The original bear was designed by Robert "Bob" Irwin, a graphic designer for Post Cereal[citation needed] and voiced, in animated commercials, for 40 years by Gerry Matthews in emulation of a Bing Crosby or Dean Martin persona[3] – a shallow-eyed, easy going character who crooned his cereal's praises to the tune of "Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho".
Most of the characters in the series, sponsored by General Foods, were mascots for Post cereal products (permitted at that time, later banned by the American Federal Trade Commission (FTC)).
Examples include 1987 spots featuring Sugar Bear riding an elephant into a jungle of feisty tigers, playing matador to a raging bull, and sparring with irate sharks of the ocean.
His consistent nemesis was an elderly woman called Granny Goodwitch, with whom he engaged in elaborate contests, often involving trickery, magic, and high technology to decide who got a box of the cereal.
In 1971, producer Jimmy Bowen, singers Kim Carnes and Mike Settle, songwriter Baker Knight and others created a bubblegum pop studio group named the Sugar Bears.