Count Chocula is a Chocolate-loving vampire mascot for General Mill's cereal of the same name, that was first launched in March 1971. He often gets into fights with Frankenberry on whoever's cereal is better, same for Boo Berry and Fruit Brute. He is based on Bela Legosi's famous take on Count Dracula from 1931.
Copyright Status[]
The original 1971 commercial for Count Chocula and Frankenberry as well as the later commercials of Boo Berry and Fruit Brute were published without copyright notices, Making them public domain when they first aired. Which were required for pre-recorded programs on TV (including commercials) until at least 1981 when notices were no longer required for commercials and pre-recorded media to gain protection and were only required on the master tapes. The original cereal boxes also contained no notices and are considered the first published appearance of the characters since they are considered printed material.
"Count Chocula", "Boo Berry", "Fruit Brute", and "Frankenberry" are trademarked still by General Mills, so they can only be used within a story and not to promote a unrelated brand. Carmella Creeper, a character created much later in 2023 is also still under copyright alongside Fruity Yummy Mummy, whose first appearance is after the 1981 rule change.
See Also[]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glF41GKuQD8 (The first commercial with no notice)