Quisp vs. Quake: How did the voting take place?
July 30, 2010 2:48 PM   Subscribe

How did Quaker tally the votes in the great Quisp vs Quake cereal war?

In the 1960s and 1970s, Quaker made two very similar cereals -- Quisp (mascot a cute alien with a beanie) and Quake (mascot a muscly miner). They decided to eliminate one and held a vote, which Quisp, being so cute, won in a landslide. But does anyone remember how they held the vote? Did we cut a ballot off the box and mail it in? Was there a phone number to call? No Internet voting on those days and I was just a little too young to remember...
posted by GaelFC to Food & Drink (9 answers total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
Best answer: Googling around, people seem to remember there was a ballot on or in the box that you had to mail in. I couldn't find any photos of the ballot.
posted by inturnaround at 2:52 PM on July 30, 2010


Best answer: There was definitely a ballot -- I mailed mine in -- but I don't remember if it was ON the box or IN the box.
posted by JanetLand at 2:54 PM on July 30, 2010


Best answer: Not a definitive answer, but a commenter on this YouTube video said: I remember voting in the Quisp vs. Quake election around 1970. You got a ballot on the cereal box and mailed it in. I voted for Quake.
posted by amyms at 3:02 PM on July 30, 2010


Another commenter on the same video said: PEOPLE...Quake was only a PROMOTIONAL Cereal intended to create a fake rivalry to drum up sales. Quisp was the real cereal and after a couple of years they discontinued Quake as planned (and yes, it was the same exact flavor)

posted by amyms at 3:04 PM on July 30, 2010


Best answer: Here's an excerpt from a humorous story by someone who remembers having to send in a proof of purchase along with the ballot: I whined at my mother to purchase boxes of Quake so that I could fill out an official ballot and mail it in, along with a proof of purchase seal for authentification...
posted by amyms at 3:17 PM on July 30, 2010


Here's a pic of a Quisp box with the "Vote Quake Out Of Business!" on the front, but I can't find a ballot pic.
posted by amyms at 3:32 PM on July 30, 2010


Man, this brings back some sugar-coated memories. I think I voted for Quisp though I had moved on to Sugar Frosted Flakes by then.
posted by tommasz at 4:03 PM on July 30, 2010


Best answer: The ballot was printed on the back of the box. You clipped it out and mailed it in.
posted by briank at 4:56 PM on July 30, 2010


Yes the ballot was on the back of the box. I tried to find a pic of the ballot, too, but also failed (I guess they all got mailed in?). Here is a pic of the proof of purchase seal.
posted by trip and a half at 8:58 AM on July 31, 2010


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