King Vitaman has been discontinued

King Vitaman was a favorite cereal of mine and other baby boomers for many years. It tasted to me like the Cap’n Crunch that is sold in stores today with less sugar. than in years past. KV was actually marketed as having less sugar than the Cap’n when it was first being produced. King Vitamin was a sweet crunchy brand of breakfast food produced by Quaker Oats that has only been sold in the United States. It was discontinued in 2019 to the disbelief of those who enjoyed this product. The sovereign ruler has an interesting back story that might interest all who are curious.

This breakfast food was first introduced in 1968 when I was 10 years old. These were the days when kids loved reading cereal boxes and looking for prizes inside the box. The main selling point of breakfast with the king was the high vitamin and iron content of the cereal. The first television commercials for the this product were animated by the creators of Rocky and Bullwinkle, Jay Ward Productions. Those cartoons were pretty goofy but they got the attention of the desired audience. The advertising featured King Vitaman being voiced by character actor Joe Flynn.

The monarch and his knights, Sir Cravenleigh, and Sir Laffitup had foes like the Blue Baron (voiced by Paul Frees) and the Not-So-Bright Knight. Non animated advertisements came later and ended with the jingle baby boomers remember fondly. "King Vitamin, Have Breakfast with the King." “ King Vitamin have breakfast with the king.” From 1971 until 1977, actor George Mann, depicted King Vitaman on the cereal box as well as in television commercials until he died. He was very believable and the face that most have come to represent the cereal. In 2000, Quaker Oats returned to using an illustrated character on cereal boxes of this product.

Disgruntled devotees of the cereal are complaining on the Internet and want King Vitamin back on store shelves. I even saw a link to a Change.Org petition to demand the monarch be returned tohis throne. When I clicked on the link, however, it did not open. King Vitaman, which is pronounced “ Vi-ta-Man, emphasis on man, was a staple for many baby boomers and now the choice is gone. We are the generation that did not grow up and don’t want our icons removed. The reason for the alternate spelling is because the FDA would not allow the monarch to use the word Vitamin because he was human and not an actual vitamin.

I had previously assumed the spelling was to emphasize that his royal highness was a man, but I’m glad to now know the real reason for the spelling. Thinking of King Vitaman takes me back to the days of eating a bowl of cereal while watching Saturday mornings cartoons.Those were the days when children had something to look forward to and Saturday’s were just for kids. Everyone probably has a favorite King Vitaman version and mine is the box with George Mann on the front of the box. I found the animated king to hear bit goofy. In looking at the box, it was years before I realized that the king’s crown was made of spoons and the top of it seems to be a table cloth.

King Vitaman is no the only product that has been removed from store shelves. The Frito Lay company stopped marketing barbecue Fretoes 2018. and introduced a brand that was twisted. I don’t understand the marketing employees these days to take away favorites and force something new on consumers. The Quaker company is now giving customers cocoa oatmeal. I find chocolate flavored oatmeal to taste rather nasty.I put this in the category of vanilla Oreo’s and caramel M& M’s. I have not read anywhere that King Vitamin slipped in sales so I’m not sure why it was removed from grocery store aisles. It’s been suggested that perhaps customers can still find a box here and there at stores like Big Lots or Ollie’s.

I’m going to begin searching local stores as well as check the Internet to see if I can find a few boxes of King Vitamin. I wish I had been able to get an advance warning about this cereal being discontinued because I might have been able purchase a few containers. If you are a fan of having breakfast with the king, then scour the stores in your neck of the woods as well as search online. Who knows, you might have some luck.