Happy 50th Anniversary To Count Chocula And Frankenberry!

I just found out that General Mills' Count Chocula and Franken Berry cereals debuted a whopping fifty years ago, back in 1971! FIFTY YEARS! Holy crap! And I can still remember seeing them on store shelves for the first time. 

Now excuse me while I go look for my rheumatiz medicine.

The two cereals were introduced in March of 1971, and were an immediate hit. This was no doubt due to the incessant commercials featuring the two characters, in which they'd typically argue over which cereal was best, until these alleged "monsters" would become frightened by a child or something equally innocent.

Franken Berry caused a bit of a controversy in 1972, when it was discovered that the pigment used in the cereal turned human feces a bright pink— which quite rightly alarmed mothers nationwide. The recipe was quickly altered, and cases of "Franken Berry Stool" disappeared.

In December of 1973, the line was expanded to include Boo Berry, a blueberry flavored featuring a ghost mascot. In 1974 Fruit Brute debuted, whose mascot was a werewolf. Fruit Brute was discontinued in 1982, and replaced by Yummy Mummy. It was the exact same cereal & flavor, just with a different shape and spokes-monster.

Starting in 2010, the various monster cereals have only been released around Halloween. This year General Mills is supposedly commemorating the anniversary of the original cereals with a new one called Monster Mash, which is supposedly an amalgam of all of them (whatever that means).

If I'm being honest, I never much cared for any of these cereals. I'm not a big fan of marshmallows, especially after they become soggy from soaking in milk. But I was a fan of the fun character designs, and always enjoyed looking at those. I just wish they were hawking a product that wasn't so unappealing!

Monster Cereals Are Back!

This Fall Target's bringing scary back! Just in time for Halloween, they're releasing ALL the General Mills Nonster Cereals in special retro packaging!

As a graphic designer it's great to see these old-school designs back on the shelves. Makes me feel like a kid again.

Actually I never ate these cereals very often. I've always liked the characters more than I ever liked the actual cereal. Something about the way the marshmallow bits got all slimy when coated with milk was very off-putting to me.

Target didn't just bring back the main triumvirate of Monster Cereals, no-siree! Hold onto something-- they're bringing back two old discontinued favorites: Fruit Brute and Yummy Mummy! Can you believe it?

Fruit Brute left store shelves way back in 1982, but it's making its triumphant return this fall! At long last you'll finally be able to accurately recreate your Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction cosplay outfits.

Yummy Mummy's back as well! It hasn't been seen on store shelves since it was discontinued in 1992. Finally you'll be able to relive the night you sat shoveling spoonfuls of Yummy Mummy into your mouth while you watched Marissa Tomei win the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for My Cousin Vinny!

I'm glad Target is releasing the original package designs instead of the new over-rendered, faux 3D abominations. Look at those god awful things! Just glancing at them gives me a headache. Only a Philistine would prefer those versions.

These old school retro Monster Cereals are available for a limited time at Target. By the way, for those of you who are wondering, these are just reproductions of the original boxes. They're not thirty year old boxes of cereal that Target found in an abandoned warehouse they acquired in a buyout. At least I don't think they'd try something like that... no, I'm sure it's all brand new. Yes, pretty sure. Reasonably sure. You know what, you might want to check the expiration date, just to be safe.