Cap’n Controversy: Cap’n Crunch Not a Real Captain?!
Published at | Updated at
ABC News(NEW YORK) — Beloved cereal icon Cap’n Crunch is involved in a soggy controversy.
It turns out the so-called Cap’n is not actually a captain at all. By the looks of his uniform, he may only be a commander. (Gasp!)
An eagle-eyed cereal eater and blogger on Foodbeast.com first spotted that the spokes-pirate, whose full name is Cap’n Horatio Magellan Crunch, has only three stripes on his sleeve, which, in naval terms, means he is a commander, not a Cap’n. It takes four stripes to become a captain, which is one rank above commander.
The news led to outcry across social media this week with cereal fans decrying they were heartbroken over the offense, with some even calling the Cap’n a liar and a traitor on Twitter.
Like all true celebrities, the cereal-selling star took to Twitter to refute the allegations and defend his image.
“It’s the Crunch — not the clothes — that make a man,” @realcapncrunch tweeted.
“All hearsay and misunderstandings!” @realcapncrunch wrote. “I captain the S.S. Guppy with my crew, which makes me an official Cap’n.”
“So much fuss about my name. O, be some other name. What’s in a name? That which we call Cap’n Crunch, by any other name would taste as sweet.”
The beloved character debuted in commercials in the 1960s and has amassed a huge following through the years. PepsiCo, whose Quaker Oats division makes the cereal, announced in April that the Cap’n would host his own YouTube talk show, along with his sea dog side-kick, featuring comedy sketches and topical banter.
Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio