What Happened to Sugar Smacks Cereal?
In 1983, the Sugar Smacks name brand was changed to Honey Smacks by the cereal’s maker, the Kellogg’s Company. Sugar Smacks, a puffed wheat cereal, made its debut in 1953, and was created to directly compete with the popular Sugar Crisp Cereal by Post. As of 2014, Honey Smacks is still sold in stores.
In its early days, a variety of characters appeared on boxes of Sugar Smacks cereal, including Cliffy the Clown. Cartoon character Quick Draw McGraw was a featured mascot for a spell. In the 1970s, a colorful frog given the name Dig ‘Em was introduced as the cereal’s mascot. The original Dig ‘Em was also featured in commercials and became popular with kids. The frog’s popularity was so broad that Kellogg’s was forced to bring the character back after retiring him in 1986. During Dig ‘Em’s absence, The Smackin’ Brothers and Wally Bear were used as cereal mascots. Dig ‘Em’s appearance has changed over the years to appeal to each new generation of children.
The original formulation for Sugar Smacks was packed with sugar. The cereal contained a whopping 56 percent of sugar by weight at its debut. In its most recent formulation as Honey Smacks, the cereal contains 15 grams of sugar per serving.
