Sumith Prasad
In the second episode of Netflix’s sitcom ‘The Vince Staples Show,’ Vince Staples goes to a bank seeking a loan to launch his breakfast cereal brand called “Kapow! Pops.” He describes the cereal as a sugar-free choice for consumers who want a healthy alternative to the several brands currently in the market. Even though the manager dismisses the rapper’s proposal, Vince eventually launches the product as the final scene of the series depicts. In reality, Vince never launched a breakfast cereal. The product is more or less a tribute to one of the iconic scenes his inspiration Quentin Tarantino made!
The Inspiration Behind Kapow! Pops
The “Kapow! Pops” cereal is a fictional product that can be seen as a tribute to Quentin Tarantino. In the latter’s famed martial arts film ‘Kill Bill: Volume 1,’ Vernita Green uses a gun hidden inside a Kaboom cereal box to kill The Bride. The advertisement of Kapow! Pops is similar to the way Vernita shoots at The Bride using the cereal box. The similarity in the names of the two cereals is unignorable as well. The scene in ‘Kill Bill: Volume 1’ ends with Vernita’s child encountering The Bride after the latter killed his mother.
Likewise, ‘The Vince Staples Show’ ends with White Boy’s son watching Vince Staples, the murderer of his father, drawing an imaginary gun in the commercial of Kapow! Pops. Vince has been vocal about Tarantino’s influence on him. “I got older and got into the Coen Brothers and [Quentin] Tarantino,” he told Men’s Health. Kapow! Pops appears similar to Kaboom, which was originated in 1969 and produced by General Mills, the company which also produces Cheerios, Wheaties, Chex, Lucky Charms, Trix, and Cocoa Puffs. The product was discontinued in 2010.
Kapow! Pops by Vince, a rapper, also reminds us of Snoop Cereal, a breakfast cereal brand launched by legendary rappers Calvin “Snoop Dogg” Broadus and Percy “Master P” Miller in association with Post Consumer Brands. “We want to make sure kids and kids at heart can have a champion’s breakfast. Our motto is the more we make the more we give,” Master P shared in a statement while launching the brand. His words can be paralleled with what Vince tells the bank manager while seeking a loan.
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