Comments on: What does 'LCM' stand for in Kellogg's LCMs?

Question: What does 'LCM' stand for in Kellogg's LCMs?

obiwanwasabi — Sun, 23 Jul 2006 03:34:02 -0800

Australia has its own version of Rice Krispie Squares - Kellogg's LCMs®. What does LCM stand for?

By: tellurian

tellurian — Sun, 23 Jul 2006 03:51:35 -0800

You weirdo. I LOVE YOU. I never thought about this but NOW I WANT TO KNOW TOO.

By: b33j

b33j — Sun, 23 Jul 2006 04:01:16 -0800

I'm pretty sure that the CM bit stands for Cereal & Milk - as per here.

By: rob511

rob511 — Sun, 23 Jul 2006 04:03:41 -0800

Light crispy morsels?
Liquid crystal meth?
Least common multiple?

Also known hereabouts as "honey bubbles," which would make a fine drag name....

By: carson

carson — Sun, 23 Jul 2006 04:07:15 -0800

Maybe it doesn't stand for anything. See their promotion.

By: cholly

cholly — Sun, 23 Jul 2006 04:08:58 -0800

I'm in agreeance with tellurian, I have thought it on many occasions, but come up with nothing! Someone in the MeFi world must know!

By: singingfish

singingfish — Sun, 23 Jul 2006 04:16:51 -0800

Given the exceptionally sugar content and the corrosive effect that this can have on children's behaviour I always assumed that it stood for Little C$%ts Munchies

By: SemiSophos

SemiSophos — Sun, 23 Jul 2006 05:00:28 -0800

The Australian Navy seems to define LCM as a Mechanized Landing Craft. That has to be a start. Little, sugary landing crafts, headed straight for your sweet tooth.

On a more relevant note, it seems that the full product names are "LCMs Coco Pops Kaledios," "LCMs Rice Bubbles," "LCMs Rice Bubbles Choc Chip," and "LCMs Rice Bubbles Honeycomb Bits," which sounds like it could be a separate quasi-brand they run those products under, in which case the LCMs may not be descriptive of the product.

By: Jimbob

Jimbob — Sun, 23 Jul 2006 05:13:15 -0800

I would bet my left testicle that on the side of a packet of LCMs will be a Consumer Information Hotline number. These are great ways to keep bored call centre staff amused as well as discovering things like what "LCM" stands for.

Ooh, here it is: 1800 000 474

Pour yourself another scotch and give them a call.

By: Gator

Gator — Sun, 23 Jul 2006 05:13:28 -0800

When you search the Australian trademark database for LCMs, the entry doesn't yield any clues either. (However, you'll note that there are a couple of other Kellogg's things branded LCMs, like LCMs Shakes, so it isn't just a Rice Krispies thing.) I saw that promotion that carson linked to as well; your best bet for an answer, if there even is one, would probably be to contact Kellogg's. Give 'em a call and ask!

By: merv

merv — Sun, 23 Jul 2006 05:24:20 -0800

Light Cereal Meal ?

By: po

po — Sun, 23 Jul 2006 05:32:26 -0800

In asking the native Aussies I know, I got these and other similar responses:

Me: What does LCM's stand for?
Aus: Lowest Common Multiple. Why do you ask?
Me: (links to it)
Aus: Oh, that shit. Yeah.

and....

Me: (link) Wtf does LCM stand for?
Aus: Liquid Coolant... Moo?

and...

Aus: yeah I remember pondering it briefly once.
Then I decided that it was a government conspiracy.
They are delicious though.

So apparently they don't know either. ;)

By: web-goddess

web-goddess — Sun, 23 Jul 2006 06:01:29 -0800

My Aussie husband says "nobody knows," but he's pretty sure he's heard that the C and M stand for "cereal and milk."

By: PuGZ

PuGZ — Sun, 23 Jul 2006 06:07:44 -0800

It's true. I'm an Australian in Year 11 (the junior year of highschool, if I know my American terminology) and we discussed this very issue in class on Friday.

The only we could agree on is that someone in the marketing department at Kellogg's had one hell of an acid trip.

By: PuGZ

PuGZ — Sun, 23 Jul 2006 06:08:09 -0800

The only point we could agree on.*

By: disillusioned

disillusioned — Sun, 23 Jul 2006 06:08:58 -0800

Wow, that's creeping me out. And making me remember Rice Krispie Treats cereal.

Because they're crisps of rice. Not "rice bubbles." What the hell are LCMs? Oi.

By: davidmsc

davidmsc — Sun, 23 Jul 2006 07:22:02 -0800

Marge: I'd like some LCMs.
Bartender: Beer it is!
Marge: No, I'd like some L - C - Ms.
Bartender: BE - ER.

And so on.

By: danb

danb — Sun, 23 Jul 2006 07:34:32 -0800

Possibly related factoid: in 1994, the College Board announced that "SAT" does not stand for anything anymore (it previously stood for Scholastic Achievement Test, Scholastic Aptitude Test, and Scholastic Assessment Test).

So, it's possible that LCM is another non-initialism.

By: jacalata

jacalata — Sun, 23 Jul 2006 07:39:30 -0800

Just to point out to all those who are making the effort to ask a real Aussie they know, or translate their answers to US terminology: the asker lives in Canberra. He's an Aussie. He understands 'high school', and he knows other real live Aussies, if he wants random opinions.

grumbles about how US-centric everyone is: even the fucking aussies assume everyone else online is an american!

By: po

po — Sun, 23 Jul 2006 07:49:38 -0800

jacalata, I don't think I so much assumed that the OP was American as I figured I'd have a better chance in asking people who had actually seen the products and knew what they were, since Google-fu fails us, and I'd never heard of this phenomenon of marketing until this morning. Perhaps I should have asked some of the European contingent. They'd know. :)

By: Steven C. Den Beste

Steven C. Den Beste — Sun, 23 Jul 2006 08:09:52 -0800

How about "Leucine Carboxyl Methyltransferase"? (Yum!)

What you're looking for might be in this list somewhere, or here, but I didn't spot anything helpful.

By: mysterpigg

mysterpigg — Sun, 23 Jul 2006 10:16:40 -0800

Well, for the record, it's Trademark 787823 in the Australian Trademark Database.

There have also been contests for kids to put in their best guess as to meaning. My favorite from that page is Looney Chocolate Monkeys.

/I got nothing.

By: Gator

Gator — Sun, 23 Jul 2006 10:26:19 -0800

Way to read the other comments first, dude.

By: dantodd

dantodd — Sun, 23 Jul 2006 12:30:51 -0800

I thought I had figured this out some time ago, but for the life of me, I can't remember any more than M standing for marshmellow. Itis melted marshmellow that holds the rice bubbles together.

Liquid Copha & Marshmellow, perhaps?

By: MegoSteve

MegoSteve — Sun, 23 Jul 2006 12:34:44 -0800

That's funny. A friend of mine from Australia just sent me a bunch of Superman-related Kellogg's packaging for my Superman collection, and I was just wondering about this the other day when I posted pictures of them all on my web site. I also don't understand why they are Rice Bubbles in Australia and Rice Krispies here in the U.S.

By: PuGZ

PuGZ — Sun, 23 Jul 2006 13:19:56 -0800

jacalata, as you're referring to my post I'll make a point of knowing where the OP lives, but I threw in the explanation for anyone outside of Australia -- they'd have to be pretty dense in the first place to fulfil that criteria! *runs*

By: slightlybewildered

slightlybewildered — Sun, 23 Jul 2006 14:24:39 -0800

I'd bet on "lunchbox cereal & milk".
I tried ringing the NZ helpline but they don't open till 11am (slack!)
I will try later!

By: slightlybewildered

slightlybewildered — Sun, 23 Jul 2006 16:02:32 -0800

OK, I rang the helpline, and spoke to an Australian lady.
She says she gets asked all the time.
Her answer: "It doesn't stand for anything. It's just a marketing name"

By: UbuRoivas

UbuRoivas — Sun, 23 Jul 2006 16:24:06 -0800

Yeah, just a marketing name, I think. The advertising tagline is (or was?) an equally nonsensical "oldies just don't get it", which I assumed meant that the marketers were trying to generate a sense of a cliquey in-joke or secret amongst the kids as to what LCM stands for - a kind of brand loyalty buy-in, if you like.

By: tellurian

tellurian — Sun, 23 Jul 2006 16:29:58 -0800

Confirmed. I just called them (Sydney) and was told it doesn't stand for anything.

By: Ritchie

Ritchie — Sun, 23 Jul 2006 18:59:49 -0800

One of my co-workers advises that in the original TV commercials, LCM stood for Little Children's Meals.

By: jacalata

jacalata — Sun, 23 Jul 2006 19:02:25 -0800

Sorry, that was pretty snarky of me before.

By: Jubey

Jubey — Sun, 23 Jul 2006 19:28:37 -0800

I have worked on their marketing. It stands for nothing. Trust me, it was the first thing I asked too.

By: flabdablet

flabdablet — Sun, 23 Jul 2006 20:13:08 -0800

It's a viral thing. Let's Co-opt Metafilter.

By: taita_cakes

taita_cakes — Sun, 23 Jul 2006 23:56:30 -0800

Because of the incredibly shitty logo, we used to always know them as "ICMs" at our schools. I only knew until I saw the ad on tv.

By: Jon Mitchell

Jon Mitchell — Mon, 24 Jul 2006 00:12:23 -0800

Well, maybe it doesn't officially stand for anything now, but it MUST have stood for something once, and for some reason they don't want to admit it now....I must know!

By: goshling

goshling — Mon, 24 Jul 2006 08:00:24 -0800

My brain convinced myself that LCM comes from the Coco Pops "Like a Chocolate Milkshake". I suspect I'm just making that up though.