Mighty Boosh fans in Puffs protest

It’s a story that sounds like a surreal plot from The Mighty Boosh, but it’s actually happening in real life.

Fans of the cult comedy show have reacted angrily to a TV advert for Sugar Puffs that shows the Honey Monster and a friend performing a rap-style musical routine that, they claim, bears a close resemblance to the "crimping" duets made famous by the two stars of the show, Julian Barrett and Noel Fielding.

Several Facebook groups have been created for fans to share their outrage, the biggest being 'The Honey Monster Crimping! This is an outrage!' which has 72 members.

Mighty Boosh fans on Bebo have also set up campaigns against it. One member of the group SugarPuffsMakeUsSick wrote: "The Honey monster guy can stick his golden pockets of honey where the sun doesn’t shine. Outrage."

Fans on Mighty Boosh message boards are also furious. One member of the forum at www.boosh.proboards53.com said: "I wanna smash Honey Monster into the ground like a blonde tent-peg."

However, some Boosh fans like the advert. Laura, writing on Web User's Seen This blog, said: "I'm a massive Boosh fan, and crimping is the best part of the show. I know them all by heart, and I'm determined to learn this! I think it's brilliant. I sat there with my mouth wide open, in pure awe of the advert. It's ace, well done honey monster! more adverts like this pleeease."

It seems that Barrett and Fielding, who play Howard Moon and Vince Noir respectively, are just as upset as their fans. According to reports today, the duo are planning to take legal action to get the advert removed.

Advertising agency Bray Leino created the advert, describing it as a "bizarrely comical musical ritual". It said it was unable to comment on the Boosh fans' claims. A spokesman for the agency said: "As we only created the ad for Sugar Puffs we feel they should be given the chance to answer them as it is their brand that is in the spotlight."

However, HM Foods, which makes Sugar Puffs, refused to comment about the similarities between the advert and "crimping".

Click here to watch the Sugar Puffs advert and clips from The Mighty Boosh to see how closely they resemble each other.

The "lyrics" to the Sugar Puffs advert
Sugar Puffs, Sugar Puffs HUP!
Honey coated puffs in a milky bath
Put ‘em in your mouth and they make you laugh
Kept in the cupboard taken out for breakfast
Spoon’s best friend and the fridge’s favourite
Huff! Puff! Huff-puff!
Huff! Puff! Huff-puff!
Wheaty chums that settle in transit
Golden pips of a sunshine princess

www.honeymonster.co.uk/blog
www.hmfoods.co.uk
www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/mightyboosh/clips