The Frosties Kid

Sven Ruygrok 

I don't remember where I heard about this. But the English call Frosted Flakes (formerly Sugar Frosted Flakes) "Frosties". And there was a British commercial some years ago that featured a young teen actor singing enthusiastically about it.



The commercial annoyed some people terribly. There were cruel rumors, that the young fellow in the ad was terminally ill and being in the commercial was his last wish, that he was so ashamed of his performance that he committed suicide by shoving pencils up his nose or that he was murdered while being robbed of the stuff he bought with the money he made. A lot of rumors about his dying. On YouTube there were several "funny" videos of English kids beating him to death in the street.

There was an interview last year with the actor, now in his 20s. That wasn't his voice in the commercial.

"I was 14 years old and auditioned for the advert with loads of other boys. I remember the casting being really weird. They asked me to imagine all sorts of things and be all sorts of things, like pretending to be a dragon, a ballerina and acting like an imaginary crate was exploding in front of me."

He was South African. The rumors didn't affect him. "I was 14. I wanted to be outside and play. I was more concerned about pimples and hormones ruining my life than a commercial, but I do vividly remember my parents being affected by it. I mean, what would you do as a parent if your child's name was being thrown around the internet like a rag doll under a truck by people who have never met them?"

If I had been a twelve-year-old Briton when that commercial came out, I imagine I would have clambered onto the bandwagon of cruelty attacking that poor boy. At least I would have gleefully repeated any rumors I heard around whatever horrible English school I would have attended. Also, I would have secretly liked the commercial.