Cinnamon Toast Crunch (CTC),[1] known as Croque-Cannelle in French Canada and Curiously Cinnamon in the UK (previously Cinnamon Grahams), and as a variant called Cini Minis in other European and Latin American countries, is a brand of breakfast cereal produced by General Mills and Nestlé. First produced in 1984,[2] the cereal aims to provide the taste of cinnamon toast in a crunch cereal format. The cereal consists of small squares or rectangles of wheat and rice covered with cinnamon and sugar. The cereal is puffed and when immersed in milk, it makes a "snap" noise, similar to Rice Krispies. In most European countries and North America, the product is sold in boxes. In Poland and Russia the cereal is sold in bags. The product was originally marketed outside Europe with the mascot of a jolly baker named Wendell. Wendell was replaced as a mascot by the "Crazy Squares", sentient Cinnamon Toast Crunch squares that often eat each other in commercials.Originally the cereal was plain squares but currently features cinnamon-colored swirling on each piece. It was invented by scientist John Mendesh and General Mills assistant product manager Elisabeth Trach after receiving the idea from an unnamed child in a "give us your best idea for a cereal" radio contest held by General Mills. The child received a set of Hot Wheels toys as a Grand Prize. Starting in 1985 there were three animated bakers as the mascots, one of which is named Wendell. The other two bakers, known as Bob and Quello, were considerably more youthful in appearance than Wendell. Eventually the younger bakers were dropped, leaving Wendell as the sole mascot for several years.The product was first introduced to the United Kingdom and Ireland in 1998 by Cereal Partners, as Cinnamon Toast Crunch, the same name as the popular North American cereal brand.[3] The name was later[when?] changed to Cinnamon Grahams, similar to Golden Grahams, another Nestlé product. The name was once again changed to its current name of Curiously Cinnamon produced by Cereal Partners under the Nestlé brand.[3] [Wikipedia]
