As mentioned above, Weetabix was advertised on British television during the 1980s by a set of animated characters devised by advertising executives
Danny Blake and
Kaarl Hollis. The characters were essentially Weetabix biscuits with arms, legs and faces, dressed in archetypal
skinhead gear (
bovver boots,
jeans, and t-shirts). This caused some controversy amongst sensitive parents, especially given that '
Oi!' and the
Brixton riots were fresh in the memory. Nonetheless, the Weetabix characters were retained into the 1990s. They were called Brian, Bixie, Brains, Crunch and Dunk - Brains had glasses, Brian was mentally subnormal, Crunch was the leader, and the others had no defining characteristics.
Along similar lines, at much the same time Hoffmeister's 'Follow the bear' advertising campaign (which utilised a man in a bear suit, and an instrumental version of Grandmaster Flash's 'The Message') was discontinued due to fears that children were identifying with the bear too readily.
The Weetabix slogan was actually "If you know what's good for you, Weetabix, okay?", with the final word delivered by Brian, the 'thick' character, in a strangled Geordie accent.