Like its fellow cryptids, Bigfoot, Nessie, and the chupacabra, Honeycomb’s slavering cereal mascot “The Craver” is an elusive beast. After a solid run of commercials in the 1990s and early ’00s, The Craver recused itself from public consciousness and silently returned to the swirling pocket of chaos it emerged from in the first place. Until now, we thought it had been forgotten forever.
Fortunately, YouTuber Doplex has taken it upon himself to investigate the mascot and create a historical archive of its existence that will, we hope, endure for generations to come.
The Craver (a.k.a. “The Honeycomb Craver” or “Crazy Craving”) is described by Doplex as “a horrifying abomination that god left unfinished and one that the world and his creators want you to forget.” This may sound harsh, but revisiting footage of The Craver backs up the description. The mascot comes to life in commercials where children experience a hunger so all consuming that they transform, werewolf-like, into a furry, cereal-mad creature that shouts “Me want Honeycomb!” until its demands are met.
Despite The Craver being the star of a big advertising campaign, Doplex has a hard time finding information about its origin story. The Craver has completely vanished from Honeycomb’s official website and, when Doplex sends a media inquiry to Honeycomb PR, he’s told that the company has “lost some historical information” over years of changing ownership.
Undeterred, Doplex still managed to track down more information than can be reasonably expected to exist regarding The Craver. In his history of the Clockwork Orange-eyed rodent, we learn that it was originally a puppet/CGI hybrid created by Industrial Light & Magic. Later, it was brought more fully to life with a bigger campaign that saw voice actor Frank Simms and a team of ad directors tweak the character until it properly took form.
That done, The Craver took its place in cereal history by acting as the Honeycomb spokesmonster from 1995 to about 2005. The creature was then retired—and nearly hidden from public record—not in favor of less bizarre ad campaigns, but so Honeycomb could be sold through commercials about kids with freakishly large CGI mouths or a little boy who had been raised by bees.
[via Digg]
Send Great Job, Internet tips to gji@theonion.com