There’s something a little twisted in commercials that feature edible characters.
Frosted Mini Wheats are a good example. The current one features them swimming in hot milk from the microwave. They’re happily talking with the kid that’s going to spoon them up, chew’em and swallow (off camera).
Another classic one is the M&M characters. Remember the one with the M&M desperately running on a conveyor belt? He doesn’t want to go over the checkout scanner. Only moments away from being eaten. He finally assumes as much dignity as possible, and scans himself.
Are there any other edible characters that you recall?
Goldfish crackers and Chips Ahoy! cookies have become anthropomorphic recently.
Commercials with the talking main product always disturb me. I just want to eat you, I don’t want to get to know you. I guess it’s cool that the mini-wheats are telling me what a great day I’ll have after eating him, but it would still creep me out.
Since I never really thought of cereal or candy as being alive, these never really freaked me out.
The ones that I found disturbing as a child and still somewhat creepy as an adult are the ones in which talking animals are desperately hoping to be slaughtered and packaged for consumption. Charlie the Tuna of old and the not-Foster Farms chickens of today come to mind, but I’m pretty sure there have been others.
Of course, Chick-Fil-A gets it right. It doesn’t make any sense for a chicken to want people to eat chicken, but it makes plenty of sense for a cow to want that.
Found an old Chiquita Banana commercial from the 1940’s that featured a sexy female singing banana. So, they’ve been doing this since the beginning.
I prefer non-edible characters. Snap, Crackle, Pop, The Keebler elves, and Capt Crunch are iconic cartoon spokesman that aren’t in the same food group they’re advertising.
Wasn’t there a commercial for one of the fast food joints (Burger King, maybe) a few years ago with an anthropomorphized potato extolling the virtues of their french fries, and then eating some?
Only a South African will understand why “I wanna be a Simba Chippie!” was disturbing…the animated spuds, I see them still in my dreams. Them and the McCains frozen peas.
I think you could make a case for there being two different situations here:
An animal, alive and sentient, that *wants *to be butchered and eaten makes no sense.
But a prepared item of food (a chocolate chip cookie or M&M, for instance) was created for the express *purpose *of being eaten. He might see it as fulfilling his destiny.
Only moments away from being eaten. He finally assumes as much dignity as possible, and scans himself. 
