Kelloggs Rice Krispies: Classic television commercial

Kelloggs Rice Krispies Commercial: A trip down memory lane

"No more Rice Krispies, w'eve run out of Rice Krispies." "My tears will not stop, until I hear snap, crackle pop." These words being sung to the tune of tenor aria "Vesti la giubba" from the opera Pagliacci are etched in the minds of those who recall the popular 1960s television commercial. Actor Johnny Haymer who portrayed Staff Seargent Zelmo Zale on M*A*S*H is the man with the operatic voice. On the long-running television series, Zale was an electrician and knew how to get the camp generator up and running after it went out. He also could get the jukebox pump out more tunes and had a long-standing feud with Corporal Maxwell Q Klinger (Jamie Farr).

Johnny Haymer: Television and film

The actor was born Haymer Lionel Flieg to Jewish immigrant parents in Saint Louis Missouri on January 19, 1920. He passed away from cancer on November 18, 1989, in Los Angeles. Haymer may be familiar to television viewers because he appeared in 20 episodes of M*A*S*H. His final appearance was during the episode "Good-Bye, Radar" when Gary Burghoff leaves Vietnam and returns home. Haymer also had a role in the hit movie Annie Hall and was a voice actor on cartoons like Transformers and Alvin & the Chipmunks.

His other credits between 1968 and 1987 include: The Secret Life of Harry Frigg, Evil Knevil, Logans Run, The Four Dueces, Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo, The Organization, Open House, And Justice for All, Real Life and American Hot Wax. His television appearances include The Facts of Life, The Golden Girls, Star Trek, All Our Yesterdays and It's A Miserable Life. The Rice Krispies commercial, however, will always be his "pias de resistance" as it is what Haymer is most famous for.

Kelloggs Rice Krispies Commercial: How it all began

The legendary ad agency Leo Burnett is responsible for the campaign that gave us the classic Rice Krispie Commercial. Their job was to remind cereal lovers just how delicious a bowl of "Snap, Crackle, Pop" really was. The commercial features a family seated at a breakfast table, where Haymer as the father, belts out a song like an opera singer and practically everyone in the world soon began singing along out loud.

Haymer is ready to eat only to find he has been handed an empty box of cereal. In unutterable dismay, the actor begins singing of his woes. I can recall my brothers and other neighborhood children belting out this song randomly then laughing. "No more Rice Krispies!"to the tune of the familiar opera song. I vaguely recall also seeing a clown somewhere singing the song in a commercial or television show in its original operatic version.

Kelloggs Rice Krispies: The mother-in-law

The fun part of the commercial is when Haymer's mother-in-law comes through the door singing the opera tune. She tells her son-in-law that she has brought enough Rice Krispies to last two months and he cries that this is her 15th visit this year. Many people say this ad is sheer genius and it was dubbed by MeTV as one of the best commercials ever. The Rice Krispies ad also has the distinction of being in the Advertising Hall of Fame.

I could find no record of the names of who portrayed the mother-in-law or the other actors in the commercial who portrayed the wife and children. Haymer married Helen Sylvia Graff in 1949 and they were together for 50 years, until his death in 1989. The couple had 3 children named Susan; James; and Rober.