Cheerios Kid and Sue

Excerpted from our debut appearance in AdAge!

Brace yourself adland: The Jolly Green Giant and Cheerios Kid are on the comeback trail.

General Mills is resurrecting the classic characters in two new ad campaigns debuting Monday that will make a nostalgic appeal to convince consumers of the health benefits of the iconic cereal and vegetable brands.

While less known, (than the Green Giant) the animated Cheerios Kid was famous in his day, appearing in TV ads in the 1950s and 1960s, encouraging kids to "connect the 'Big G to the Little O' to get the 'Go' power of Cheerios." In the new campaign he will speak to nostalgic Baby Boomers in an online video in which he gives a scientific explanation to longtime sidekick Sue about how eating Cheerios can "help naturally remove some cholesterol from the body." The spot (below) will initially run on YouTube, Facebook and WebMD.

"He was a very powerful character in his day," said Meredith Tutterow, associate marketing director for Cheerios. "So we thought wouldn't it be fun to get the Cheerios Kid to help educate these friends of his from 30 years ago, now all grown up, and help teach them about how Cheerios can help lower cholesterol."

General Mills made the Giant TV ad in-house, while Story Worldwide is handling digital and PR is by Olson. The Cheerios video was handled by Pat-Man Studios. The creative agency for both brands is Saatchi & Saatchi.

Both campaigns are an example of how iconic brands -- from Starkists' Charlie the Tuna to Alka-Seltzer's baby-faced Speedy -- are bringing back old characters in new ways, often using digital media create rich storylines not possible in the past.

The Cheerios Kid's return comes as the yellow-boxed brand seeks to renew its emotional connection with consumers. The brand's main campaign, which debuted this summer on TV, revives the 'One and Only Cheerios' jingle that was rewritten and sung by Bess Rogers, whose version was picked from more than 80 entries.

The song is meant to recapture the notion that "Cheerios are part of so many special moments," said Ms. Tutterow, noting that she, like many mothers, fed her children the cereal when they were babies. "There's something very precious for moms about that first food moment."

The Cheerios' Kid spot sticks to a more functional message of cholesterol health. While the brand has been pushing that message for a while, the spot seeks to explain the science behind it because consumers "didn't really know how it worked," Ms. Tutterow said.