Serial Cereal Stealer

It's not important how it came up (though for the record, it was in a conversation about how I could potentially resemble the Cookie Crook, of Cookie Crisp cereal fame), but the subject of the Cookie Crook and his thieving ways got me thinking: Why are so many cereals marketed via an ad campaign that constantly features someone trying to steal the cereal?

In searching for a picture of the Crook online, I stumbled across the wikipedia entry about the cereal and found the following paragraph:

The Cookie Crook was the anti-hero mascot and one of the earliest mascots for the cereal, who often attempted to steal the Cookie Crisp. He has a comb moustache, and wears a red chef's hat with cookies all over it. He also wears a black mask that goes over his face and nose, and a purple shirt.

The Cookie Crook, according to the entry, had quite a long run, serving as the scourge of cookie-like cereal lovers everywhere from 1980-1997 (and, it should be noted, went unchecked as a baked-good bad guy until Officer Crumb finally came on the scene in '83).

And then there is the long-suffering Trix rabbit, who has been trying to get ahold of a bowl of those delicious fruity orbs since 1959 (and technically he did in 1991 when tons of kids voted that he should be allowed to have a bowl). In every commercial, the rabbit is making off with a bowl only to get caught at the last second.

And poor Lucky the Leprechaun, always being chased by kids. Those lousy little bastards are relentless in their pursuit of that little Irishman and his tasty marshmallow pieces.

It makes me wonder why other other cereals -- or other products entirely, for that matter -- don't try this approach. You know why no one likes Grape Nuts? Because a cartoon character has never tried to steal a bowl of it.

Why hasn't the auto industry gotten on top of this? Why keep driving cars over crazy mountain terrain or through a closed course of obstacles in commercials? Get creative. Get a cartoon mascot. Maybe a masked man who uses a coat hanger to break into the car (let's say, a 1995 Honda Civic, our country's most-stolen car) and drives off just as the owner returns to lament, "He jacked my Civic!" See? Loveable scamp of a cartoon mascot, catchy slogan, and the overall sense that you will be buying a car that's desireable. I mean, who wants a car that thieves don't even want?

Someone needs to implement this plan immediately -- it's magically delicious.