Now this is an odd find. As a stupid American, I had to look up what “Shreddies” even were. Apparently they’re only available in Canada, the UK, and Ireland. As for the crows, it seems they were the mascots for a couple of years, although I’m not sure if they had individual names or personalities or anything like that (who associates crows with breakfast?). They appeared in several other ads, but none of them involved He-Man, so why would I even want to bother with them? I do find it interesting to learn that 50s nostalgia wasn’t only prominent in the states during the 80s, though. These crows just love being square about their…squares. Because they’re “squarer” than most. Is that even a word?
But back to the He-Man ad, because I have so many questions, and no answers. Why are these two crows arriving to Castle Grayskull with a briefcase full of cash? Have they been blackmailed into showing up here? If so, by who? Did fucking He-Man do it? Is that why you can barely see his face here, or is that just the poor resolution of the ad? Why does Grayskull look like a haunted castle from Scooby-Doo? And WHY do those crows have a briefcase full of cash? I know I already asked that, but why does this feel like an illegal transaction involving He-Man???
Really, though, the most troubling aspect of this commercial is how quick He-Man is to resort to violence just because one of these crows dared to say his catchphrase. He simply grabs him up without any hesitation and drags him to an unknown fate, while his “friend” laughs at his expense…until he’s faced with the unspeakable terror of He-Man’s massive, powerful hand towering over him. RIP nameless crow (or maybe he does have a name, but there’s only but so much research I’m going to put into the history of foreign cereal mascots for a Masters of the Universe header).
Have the power today, y’all!