this cereal. |
