Representational Cereal

[urbpan]

I'm eating Boo Berry cereal, and it occurs to me that there are marshmallow bits in the shape of something, and I never thought to check what they are. This is my last bowl of it, and I don't think I'm going to buy another box, as I bought it basically on a whim. How can eat something and not know what it represents?! (this is probably not a problem for most people, but it really bothers me)

After a moment of staring into my bowl I realize that the marshmallow bits represent the three main Monster Cereals: bluish blobs for Boo Berry, Pink lobed heads for Frankenberry, and purple bats for Count Chocula. (The actual cereal itself is shaped like Pac Man ghosts.) I then think about these characters. Boo Berry is a ghost--cuddly with stoned eyes, wearing a hat and bowtie, and flavored like blueberry--but a ghost nonetheless, the spirit one who has departed the earthly coil. Frankenberry, we must assume, is a strawberry flavored monster made of reanimated corpses. And of course Count Chocula (famous for being the cereal most resembling Mr. Burns) is a cocoa flavored vampire, cursed to a living death as a nocturnal blood sucker who turns milk chocolatey.

(note to my brother and others: Shut up about the werewolf. 1. I've never seen the cereal, 2. It doesn't fit in with my point) ((the mummy probably does fit in, but I haven't seen that one either))

Are these the only group of cereals with mascots that are the living dead of one form or another? (If Mr. T dies, will Mr. T cereal count? and will the value of the boxes skyrocket?)

The infantilization of halloween icons has meant for some fascinating characters. The Count, from Sesame Street comes to mind--does he feed on the blood of monsters that have been lured to the castle and hypnotized by his obsessive counting? (For a very nice cross between the Munsters/Addams Family and Peanuts, see Steven Weissman's "Yikes," and other comics.)

My fascination has some distance to it, because even though I like horror movies, I don't much care for ghost and vampire horror. I prefer mutant and monster animals and robots. Zombies are pretty good, because they are kind of mutant/monster animal/robots.

Are there any zombie cereals (besides Frankenberry)? Robot cereals? Mutant animal cereals? Does Tony the Tiger count? Should I go back to writing about Urban Nature (don't worry, there are only four more months of winter, then I'll be out there taking pictures of bugs and weeds again!)

Comments

[kryptyd.livejournal.com]

Man, I thought Irish cereals were gross, but these things sound dreadful! And I don't mean the death imagery, just all those marshmallows and chocolate in the one cereal! And you're an adult eating them!

There's a whole range of monster cereals from the cheapo supermarket where we shop that my boyfriend eats. They're all different sorts of hairy, big eyed monsters, only distinguisable by their different-coloured fur. Oh yeah, and one's a girl monster. You can tell by the eyelashes. No vampires though, as far as I'm aware.

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

Most of our cereals are frosting or chocolate covered, with marshmallow bits. I bought it on impulse--it tastes pretty good, but it gives me that weird blood sugar/adrenaline feeliong that makes me need to lay down. I prefer Meuslix (with dates, not raisins, please) but it costs 6 bucks for a tiny box.

I'd love to see pictures of Irish monster cereals!

[kryptyd.livejournal.com]

Well, they wouldn't be Irish cos we shop in the cheapo German supermarket.

Drat! There are none online!
Just this:

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

"Benefit Flakes?" that's terrible! Bob Geldof should be on the box!

Cheapo German supermarket? In Ireland? The world is a weirder place than I thought!

[badnoodles.livejournal.com]

Well, most of our cereals aimed at children. Adult cereals tend to be marketed on fiber content, ability to make you lose weight, or the possibility of containing dessicated fruit bits to distract you from the fact that bran flakes taste like cardboard. There's also bizarre, utterly indigestible products like Grape Nuts, which has the texture of wet cement and sits in your stomach like a rock.

Children's cereals contain the maximum amount of sugar and artificial colors that can sneak past parental radar. (somewhat decreased from the heyday of the 1980s, as I can tell.) Out of this category, hands down, there's no competition for Reese's Puffs, which contains nothing approaching nutrition. It's candy masquerading as breakfast.