• by Karlene Lukovitz  @KLmarketdaily, July 2, 2014

Grumpy Cat, already the spokesfeline for Friskies, is now also endorsing a cereal brand.

Actually, "endorsing" may be putting her contribution a bit strongly.

In a new 30-second TV spot for General Mills's Honey Nut Cheerios, from Saatchi & Saatchi, New York, the permanently dour-looking feline is pestered by the brand's perennially perky animated mascot, BuzzBee. 

Buzz insists that the very thought of Honey Nut Cheerios, so loved by humans of all ages, should evoke a smile from Grumpy -- who, via a screen message, informs the bee that she actually is smiling.

"Putting Grumpy Cat in an ad where BuzzBee is trying to get her to eat some, and showing that he's surprised she thinks she won't like it, is a nice way for us to land the message that it's the cereal that families can agree on as a great breakfast choice," said Gail Peterson, marketing associate director for Honey Nut Cheerios, on General Mills's blog.

"Whenever we're talking about BuzzBee, we're trying to find unique situations and people and things for him to interact with," she added. Grumpy Cat "appeals to everyone" and "lives predominantly in the digital and social spaces, so when you layer all of that together, she just seemed like a great fit for the message." 

Grumpy Cat is promoting the cereal TV spot on her own Twitter and Facebook accounts, currently showing 224,000 followers and  more than 5.9 million "likes," respectively.  

Grumpy, whose real name is "Tardar Sauce," won BuzzFeed's Meme of the Year Award last year, and will star in her own Lifetime movie later this year. According to her owner, she appears to be grumpy due to a combination of feline dwarfism and an underbite. Given what a goldmine she is, it appears unlikely that kitty orthodontia is in her future.