WEBVTT - Why are we so Nostalgic for Sugary Breakfast Cereals? 0:00:00.040 --> 0:00:02.559 Guess what will what's that mango? So at our first 0:00:02.560 --> 0:00:04.960 week in college, I remember being in line for breakfast 0:00:04.960 --> 0:00:07.720 and and there was just this wall of amazing breakfast 0:00:07.720 --> 0:00:11.640 cereals and we were, of course away from our parents 0:00:11.720 --> 0:00:15.280 for the first time and being independent and responsible, and 0:00:15.680 --> 0:00:19.000 so I piled my bowl high with Lucky Charms. I mean, 0:00:19.400 --> 0:00:21.400 I think it was Lucky Charles, but whatever was the 0:00:21.440 --> 0:00:23.680 most nutritious cereal out there. I love that when you 0:00:23.680 --> 0:00:26.439 were finally like free from the overside of your parents, 0:00:26.480 --> 0:00:28.560 like that was the first thing you did to express 0:00:28.600 --> 0:00:30.640 your freedom, was like, get a big bowl of cereal. 0:00:30.680 --> 0:00:34.400 But yes, I do remember that big, awesome wall of cereal. Yeah, 0:00:34.400 --> 0:00:36.479 and the people we were with started making fun of 0:00:36.479 --> 0:00:39.920 me for eating a kid cereal instead of musically or whatever. 0:00:40.040 --> 0:00:43.640 And and right then the star basketball recruit Eldon Brand 0:00:43.680 --> 0:00:45.880 walked up and got a bowl of the same thing, 0:00:46.200 --> 0:00:48.640 and it was just pure silent and I felt like 0:00:48.760 --> 0:00:51.440 such a trend setter. And I remember that that's when 0:00:51.479 --> 0:00:54.960 you became the most popular kid on campus. And not 0:00:55.040 --> 0:00:57.600 really but part of the reason I love breakfast cereals 0:00:57.680 --> 0:00:59.720 so much. And you know, we used to have big 0:00:59.760 --> 0:01:01.960 cereal parties that metal flaws where everyone would bring a 0:01:01.960 --> 0:01:04.880 box in their favorite cereal. But uh, there's just such 0:01:04.880 --> 0:01:09.080 a wonderful association with childhood and Saturday Morning cartoons, and 0:01:09.400 --> 0:01:12.080 that's actually why we're talking about cereal today. Let's dig 0:01:12.080 --> 0:01:34.560 in Ada. Their podcast listeners, Welcome to parts I'm genius, 0:01:34.560 --> 0:01:36.720 I'm Will Pearson and as always I'm joined by my 0:01:36.760 --> 0:01:39.240 good friend man Gesh Ticketer and the man on the 0:01:39.240 --> 0:01:42.160 other side of the soundproof glass eating a big bowl 0:01:42.200 --> 0:01:45.160 of frosted many weeks good choice today as our producer 0:01:45.240 --> 0:01:48.440 Tristan McNeil. But today we're heading back to the grocery 0:01:48.440 --> 0:01:51.400 all for a closer look at all things cereal, you know, 0:01:51.480 --> 0:01:55.240 the most whimsical or nutritionally questionable at all of this, 0:01:55.400 --> 0:01:58.240 at every part of a complete breakfast. And so we'll 0:01:58.240 --> 0:02:01.080 dig into the weird stories and so rising facts behind 0:02:01.080 --> 0:02:03.440 our favorite brands, as well as a few of the 0:02:03.800 --> 0:02:06.720 lesser known breakfast cereals that time forgot. And then a 0:02:06.760 --> 0:02:09.079 little bit later we'll be joined by Gave Fonseca. He's 0:02:09.080 --> 0:02:11.520 a TV writer and he spent more than a decade 0:02:11.560 --> 0:02:15.360 collecting childhood nostalgia in the form of vintage cereal boxes. 0:02:15.440 --> 0:02:18.240 It's a fascinating collection. Yeah, and he's also the host 0:02:18.320 --> 0:02:21.560 of this really fun YouTube series called cereal Time, which 0:02:21.600 --> 0:02:24.560 is the series on the subject of breakfast cereal. I mean, 0:02:24.560 --> 0:02:25.880 he's been doing it for a couple of years now, 0:02:25.880 --> 0:02:29.120 so I'm super excited to just hear how he got started. Yeah. Well, well, 0:02:29.120 --> 0:02:32.040 Gabs among the most devout of serial enthusiasts, but he's 0:02:32.120 --> 0:02:34.760 definitely not alone in this. I mean, lots of people 0:02:34.919 --> 0:02:38.040 love cereals, and in the hundred and fifty plus years 0:02:38.040 --> 0:02:40.840 since it came onto the market, cold breakfast cereal has 0:02:40.840 --> 0:02:44.000 become a staple for millions of people around the world. 0:02:44.040 --> 0:02:46.560 And you know, strangely, this love affair got its start 0:02:46.600 --> 0:02:49.800 in the late nineteenth century kind of as an accident. 0:02:49.880 --> 0:02:52.320 You know. It was this invention of fundamentalist Christians who 0:02:52.360 --> 0:02:55.880 were seeking to promote a healthy, sin free lifestyle. And 0:02:56.240 --> 0:02:58.440 much of this is you know, stories that people have heard, 0:02:58.440 --> 0:03:01.520 but it's still pretty interesting that the bland foods, as 0:03:01.560 --> 0:03:03.920 you know, like toasted corn and oats, where they were 0:03:03.960 --> 0:03:07.600 thought to help suppress sexual urges and prevent arousal. And 0:03:07.720 --> 0:03:10.240 so this thinking led to the creation of a few 0:03:10.280 --> 0:03:13.960 notable foods, including Graham crackers of course, but the one 0:03:14.000 --> 0:03:16.600 that really caught on what the public was sereal. So 0:03:16.720 --> 0:03:19.960 Dr John Harvey Kellogg, the superintendent of a sanitarium in 0:03:20.000 --> 0:03:23.359 Battle Creek, Michigan, and his younger brother, Well, they stumbled 0:03:23.400 --> 0:03:26.560 upon the recipe for what would ultimately become corn flakes. 0:03:27.080 --> 0:03:29.079 After allowing some of the cooked wheat to sit out 0:03:29.120 --> 0:03:32.000 for too long, the Kellogg's returned to find the wheat 0:03:32.000 --> 0:03:34.720 had gone stale, but rather than toss it out as 0:03:34.760 --> 0:03:36.720 you might think they would, they decided to roll it 0:03:36.760 --> 0:03:39.720 out into thin flakes and then toast them. And the 0:03:39.800 --> 0:03:42.280 corn flakes were a big hit with their patients, so 0:03:42.320 --> 0:03:45.760 the Kelloggs decided to start marketing them to a broader public. Yeah, 0:03:45.760 --> 0:03:48.480 and as interesting as that early history is, it's pretty 0:03:48.520 --> 0:03:51.000 familiar by this point. So instead of going deep on 0:03:51.080 --> 0:03:55.440 sanitariums and grape nuts, we're gonna focus mostly on the 0:03:55.480 --> 0:03:58.040 second act of the serial story. That's the period from 0:03:58.040 --> 0:04:00.880 about ninety to the early nine is when marketing to 0:04:01.000 --> 0:04:04.480 children really took off and sugary cereals really began flooding 0:04:04.520 --> 0:04:08.280 grocery store aisles. Well, before we dive into that colorful history, 0:04:08.320 --> 0:04:10.080 I thought we could take a quick look at the 0:04:10.120 --> 0:04:12.880 state of cereal today, you know, just by the numbers, 0:04:12.920 --> 0:04:15.960 and it's amazing how far cereal has come from its 0:04:15.960 --> 0:04:19.400 early years as this niche product to the mammoth industry 0:04:19.400 --> 0:04:22.040 that it is now. So just looking at the US 0:04:22.160 --> 0:04:25.880 market alone, the breakfast cereal industry now generates nearly ten 0:04:26.040 --> 0:04:29.039 billion dollars in annual revenue. And that that's according to 0:04:29.200 --> 0:04:33.880 mord Or Intelligence. Did you say word or intelligent like 0:04:33.960 --> 0:04:36.880 a hobbit? It's kind of a jarring name if you're 0:04:36.880 --> 0:04:40.040 a Lord of the rings fan. But it's just the coincidence, unfortunately. 0:04:40.080 --> 0:04:42.800 But like I was saying, Americans lead the world and 0:04:42.880 --> 0:04:45.480 serial consumption. It ranks fourth on the list of the 0:04:45.480 --> 0:04:49.400 top ten package goods sold in the US, and of 0:04:49.400 --> 0:04:52.320 American households by a box of cereal at least once 0:04:52.360 --> 0:04:55.320 a year. And we're not the only ones who love it. Canada, 0:04:55.440 --> 0:04:58.559 the UK, Australia, they all have sereal markets that rival 0:04:58.640 --> 0:05:01.239 the size of our own, and in recent years cereal 0:05:01.279 --> 0:05:04.520 has also gained in places like China and India and Brazil. 0:05:04.960 --> 0:05:07.880 In fact, the breakfast cereal marketing industry brakes and about 0:05:07.880 --> 0:05:11.080 thirty five billion dollars in revenue each year from the 0:05:11.120 --> 0:05:13.960 foreign markets. So when I took my kids to India 0:05:14.040 --> 0:05:16.480 last year, I remember waking up jet lag the first 0:05:16.560 --> 0:05:19.560 day and they were already up watching cartoons and we're 0:05:19.560 --> 0:05:23.120 wired on a bowl of chocos. We didn't have chacos 0:05:22.839 --> 0:05:26.120 in all my years agoing to India though. We never 0:05:26.279 --> 0:05:28.479 ate breakfast cereals and we never ate in from the TV. 0:05:28.640 --> 0:05:31.240 So it was almost jarring to see this American experience 0:05:31.320 --> 0:05:34.520 transplanted to India. But you know, sugar and grain is 0:05:34.560 --> 0:05:38.080 obviously this winning combination, but I have seen a few 0:05:38.080 --> 0:05:41.120 reports about sagging sales as more and more people opt for, 0:05:41.480 --> 0:05:45.520 you know, either easier or healthier breakfast options, so pop 0:05:45.560 --> 0:05:48.320 tarts or avocado toast, or you know, maybe a quick 0:05:48.320 --> 0:05:50.240 trip to the drive through on the way to work. 0:05:50.279 --> 0:05:53.000 And and of course there's this growing segment of the 0:05:53.000 --> 0:05:55.919 population that just doesn't eat breakfast period. So when you 0:05:55.920 --> 0:05:58.479 were listing those easier and healthier options and you said 0:05:58.520 --> 0:06:00.320 pop tarts, which one of them, I guess that's the 0:06:00.360 --> 0:06:03.800 easier option there, but they are delicious. Well. As big 0:06:03.839 --> 0:06:06.560 as the cereal industry is today, there's no question that 0:06:06.600 --> 0:06:10.080 it used to be bigger. According to NPR, serial consumption 0:06:10.120 --> 0:06:13.680 peaked right around ninete I guess it was, and has 0:06:13.680 --> 0:06:17.640 steadily gone downhill ever since, generally by a full percentage 0:06:17.640 --> 0:06:20.240 point each year. And while the stuff you mentioned has 0:06:20.320 --> 0:06:23.120 definitely played a part in that decline, it's really due 0:06:23.120 --> 0:06:25.800 to a combination of factors. You know. For example, back 0:06:25.800 --> 0:06:30.600 in lawmakers passed the Nutrition and Labeling Education Act, and 0:06:30.600 --> 0:06:33.320 that made it mandatory for all products to include the 0:06:33.360 --> 0:06:37.120 now commonplace list of nutrition facts on the packaging. And 0:06:37.160 --> 0:06:39.640 this made it easier than ever for consumers to see 0:06:39.680 --> 0:06:43.800 the nutritional value or lack thereof, I guess, and they 0:06:43.800 --> 0:06:45.800 could look at this and all of their cereals now 0:06:45.800 --> 0:06:48.880 at this point, and as more people became educated about 0:06:48.960 --> 0:06:51.919 just how much sugar and carbs they were eating or 0:06:51.960 --> 0:06:54.360 feeding to their kids, you know, they started to think 0:06:54.360 --> 0:06:56.800 twice before tossing a box in the car whenever they're 0:06:56.839 --> 0:06:59.680 with grocery store. So I looked into just how sugary 0:06:59.760 --> 0:07:03.200 cereal can be. And it's insane, Like the whole cereal 0:07:03.240 --> 0:07:07.240 industry uses around eight hundred sixty million pounds of sugar 0:07:07.320 --> 0:07:09.920 in its products every year, and apparently most of that's 0:07:09.920 --> 0:07:13.560 going into honey smacks, you know, for some reason, you 0:07:13.600 --> 0:07:15.480 don't know out there, that's the one with the cool 0:07:15.560 --> 0:07:17.840 frog wearing the backwards baseball cap on the box. I 0:07:17.840 --> 0:07:19.320 thought you were talking to me for a second, was like, 0:07:19.400 --> 0:07:22.840 I know, Honey Smacks, man, come on, well, honey Smacks 0:07:22.880 --> 0:07:25.800 is consistently ranked the worst cereal for your health because 0:07:25.800 --> 0:07:28.400 it has less than two grams of fiber per serving 0:07:28.760 --> 0:07:34.680 and its ingredients breakdown to almost sixty percent sugar. It's tasty, 0:07:35.200 --> 0:07:38.240 but according to the Environmental and Working Group, there's more 0:07:38.320 --> 0:07:41.360 sugar in one cup serving of honey Smacks than there 0:07:41.440 --> 0:07:44.640 isn't a Hostess twinkie, no way. And I know that 0:07:44.680 --> 0:07:46.720 it is sweet, obviously, and I knew it wasn't good 0:07:46.760 --> 0:07:49.880 for you. But honestly, like the taste of honey Smacks, 0:07:49.880 --> 0:07:52.400 I wouldn't have guessed it was the most sugary cereal. 0:07:52.480 --> 0:07:54.239 But it kind of makes my teeth are just thinking 0:07:54.240 --> 0:07:56.960 about that. But you know that that sugar to fiber 0:07:57.080 --> 0:08:00.400 ratio might make us cringe. But there's one particular serial 0:08:00.440 --> 0:08:03.120 eleating demographic that you're not going to hear complaining about this, 0:08:03.160 --> 0:08:05.680 and that's kids, or at least my kids. Yeah, my 0:08:05.760 --> 0:08:08.880 kids do. Actually, do you remember there was this great 0:08:08.920 --> 0:08:12.200 Calvin and Hobbs where Calvin's eating his favorite cereal I 0:08:12.240 --> 0:08:16.040 think it's something like chocolate frostage sugar bombs, and he 0:08:16.080 --> 0:08:19.480 gives Hobbs to try, and Hobbs just starts shaking, gagging 0:08:19.480 --> 0:08:22.760 from the sweetness, and Calvin says, actually they're kind of 0:08:22.760 --> 0:08:25.800 bland until he scoops some sugar off. But what I 0:08:25.840 --> 0:08:28.680 find really interesting is how deeply ingrained the fondness for 0:08:28.680 --> 0:08:31.560 breakfast cereal is and so many people, and how so 0:08:31.640 --> 0:08:34.280 much of that seems rooted in their childhood. Yeah. I mean, 0:08:34.320 --> 0:08:36.640 i'd say for most adults seal leaders, it's a big 0:08:36.679 --> 0:08:38.160 part of the allure. I mean, it's what you were 0:08:38.160 --> 0:08:41.480 saying about your kids. There's these memories of watching Saturday 0:08:41.520 --> 0:08:44.080 morning cartoons with a big bowl of Captain Crunch in 0:08:44.120 --> 0:08:46.760 your hand, or maybe indulging in a late night fix 0:08:46.800 --> 0:08:49.160 of Lucky Charms sitting in your college dorm. I don't 0:08:49.160 --> 0:08:51.920 know who you're talking about, right, Well, it's sort of 0:08:51.960 --> 0:08:53.480 a comfort food in a way. I mean, it takes 0:08:53.520 --> 0:08:55.440 us back to simpler days when most of us were 0:08:55.440 --> 0:08:59.000 a little more carefree about what we ate and why. Yeah, 0:08:59.040 --> 0:09:02.360 so in nostalgia is definitely a strong factor. Actually, well, 0:09:02.400 --> 0:09:04.560 what are some of the weirdest discontinued cereals you can 0:09:04.600 --> 0:09:06.280 think of? I was trying to think about this earlier, 0:09:06.280 --> 0:09:09.199 and I remember seeing a Cuber Cereal when I was 0:09:09.240 --> 0:09:12.679 a kid. Do you remember Cuber? Yeah, that video game character, 0:09:12.960 --> 0:09:16.200 and and also eating one with smurfberries. Like my parents 0:09:16.280 --> 0:09:18.520 only really bought a sugar cereals for maybe a year 0:09:18.640 --> 0:09:21.560 or two, but I remember sampling some weird ones. Yeah, 0:09:21.600 --> 0:09:24.240 I mean, I always thought it was completely bonkers that 0:09:24.320 --> 0:09:27.040 some cereals didn't even mask the fact that they were candy, 0:09:27.120 --> 0:09:29.960 Like you know, Kellogg's did a candy corn Pops. But 0:09:30.240 --> 0:09:33.200 even more blatant than that, there was a Nerds Cereal 0:09:33.520 --> 0:09:37.520 and I'm ticked off that I never tried it. Nerd Cereal. 0:09:38.280 --> 0:09:40.079 By the way, listeners, I just wanted to break for 0:09:40.120 --> 0:09:42.080 a second because Will and I have been debating what 0:09:42.160 --> 0:09:44.679 the official candy of Part Time Genius should be, and 0:09:44.679 --> 0:09:48.520 Will was saying it should be atomic fireballs, and I 0:09:48.559 --> 0:09:51.320 was thinking Nerds. So if you have any thoughts on this, 0:09:51.440 --> 0:09:54.240 please let us know on Facebook or Twitter. But well, 0:09:54.559 --> 0:09:57.560 you're right, Nerds Cereal isn't sane. But looking back, like 0:09:57.640 --> 0:10:00.760 the box was so cool. It came in these two flavors, 0:10:00.800 --> 0:10:03.040 just like the candies, and you could pour orange out 0:10:03.040 --> 0:10:05.559 of one side and cherry out of the other. Can 0:10:05.600 --> 0:10:09.200 you imagine, Like, who would let their kids buy this? Probably? 0:10:10.880 --> 0:10:12.760 It also makes me wonder like if so much a 0:10:12.840 --> 0:10:15.480 serials appeal is rooted in the past, Like, what does 0:10:15.559 --> 0:10:17.800 this say about our future? Well, you know, there's a 0:10:17.800 --> 0:10:20.520 new generation of kids getting hooked on cereal now, and 0:10:20.960 --> 0:10:22.920 many of them will stick with it into adulthood. And 0:10:23.000 --> 0:10:25.000 that's part of the reason there's so many brands duking 0:10:25.040 --> 0:10:27.360 it out, you know, trying to get kids to eat 0:10:27.440 --> 0:10:30.960 these cereal is because people's breakfast routines tend to be 0:10:31.000 --> 0:10:34.000 the same, you know, pretty much every day. But there's 0:10:34.000 --> 0:10:37.120 another point to consider, and those declining sales numbers we 0:10:37.160 --> 0:10:40.960 mentioned earlier also coincide with declining birth rate, So you know, 0:10:41.520 --> 0:10:43.720 it's not like the birthrate will ever drop to zero 0:10:43.840 --> 0:10:46.640 or anything like that, but fewer kids does result than 0:10:46.720 --> 0:10:50.120 fewer cereal fans, obviously. Yeah, It's it's funny that something 0:10:50.160 --> 0:10:52.800 that started out as health food became so dependent on 0:10:52.840 --> 0:10:56.000 selling sugar to kids, but I guess that's usually how 0:10:56.040 --> 0:10:58.480 it goes with food. Trends, like someone with these very 0:10:58.520 --> 0:11:02.559 altruistic intentions gets the ball rolling, hoping to better society, 0:11:02.640 --> 0:11:04.520 and and then you know, at a certain point, the 0:11:04.559 --> 0:11:07.960 marketing team steps in, right, exactly. Yeah. Dr Kellogg used 0:11:08.000 --> 0:11:11.160 to give lectures about his methods for leading a healthy lifestyle, 0:11:11.200 --> 0:11:13.640 and he would sometimes give out the recipes for his 0:11:13.679 --> 0:11:15.520 corn Flix so that people could make them at home. 0:11:15.600 --> 0:11:18.199 And at one talk he told the crowd, you may 0:11:18.200 --> 0:11:20.680 say I'm destroying the health food business here by giving 0:11:20.679 --> 0:11:24.440 these recipes, but I'm not after the business. I'm after reform. 0:11:24.600 --> 0:11:26.760 I mean. Yeah. He really did seem to believe and 0:11:26.760 --> 0:11:29.000 what he was selling, sure, but the problem was that 0:11:29.040 --> 0:11:31.520 the same couldn't be said of his brother, Will Kellogg. 0:11:31.559 --> 0:11:34.000 And and Will try for years to convince his brother 0:11:34.040 --> 0:11:36.360 to add sugar to their cereal, believing it would add 0:11:36.400 --> 0:11:39.080 some flavor to what he called horse food. But the 0:11:39.120 --> 0:11:41.920 tipping point came into late forties when their competitor Post 0:11:41.960 --> 0:11:45.560 Cereals released Sugar Crisp, so Posted branched out beyond the 0:11:45.600 --> 0:11:49.040 health food market with its first sugarcoated cereal, and like 0:11:49.160 --> 0:11:52.320 it or not, Kellogg kind of had to follow suit. Yeah, 0:11:52.320 --> 0:11:54.800 but it's really post world War two that the industry 0:11:54.800 --> 0:11:57.360 started to focus on marketing directly to kids. I mean, 0:11:57.679 --> 0:12:01.360 companies had dabbled with these ads before, including Kellogg's use 0:12:01.400 --> 0:12:04.080 of Snap Cracklin Pop as the characters for Rice Crispies, 0:12:04.120 --> 0:12:07.520 and that marketing began in the nineteen thirties. But even 0:12:07.559 --> 0:12:10.440 with cartoon gnomes pleading their case, you know, these highly 0:12:10.480 --> 0:12:13.800 processed oats and grains were a tough sell without adding 0:12:13.880 --> 0:12:16.680 something you know, sweet to it. That's crazy though, I like, 0:12:16.760 --> 0:12:19.240 I had no idea that the Rice Christie's trio had 0:12:19.240 --> 0:12:22.000 been around that long. I thought they were post fifties 0:12:22.040 --> 0:12:25.480 like most other Cereal mascots. Yeah, Snap Cracklin Pop are 0:12:25.480 --> 0:12:28.080 actually one of the longest running ad campaigns in history, 0:12:28.120 --> 0:12:29.880 and as I was looking up at that, they're actually 0:12:29.960 --> 0:12:32.880 the longest for Cereal brands. Actually, by the way, did 0:12:32.920 --> 0:12:34.760 you know that their names are on amount of pia 0:12:34.880 --> 0:12:37.400 sounds for what you hear when milk is added to 0:12:37.440 --> 0:12:41.120 the cereal. But apparently Rice Crispies were always marketed as 0:12:41.160 --> 0:12:43.560 the cereal you can hear, and this was even before 0:12:43.559 --> 0:12:46.280 the mascots came along. In fact, the guy who created 0:12:46.280 --> 0:12:48.520 the characters did so after being inspired by one of 0:12:48.520 --> 0:12:52.000 the brand's previous radio jingles, because I know you're dying 0:12:52.040 --> 0:12:54.280 to know what it was. Here the lyrics, I jotted 0:12:54.280 --> 0:12:57.200 them down, So all right, listen to the fairy song 0:12:57.240 --> 0:12:59.920 of help the Mary Corus sung by Kelloggs Rice Crispi 0:13:00.200 --> 0:13:02.839 as they merrily snap, crackle and pop in a bowl 0:13:02.840 --> 0:13:06.080 of milk. If you've never heard food talking, now is 0:13:06.120 --> 0:13:08.320 your chance. I'm so hungry for a bowl of cereal? Now, 0:13:08.320 --> 0:13:10.040 why didn't I do this before? And also that was 0:13:10.080 --> 0:13:13.160 a jingle like it doesn't even rive? Was I was 0:13:13.160 --> 0:13:15.000 gonna put it to song that I just made up 0:13:15.600 --> 0:13:18.800 against it? So, I mean, obviously mascots were a smart move, 0:13:18.920 --> 0:13:21.160 since it's hard to market like a fairy song of 0:13:21.200 --> 0:13:23.839 health without them. But wasn't there also a fourth gnome 0:13:23.920 --> 0:13:27.120 for a while, Yeah, you bet there was Pal He 0:13:27.120 --> 0:13:29.840 stood for the cereals nutritional punch, I think, And of 0:13:29.880 --> 0:13:32.440 course he didn't last very long. But let's get this 0:13:32.480 --> 0:13:35.360 back on track. So gradually the Sweden Cereals come to 0:13:35.400 --> 0:13:38.960 dominate the market, thanks, you know, because of product placement 0:13:38.960 --> 0:13:42.360 and children's programming, and they've never looked back since. And 0:13:42.440 --> 0:13:44.680 in fact, the breakfast cereal industry is still one of 0:13:44.679 --> 0:13:47.240 the top spenders for a commercial air time. More than 0:13:47.320 --> 0:13:49.960 a million Cereal ads air on TV each year, which 0:13:50.000 --> 0:13:53.079 cost companies like Post and Kelloggs more than I want 0:13:53.120 --> 0:13:56.280 to say, like half a billion dollars. Yeah, well so, 0:13:56.280 --> 0:13:58.480 so all those old TV ads are a big part 0:13:58.480 --> 0:14:00.520 of why Cold Cereal took such a hold in the 0:14:00.559 --> 0:14:03.400 hearts and minds of baby boomers, and then they of 0:14:03.440 --> 0:14:06.040 course passed on that fondness to their now adult children. 0:14:06.120 --> 0:14:08.360 But you know, there's another element that helped the dear 0:14:08.559 --> 0:14:11.360 entire generations to breakfast Cereal that I want to talk 0:14:11.400 --> 0:14:14.040 about it, and that's the prizes that came packed inside 0:14:14.080 --> 0:14:17.319 those boxes. I mean, the prizes played such a big role. 0:14:17.400 --> 0:14:19.640 Like I might have wanted a box of Cookie Crisp, 0:14:19.680 --> 0:14:21.840 but if the Apple Jacks had one of those wacky 0:14:21.880 --> 0:14:24.240 wall walkers in it. I mean you remember those sticky 0:14:24.240 --> 0:14:26.520 octopuses that were walked down the wall of course, Yeah, 0:14:26.640 --> 0:14:28.920 and then of course that's the box I'd end up with. Yeah, 0:14:28.960 --> 0:14:30.640 I mean, I'm with you on that. Actually I would 0:14:30.680 --> 0:14:32.280 buy a box of Cereal for one of those. Now 0:14:32.320 --> 0:14:34.560 it's been years since I played one. They were awesome. 0:14:34.560 --> 0:14:36.440 But you know, let's talk a little bit about how 0:14:36.480 --> 0:14:39.440 toys and games ended up inside the boxes, as well 0:14:39.480 --> 0:14:41.560 as some of the coolest and strangest ones to come 0:14:41.560 --> 0:14:43.880 along over the years. But before we do that, let's 0:14:43.880 --> 0:14:52.160 break for a quiz. They we've got Gabe fon Sica 0:14:52.240 --> 0:14:55.040 on the program now. Gabs an accomplished TV writer, but 0:14:55.120 --> 0:14:58.800 he's also got the best unboxing series on YouTube. It's 0:14:58.800 --> 0:15:02.160 called Serial Time TV and this is where he unboxes 0:15:02.160 --> 0:15:06.240 and reviews incredible breakfast cereals. Welcome to part time Genius, Gabe. 0:15:06.480 --> 0:15:09.040 Thanks for having me. I'm I'm a fan of the podcast, 0:15:09.040 --> 0:15:10.480 so I'm on it to be on the show. Thank 0:15:10.520 --> 0:15:12.560 you so much. Now, I know you're out in Los Angeles. 0:15:12.640 --> 0:15:15.080 Man Guesh is actually on vacation today. He's out on 0:15:15.120 --> 0:15:18.560 your coast in Portland's so he sends his best but 0:15:18.840 --> 0:15:20.840 but I hope you're still willing to chat with me today, 0:15:21.400 --> 0:15:23.840 of course, of course. All right now, so, Gay, we've 0:15:23.880 --> 0:15:26.760 read that you have over three hundred cereal boxes in 0:15:26.800 --> 0:15:29.280 your collection, and I have to ask, like, how did 0:15:29.320 --> 0:15:32.560 you get into this in the first place, and what 0:15:32.640 --> 0:15:36.040 are some of your more prized cereal boxes. You know, 0:15:36.080 --> 0:15:38.040 I've always been a collector and I think at one 0:15:38.040 --> 0:15:40.080 point I saw Old Spider Man Surreal. I think that 0:15:40.120 --> 0:15:43.680 was my first box. Um it was from zero and 0:15:43.800 --> 0:15:45.680 I saw it on eBay when I was just browsing, 0:15:45.760 --> 0:15:47.560 and I was like, that'd be cool to have on 0:15:47.600 --> 0:15:51.040 my bookshelf, and I bought it and then uh, and 0:15:51.080 --> 0:15:52.360 then I was like, well, you know what, there are 0:15:52.360 --> 0:15:54.040 some other ones that I remember from back in the day, 0:15:54.080 --> 0:15:55.840 and and then it kind of just turned into this 0:15:55.880 --> 0:15:58.720 black hole on eBay where I just was was scouring 0:15:58.720 --> 0:16:01.320 and finding old cereals that that brought back these nostalgic 0:16:01.360 --> 0:16:03.840 memories to me. Wow. Wow, now I think I've read 0:16:03.880 --> 0:16:06.720 that you've tried some even some like thirty year old cereals. 0:16:06.840 --> 0:16:10.160 Is this right? Yeah? Yeah. When I first started this 0:16:10.320 --> 0:16:13.200 unboxing channel on YouTube, and I started it because I 0:16:13.200 --> 0:16:15.240 started to run out a room of just having these 0:16:15.400 --> 0:16:17.600 unopened Cereal boxes on my shelf and it was like, 0:16:17.640 --> 0:16:19.240 you know, this is just taking up space and this 0:16:19.400 --> 0:16:21.960 is kind of silly. I could just flatten them out, 0:16:22.000 --> 0:16:25.080 So I I decided like, well, let's for posterity, let's 0:16:25.080 --> 0:16:27.800 just record myself opening these boxes and and you know, 0:16:27.840 --> 0:16:30.000 recording with the Cereal looks like and documenting it so 0:16:30.040 --> 0:16:33.440 I'll have it, you know, for posterity, and uh, and 0:16:33.520 --> 0:16:35.200 I never thought I was like going to try him, 0:16:35.240 --> 0:16:37.880 and then I'd opened some boxes and uh, I'd be like, well, 0:16:37.960 --> 0:16:39.840 let me just see if it holds up. I think 0:16:39.840 --> 0:16:42.360 the oldest one I might have tried was a grim 0:16:42.520 --> 0:16:46.440 smiles giggles and last cereal, which was from the seventies, 0:16:46.520 --> 0:16:49.040 I believe, and it was pretty grass. I'm guessing, Oh man, 0:16:49.080 --> 0:16:52.240 they're terrible. They just don't you know. It tastes mostly 0:16:52.280 --> 0:16:54.280 like it tastes like the plastic in a way. It 0:16:54.280 --> 0:16:57.280 takes very toxic and disgusting. But I would I definitely 0:16:57.320 --> 0:16:59.880 do not recommend it. I can't imagine now. In terms 0:16:59.880 --> 0:17:01.760 of cereals, are there any that you wish you could 0:17:01.760 --> 0:17:04.720 have tasted if you could go back in time? Yeah? Absolutely. 0:17:04.720 --> 0:17:07.320 There's one from before my time in the seventies called 0:17:07.480 --> 0:17:09.960 a Great Fellow. It was actually, um they released a 0:17:10.040 --> 0:17:12.560 Great Fellow and Baron von red Berry. There were General 0:17:12.560 --> 0:17:15.160 Mills cereals and uh, this is a Great Fellow. One 0:17:15.160 --> 0:17:18.560 tasted like you know, grape the grape cereal or great 0:17:18.720 --> 0:17:20.760 kool Aid. I imagine I never actually got to try it, 0:17:20.800 --> 0:17:23.600 but I'm a I'm a sucker for great flavored things. 0:17:23.720 --> 0:17:26.960 And uh and even though I got a Nerds cereal 0:17:27.040 --> 0:17:28.919 which came out in the eighties, which I which I 0:17:28.920 --> 0:17:31.520 got to try back and back then, I it just 0:17:31.720 --> 0:17:34.480 wasn't the same, you know, it wasn't it wasn't that 0:17:34.560 --> 0:17:36.560 great great flavor. It was kind of it wasn't a 0:17:36.600 --> 0:17:39.439 great cereal, And Sir, great fellow, just just like I 0:17:39.480 --> 0:17:41.480 look at the ad campaigns I see on YouTube and 0:17:41.480 --> 0:17:43.920 I'm just like this, this was like, this is great. 0:17:43.960 --> 0:17:45.800 I really wish I was alive for this one. I 0:17:45.840 --> 0:17:47.840 could I could try that one. Yeah, yeah, Now, how 0:17:47.880 --> 0:17:49.919 about any boxes you'd love to add to your collection 0:17:49.960 --> 0:17:52.320 but haven't been able to get ahold of For me? 0:17:52.440 --> 0:17:54.439 I I kind of at this point, I feel like 0:17:54.480 --> 0:17:56.560 I'm at peace and that's kind of completed my collection 0:17:56.600 --> 0:18:00.640 and kind of everything I want. There is one really 0:18:00.720 --> 0:18:03.560 random cereal from General Mills in the nineties. It was 0:18:03.600 --> 0:18:06.439 called Buen You Litos, and I remember it. It was 0:18:06.440 --> 0:18:09.200 on shelves for a limited time, and I just can't 0:18:09.200 --> 0:18:11.679 find a box of that anywhere. And that's probably like 0:18:11.720 --> 0:18:14.359 the last you know, my great you know, white whale 0:18:14.359 --> 0:18:16.720 that I'm trying to obtain. Still, I don't know, Gabe. 0:18:16.760 --> 0:18:18.720 I'm hearing in your voice that maybe you're not quite 0:18:18.760 --> 0:18:21.679 at piece yet until you find that so off, if 0:18:21.760 --> 0:18:24.120 if if any of our listeners out there know how 0:18:24.119 --> 0:18:27.000 to get ahold of some did you say boren Alito's yes, 0:18:27.720 --> 0:18:29.320 all right, we'll see what we can do for you. 0:18:29.440 --> 0:18:32.040 So there'll be a free part time genius t shirt 0:18:32.040 --> 0:18:34.840 on the line for these people. But but before we 0:18:34.920 --> 0:18:38.480 let you go, Mango did leave me a quiz titled 0:18:38.480 --> 0:18:41.560 the most Important Meal Quiz of the Day. So I'm 0:18:41.560 --> 0:18:44.159 gonna ask you a few questions if you obscure serial 0:18:44.280 --> 0:18:46.040 questions and all you gotta do is answer them. How's 0:18:46.080 --> 0:18:49.080 that sounds? All right? I'll give it my best, alright. 0:18:49.200 --> 0:18:52.439 Question number one. According to a nineteen fifty six confidential 0:18:52.480 --> 0:18:56.720 magazine report, what breakfast cereal was supposedly responsible for Frank 0:18:56.800 --> 0:19:00.919 Sinatra's success with women. It's got to be wheat It 0:19:01.040 --> 0:19:03.800 is Wheaties. Yeah. The article claimed that Sinatra could thank 0:19:03.840 --> 0:19:07.680 Wheatie's for his reputation as the quote Tarzan of the Boudoir. 0:19:08.280 --> 0:19:12.880 So yes, congratulations there, all right? One for one? Question 0:19:12.960 --> 0:19:16.600 number two. Before a certain tiger became spokes animal for 0:19:16.640 --> 0:19:19.880 this breakfast cereal. He had to beat out three other contenders, 0:19:20.040 --> 0:19:23.359 Elmo the Elephant, Newt the new and Katie the Kangaroo. 0:19:23.720 --> 0:19:26.960 What cereal are we talking about? Frosted flakes? That's right, 0:19:27.000 --> 0:19:29.680