Cocoa Krispies (also known as Choco Krispis, Choco Krispies, Coco Pops, Choco Pops depending on region) is a breakfast cereal produced by WK Kellogg Co (formerly Kellogg's), coming both as a boxed cereal and as a snack bar with a 'dried milk' covered bottom. It is a cocoa flavored version of Rice Krispies that contains real chocolate. In Canada, Rice Krispies Cocoa is their variant of the cereal, with a lighter chocolate flavor. Off-brand "coco krispies" are sold by other companies.
The cereal was introduced in the United States in 1958. In 2003, the cereal was renamed "Cocoa Rice Krispies", as Kellogg's endeavored to unite their Rice Krispies variations under a single marketing schema. In 2006, the name was changed back to Cocoa Krispies. Kellogg's has released variations of Cocoa Krispies such as "Cocoa Krispies Cereal Straws", "Cocoa Krispies Choconilla", and Chocos.
Other markets
The cereal is known as Choco Krispis in Mexico, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Honduras, Colombia, Guatemala, Panama, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina, Portugal, Spain, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.
It was introduced in the United Kingdom as Coco Pops in 1963, and is also known by that name in the Netherlands, Denmark, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Bulgaria, Ghana, Malta, New Zealand, Republic of Ireland, Finland, Italy, Greece, Sweden, Belgium, South Africa, Kenya, Uganda, Ukraine, Botswana, Hong Kong, Lebanon, Australia, Turkey and Republic of Korea and as Choco Pops in France. Later in the 1960s, the name was changed to Coco Krispies, but subsequently reverted to Coco Pops.
The cereal was available in Canada for a time, but was discontinued at some point in the early 1990s. Instead, Kellogg's sells a variant called Rice Krispies Cocoa, which is simply Rice Krispies with a light chocolate flavor. Several spin off cereals using the "Coco Pops" name, such as "Caramel Flavoured Coco Pops", "Coco Pops Crunchers", "Coco Chex", "Coco Rocks", "Coco Pops Straws", "Coco Pops Moon & Stars", "Coco Pops Choc-N-Roll" and "Coco Pops Croc Prints" (shaped like Crafty Croc's feet) have also been released by Kellogg's in some countries.
Chocos were introduced in some countries as "Coco Pops Mega Munchers". A chocolate flavor porridge variant had been available in the end of 2000s called Coco Pops Porridge, but didn't last long. Since 2014, they have been brought back.
United Kingdom
In February 1998, the British arm of Kellogg's renamed the brand in the country Choco Krispies, but sales quickly declined, and in the spring of 1999, telephone and internet poll with over one million voters found that 92% of voters wanted the name changed back to Coco Pops.
Thus, Kellogg's reverted to the original name in May 1999. The advertising campaign for the poll featured Screaming Lord Sutch as the returning officer in a town hall election setting.
Mascots
Cocoa Krispies first appeared in the United States in 1958, represented by a monkey named Jose. He was reportedly replaced by Coco the Elephant in 1960 when Mexican Americans complained about the ethnic stereotype. In 1963, the Hanna-Barbera character Snagglepuss took over as the mascot. Ogg the Caveman took over towards the end of 1967.
By the end of 1973, Tusk the Elephant became the mascot of the cereal, and he remained until the end of 1982, when Snap, Crackle and Pop (the mascots of Rice Krispies) replaced and retired Tusk the Elephant. In 1991, the mascot became Coco the Monkey. In 2001, Snap, Crackle, and Pop returned and they have remained the product's mascots to date.
The cereal was introduced in the United Kingdom under the "Coco Pops" name in 1961, with Mr. Jinks as the mascot. Later in the 1960s, Sweep (a dog hand puppet from the popular children's television programme The Sooty Show) became the mascot for Coco Pops.
In 1963, Coco the Monkey was introduced, and he remains the mascot in those countries where the cereal is known as Coco Pops and Choco Pops, and some others named Choco Krispies. In recent years, the design of Coco has been refined to give him a younger look. Coco's friends are Shortie Giraffe, Alan Anteater, Heftie Hippo, Ozmelda Ostrich, Kylie Kangaroo, and Rocky Raccoon, while Crafty Croc and the gorillas are his arch enemies.