A veteran naval officer who has saluted from cereal boxes for 50 years - Cap'n Crunch - may not be a real captain after all.
The US Navy faced a flurry of questions after the culinary website Foodbeast pointed out the cereal seaman's blue uniform carried only three stripes - giving him the rank of an American naval commander.
The news came as a crushing disappointment to many fans of the avuncular seafarer, including the blogger who uncovered his lower rank, Charisma Madarang of Foodbeast.
"The cheery Santa Claus in blue Napoleon hat is really just a big, fat LIAR," Madarang wrote.
Forced to confront the controversy, the US Navy acknowledged Crunch was one stripe short of a captain.
"We have no record of a CAP'N or Captain Crunch serving in the US Navy," spokesman Lieutenant Commander Chris Servello said.
But he sought to downplay allegations Crunch was an imposter and said the word captain could be used in a more general sense.