John Cena, the colorful superstar from World Wrestling Entertainment, has ousted long time champion of children's cereal, Fred Flinstone. At least for the moment. The former WWE Heavyweight Champion will replace the square jawed cartoon character on the cover of 4 million limited edition Fruity Pebbles, as well as Cocoa Pebbles cereal boxes. The patriach of the Flinstone clan will still be featured on some varieties of the popular brand. This is not the first time John Cena has been featured on the Fruity Pebbles cereal box. Last year, the West Newbury, Massachusetts native had his likeness placed at the top of the popular kid's cereal. There is also talk about Cena appearing on the cover of the boxes again in the fall, just in time for the school year to begin.
The makers of Fruity Pebbles have admitted that Fred Flinstone is no longer the most relevant or popular character in today's society. John Cena was chosen because of his wild success and appeal in World Wrestling Entertainment, as well as the company's "PG" rated content.
In a strange twist of life imitating art, it was a joke made by Dwaye "The Rock" Johnson that started the ball rolling on the deal between Cena and Fruity Pebbles. On an episode of WWE Raw, The Rock made a comment about how John Cena's colorful array of clothing made him look like a bowl of Fruity Pebbles. And thus, a million dollar marketing strategy was born. Little did wrestling fans know that as they yelled "Fruity Pebbles" at John Cena, a plan was being written to put the marquee star on the cover of 4 million boxes. Looks like John Cena will have the last laugh on this one.
Comments