General Mills Gives Honey Nut Cheerios Bee Intense Backstory Of Childhood Foster Home Abuse
In Bizarre Rebranding Effort
MINNEAPOLIS—In an unsettling attempt to increase brand visibility and broaden its demographic appeal, the General Mills corporation unveiled a new backstory for its iconic Honey Nut Cheerios bee character Monday, giving the cartoon insect a traumatic personal history of childhood abuse in a foster home.
Calling the psychologically intense new narrative a "fresh and interesting twist on a beloved character," General Mills said it would unveil a series of TV, web, and print ads relating, often in graphic detail, the Honey Nut Cheerios mascot's separation from his drug-addicted parents at a young age, as well as his near-constant emotional and physical suffering at the hands of a controlling, fundamentalist Christian foster father.
“Our customers have always loved [Honey Nut Cheerios mascot] BuzzBee, and we figured such an iconic character deserved a rich backstory that people would enjoy following along with,” said General Mills representative Gina Ripp, adding that the animated bee's cheerful appearance would remain the same, but would mask "deep inner turmoil stemming from the crucial early years of his personal development." “He still loves Honey Nut Cheerios, with its 12 essential vitamins and minerals, but now his love is complicated, perhaps fed, by the feelings of self-hatred he acquired as a ritually abused foster child in suburban Indiana."
http://www.theonion.com/articles/general-mills-gives-honey-nut-cheerios-bee-intense,28181/
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