Another Icon of Youth Going Away...

WTF?! Cap'n Crunch To Be Discontinued?! Is our beloved Cap'n about to walk the plank? Ohh Cap'n, say it aint so. If the internet hysteria is correct, it appears that Quaker Oats is putting an end to our beloved mouth-scraping morning delight, Cap’n Crunch. Where do these stories come from? Not sure but I could not stand idle and see this happen. I went goggling.

You can’t find a picture of the blue-capped Cap'n anywhere on Quaker’s official website, and sales are reportedly way down. So who or what is to blame for this apparent upcoming extinction of breakfast greatness? Sadly, but logically, a lot of the responsibility is falling on the shoulders of people eating more responsibly. Heck, I have not had a serving in decades! With 12 grams of sugar per serving, a bowl of Cap'n Crunch amounts to half the recommended daily intake for kids.

Parent company PepsiCo is apparently forcing the good Cap'n, once the #1 breakfast cereal in America, to walk the plank. Last year, PepsiCo vowed to reduce added sugar per serving by 25 percent and saturated fat by 15 percent in its products over the next 10 years.

After the initial thrashing fit in the cereal aisle of the grocery store upon hearing the news, smashing inferior breakfast foods under my feet while screaming for the dearly departing Cap'n, (never said I was not a drama queen!) a little bit of reason began to set in. Sure, we can rationalized the piercing jabs the corners of the squares inflict on our upper mouths for the sake of the delicious wonderment.

As the day continued and hype built, Quaker Oats issued a statement saying that the cereal giant has no plans to end the deliciousness:

"Reports of Cap'n Crunch's demise are greatly exaggerated. In fact, we just launched an official Facebook page for Cap'n Crunch. Now that our Cap'n Crunch brand is in the social-media space, our adult consumers can stay up to date on all things Cap'n Crunch."

A conspiracy? Smokescreen tactics? We'll see... but damned if I didn't want to stock up on 10 boxes last night, just to be safe. But I got real and just decided I need to savor the memories.

Thanks to Johnny Firecloud of LA Times for some of the detailed information in the above article.