Food Police Kill Cap’n Crunch

By Jonathan Berr, Daily Finance

Cap'n Horatio Magellan Crunch, who has sailed the Seven Seas for Quaker Oats since 1963, has fallen into the brand equivalent of the Bermuda Triangle.

The cartoon sailor is nowhere to be found on the Quaker website. Quaker's corporate parent, PepsiCo (PEP), doesn't go out of its way to trumpet its association with the Good Cap'n, either. He doesn't even make an appearance in recipes for yummy treats such as Cap'n Crunch French Toast or Cap'n Crunch Ice Cream Pie.

The last press release I could find about the brand was in 2007 on a not-too-surprising survey that found that 83% percent of kids ages 8 to 13 thought it would be fun to be a pirate. For generations of children, Cap'n Crunch made eating cereal fun. According to nutritionists, this kind of food association is one of the reasons behind America's soaring childhood obesity rates, which have doubled over the past 20 years.