Frosted Flakes or Frosties is a breakfast cereal, produced by WK Kellogg Co for the United States, Canada and the Caribbean and by Kellanova for the rest of the world, and consisting of sugar-coated corn flakes. It was introduced in the United States, in 1951, as "Sugar Frosted Flakes". The word "sugar" was dropped from the name in 1983.
Generic versions, such as store brands, are also available. Unlike many cereals, such as Cheerios, Shreddies and Rice Krispies but like Corn Flakes and Raisin Bran, the name “Frosted Flakes” is so generic that it cannot be trademarked, and thus it often shares its name with competitors.
Contents
International names
Frosted Flakes in United States and Canada
Frosties in most Commonwealth nations (except Canada), European and Middle Eastern countries as well as Hong Kong, Taiwan and China; formerly Frostis in Spain
Zucaritas in the United States and Hispanic America (the word translates as "little sugary things")
Sucrilhos in Brazil (a fusion of sugar + crunch + milho (corn))
Corn Frosty (コーンフロスティ) in Japan
Corn Frost (콘푸로스트) in South Korea
Tony Corn Flakes (東尼玉米片) in China
Popularity
Frosted Flakes was the second-best-selling cereal in the first half of 2017 within the US in gross sales, after Honey Nut Cheerios.
Marketing
Mascots
Tony the Tiger has been the mascot of Frosted Flakes since its introduction. Tony is known for saying the cereal's slogan: "They're Gr-r-reat!" (the "r"s in "Great" being drawn-out). Tony the Tiger was originally voiced by Dallas McKennon, but Thurl Ravenscroft voiced him for more than 50 years until his death in 2005. Tony was later voiced (in Canada and the United States) by former professional wrestling play-by-play announcer Lee Marshall until his death on April 27, 2014. After Marshall's death, he was replaced with Tex Brashear. In the UK, Tom Hill voiced Tony before and after Ravenscroft's death. Tony is drawn wearing a red bandana on all Frosted Flakes cereal boxes.
Sponsorship
Kellogg's was a major sponsor of Adventures of Superman throughout most of the 1950s. Many of the Frosted Flakes commercials featuring the show's star George Reeves are available on the DVD release of the series' first season.
Frosted Flakes is a sponsor of Challenger Sports British Soccer Camps.
From the mid-1990s to the mid-2000s, Frosted Flakes was a sponsor of children's programming on PBS, including Sagwa, Dragon Tales and Barney & Friends.
Varieties
In Canada and the United States:
Frosted Rice, a crisped rice variant introduced in 1977, similar to Frosted Rice Krispies and Ricicles. Featured a younger, similar mascot named Tony Jr.
Birthday Confetti Frosted Flakes, a 1997 cake-flavored version. Discontinued in 1997.
Cocoa Frosted Flakes, a 1997 cocoa-flavored version. Discontinued in 2000.
Tony's Cinnamon Krunchers, a 2003 cinnamon-flavored variant. Discontinued around 2005.
Whole Grain Tiger Power, a 2005 version with added protein, fiber and calcium, very similar to Start. Discontinued in 2006.
Tony's Turboz, a 2005 meal replacement variant similar to Whole Grain Tiger Power. Available only in Canada.
Frosted Flakes Gold, a 2008 honey-flavored variant. Reintroduced in 2018 as Honey Nut Frosted Flakes.
Frosted Flakes Chocolate, a 2011 chocolate-flavored version. Reintroduced in 2013.
Banana Frosted Flakes, a variant with flakes containing banana introduced in 1981. Discontinued in 1984.
Cinnamon Frosted Flakes, a 2016 cinnamon-flavored version.
Banana Creme Frosted Flakes, a limited edition banana creme-flavored version introduced in 2019.
Cereal With Marshmallows, Variant of frosted flakes that includes vanilla flavored marshmallows
Health
Frosted Flakes, under its Australian name of Frosties, received 2 stars out of 5 on the Australian Government's health star ratings.
In the European Union, Frosted Flakes are ranked Nutri-Score D for "poor nutritional quality".