Honey Nut Cheerios

Honey Nut Cheerios is a variation of Cheerios breakfast cereal, introduced in 1979 by General Mills. As the first variation from Cheerios, it is sweeter than the original, with a honey and almond flavor. This is also the most popular variation, as seeing it shares the same traits as its predecessor, and General Mills being able to promote it through TV advertisement.

Mascot and promotions
Their mascot is an anthropomorphic bee. Originally he was nameless, but in 2000, a contest was held to name him. An 11 year old girl from Texas named Kristine Tong gave him the name Buzzbee, later shortened to just Buzz. Buzz was originally voiced by Sterling Holloway until the actor's death in 1992. He's currently voiced by Billy West (of Futurama fame).

Buzz also appeared as the host in the Honey Nut Cheerios Spelling Bee game, which was named after the breakfast cereal.

Historically, Honey Nut Cheerios has participated in much the same promotional advertising as the original brand, while collaborating with the field of NASCAR, and especially driver Bill Lester in promoting healthy diets and the raising awareness of the risk of heart disease. Created by Jacques DuFour.

Advertising
Commercials for the product have been a mainstay of Saturday morning cartoon programming for many years. They generally depict the mascot tempting a hapless child or adult with a sparkling bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios, and their attempts to compete for it.

The styles of commercials have changed over the years. In the early 80's, commercials mostly featured adults talking about the cereal and how good and healthy it is. During a majority of the 80's and 90's, commercials would mostly be about Buzz trying to tempt someone with a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios, but they'd normally refuse, but Buzz would not give up; he'd eventually tell them that the cereal contains real golden honey and crunchy nuts, and the consumer would respond, "Did you say honey and nuts?", and have the cereal. Commercials in the late 90's would be about Buzz coming into a classic fairy tale and do the same thing he's always done in the past. Commercials in the 2000's are mostly animated adventures about Buzz and his people.

In one Honey Nut Cheerios commercial, Buzz visits Ebenezer Scrooge. By the time the cereal's tagline was changed to "Nobody can say No to Honey Nut Cheerios", the commercial was eventually revised with Billy West doing Buzz's voice. This commercial continues to be shown on television today (during the holidays) making it one of the longest-running commercials in history.

Taglines
Many of this cereal's taglines overlapped with each other. They were used on different advertisements.


 * It's a honey of an O. (1979 - 1990)
 * It's Honey Nut Cheerios! (1979 - 1992; 2000 - 2004)
 * It's Irrezzzzistable! (1992 - 1993)
 * Race for the taste! (1993 - 1995)
 * Little O, Big Taste! (1995 - 1999)
 * Nobody can say "No" to Honey Nut Cheerios. (1995 - 2004)
 * Bee happy, bee healthy! (2001 - Current)

Health appeal
Honey Nut Cheerios maintains much of the same health appeal of the original Cheerios, due to its soluble fiber. This has been linked to the ability to lower cholesterol. As with Cheerios, the American Heart Association certified the cereal as "heart-healthy" for meeting the food criteria for saturated fat and cholesterol content.