Illustration superstar Bob Staake is hoping to leave his mark on the cereal aisles of supermarkets everywhere with Freebies — a prospective breakfast cereal brand that aims to restore the fun and innocence of kids’ breakfast cereals by way of the drawing board. Staake is no stranger to cereal box art (who could forget Urkel-O’s?) but this must surely be the first time that a breakfast cereal was created by the box’s artist…
“What I wanted to do with FREEBIES”, said Staake, “was create a positive character-driven storyline that could break through the clutter of marketing-oriented product in the supermarket cereal aisle. Kids don’t want to be sold DVDs and ocean cruises that are routinely advertised on the back of today’s cereal boxes. They want to sit there and become engaged in a fun and playful world while they eat a breakfast cereal that their parents can feel good about. To me, FREEBIES is about returning some innocence into the first meal of the day for a child– and maybe giving them a giggle before they go off to school.”
I know that if such a cereal did exist when I was a kid, I’d be all over it! So long, C-3PO’s! Hello Freebies!