WEBVTT - Fan Favorite: Why are we so Nostalgic for Sugary Breakfast Cereals? 0:00:03.279 --> 0:00:06.240 Welcome to Part Time Genius, a production of I Heart Radio. 0:00:11.640 --> 0:00:14.000 I Guess what Will? What's that Mango? So at our 0:00:14.040 --> 0:00:16.200 first week in college, I remember being in line for 0:00:16.239 --> 0:00:18.960 breakfast and and there was just this wall of amazing 0:00:19.000 --> 0:00:22.800 breakfast cereals, remember this, And we were, of course away 0:00:22.840 --> 0:00:25.600 from our parents for the first time and being independent 0:00:25.760 --> 0:00:29.440 and responsible, and so I piled my bowl high with 0:00:29.520 --> 0:00:32.200 Lucky Charms. I mean, I think it was Lucky Charms, 0:00:32.280 --> 0:00:34.879 but whatever was the most nutritious cereal out there. I 0:00:34.920 --> 0:00:37.000 love that when you were finally like free from the 0:00:37.040 --> 0:00:39.360 overside of your parents, like that was the first thing 0:00:39.479 --> 0:00:41.280 you did to express your freedom, was like, get a 0:00:41.320 --> 0:00:43.960 big bowl of cereal. But yes, I do remember that big, 0:00:44.000 --> 0:00:47.159 awesome wall of cereal. Yeah, and the people we were 0:00:47.200 --> 0:00:49.720 with started making fun of me for eating a kid 0:00:49.800 --> 0:00:53.080 cereal instead of musically or whatever. And and right then 0:00:53.400 --> 0:00:56.560 the star basketball recruit Eldon Brand walked up and got 0:00:56.560 --> 0:00:58.440 a bowl of the same thing, and it was just 0:00:58.640 --> 0:01:01.560 pure silent and I felt like such a trend setter. 0:01:01.880 --> 0:01:04.080 And I remember that that's when you became the most 0:01:04.120 --> 0:01:08.040 popular kid on campus. And not really, but part of 0:01:08.080 --> 0:01:10.440 the reason I love breakfast cereals so much. And you know, 0:01:10.520 --> 0:01:12.760 we used to have big serial parties in Metal Flaws 0:01:12.760 --> 0:01:14.880 where everyone would bring a box of their favorite cereal. 0:01:14.959 --> 0:01:19.080 But uh, there's just such a wonderful association with childhood 0:01:19.120 --> 0:01:22.160 and Saturday Morning cartoons, and that's actually why we're talking 0:01:22.160 --> 0:01:45.120 about cereal today. Let's dig in. Hey, their podcast listeners, 0:01:45.120 --> 0:01:47.360 welcome to parts. I'm genius, I'm Will Pearson and as 0:01:47.400 --> 0:01:49.919 always I'm joined by my good friend man Guesh Ticketer 0:01:50.280 --> 0:01:52.160 and the man on the other side of the soundproof 0:01:52.200 --> 0:01:55.240 glass eating a big bowl of frosted many weeks good 0:01:55.320 --> 0:01:59.000 choice today as our producer, Tristan McNeil. But today we're 0:01:59.040 --> 0:02:01.320 heading back to the growth trial for a closer look 0:02:01.360 --> 0:02:04.560 at all things cereal, you know, the most whimsical or 0:02:04.680 --> 0:02:08.079 nutritionally questionable at all of this, at every part of 0:02:08.120 --> 0:02:10.760 a complete breakfast. And so we'll dig into the weird 0:02:10.840 --> 0:02:14.520 stories and surprising facts behind our favorite brands, as well 0:02:14.560 --> 0:02:17.080 as a few of the lesser known breakfast cereals that 0:02:17.160 --> 0:02:19.239 time forgot. And then a little bit later we'll be 0:02:19.320 --> 0:02:22.000 joined by Gay Fonseca. He's a TV writer and he's 0:02:22.000 --> 0:02:25.160 spent more than a decade collecting childhood nostalgia in the 0:02:25.200 --> 0:02:29.080 form of vintage cereal boxes. It's a fascinating collection. Yeah, 0:02:29.080 --> 0:02:31.600 and he's also the host of this really fun YouTube 0:02:31.600 --> 0:02:34.640 series called cereal Time, which is the series on the 0:02:34.639 --> 0:02:36.840 subject of breakfast cereal. I mean, he's been doing it 0:02:36.880 --> 0:02:38.600 for a couple of years now, so I'm super excited 0:02:38.600 --> 0:02:40.840 to just hear how he got started. Yeah, well, we'll 0:02:40.880 --> 0:02:43.800 gabs among the most devout of cereal enthusiasts, but he's 0:02:43.840 --> 0:02:46.520 definitely not alone in this. I mean, lots of people 0:02:46.680 --> 0:02:49.800 love cereals, and in the hundred and fifty plus years 0:02:49.800 --> 0:02:52.560 since it came onto the market, cold breakfast cereal has 0:02:52.600 --> 0:02:55.680 become a staple for millions of people around the world. 0:02:55.760 --> 0:02:58.320 And you know, strangely, this love affair got its start 0:02:58.360 --> 0:03:01.560 in the late nineteenth century kind of as an accident. 0:03:01.639 --> 0:03:04.120 You know, it was this invention of fundamentalist Christians who 0:03:04.120 --> 0:03:07.600 were seeking to promote a healthy, sin free lifestyle. And 0:03:08.000 --> 0:03:10.160 much of this is you know, stories that people have heard, 0:03:10.200 --> 0:03:13.280 but it's still pretty interesting that the bland foods, as 0:03:13.320 --> 0:03:15.680 you know, like toasted corn and oats, where they were 0:03:15.680 --> 0:03:19.360 thought to help suppress sexual urges and prevent arousal. And 0:03:19.440 --> 0:03:21.960 so this thinking led to the creation of a few 0:03:22.040 --> 0:03:25.720 notable foods, including Graham crackers, of course, but the one 0:03:25.760 --> 0:03:28.360 that really caught on what the public was sereal. So 0:03:28.480 --> 0:03:31.720 Dr John Harvey Kellogg, the superintendent of a sanitarium in 0:03:31.760 --> 0:03:35.080 Battle Creek, Michigan, and his younger brother Well they stumbled 0:03:35.120 --> 0:03:38.280 upon the recipe for what would ultimately become corn flakes. 0:03:38.800 --> 0:03:40.840 After allowing some of the cooked wheat to sit out 0:03:40.880 --> 0:03:43.720 for too long, the Kelloggs returned to find the wheat 0:03:43.760 --> 0:03:46.480 had gone stale, but rather than toss it out as 0:03:46.520 --> 0:03:48.480 you might think they would, they decided to roll it 0:03:48.520 --> 0:03:51.440 out into thin flakes and then toast them. And the 0:03:51.520 --> 0:03:54.040 corn flakes were a big hit with their patients, so 0:03:54.080 --> 0:03:57.480 the Kelloggs decided to start marketing them to a broader public. Yeah, 0:03:57.520 --> 0:04:00.320 and as interesting as that early history is, it's pretty 0:04:00.320 --> 0:04:02.760 familiar by this point. So instead of going deep on 0:04:02.800 --> 0:04:07.080 sanitariums and grape nuts were, we're gonna focus mostly on 0:04:07.120 --> 0:04:09.600 the second act of the serial story. That's the period 0:04:09.640 --> 0:04:12.560 from about nineteen fifty to the early nineties when marketing 0:04:12.560 --> 0:04:15.800 to children really took off and sugary cereals really began 0:04:15.840 --> 0:04:19.240 flooding grocery store aisles. Well, before we dive into that 0:04:19.240 --> 0:04:21.560 colorful history, I thought we could take a quick look 0:04:21.600 --> 0:04:23.840 at the state of cereal today, you know, just by 0:04:23.839 --> 0:04:27.320 the numbers, and it's amazing how far cereal has come 0:04:27.360 --> 0:04:30.080 from its early years as this niche product to the 0:04:30.120 --> 0:04:33.240 mammoth industry that it is now. So just looking at 0:04:33.279 --> 0:04:37.000 the US market alone, the breakfast cereal industry now generates 0:04:37.000 --> 0:04:40.240 nearly ten billion dollars in annual revenue. And that that's 0:04:40.240 --> 0:04:44.280 according to mord Or Intelligence. Did you say word or intelligent? 0:04:45.240 --> 0:04:48.320 Feel like a hobbit? It's kind of a jarring name 0:04:48.360 --> 0:04:49.920 if you're a Lord of the Rings fan. But it's 0:04:50.000 --> 0:04:53.520 just the coincidence, unfortunately. But like I was saying, Americans 0:04:53.600 --> 0:04:56.640 lead the world and serial consumption. It ranks fourth on 0:04:56.680 --> 0:04:59.000 the list of the top ten package goods sold in 0:04:59.000 --> 0:05:02.760 the US, and of American households by a box of 0:05:02.800 --> 0:05:05.360 cereal at least once a year. And we're not the 0:05:05.400 --> 0:05:08.640 only ones who love it. Canada, the UK, Australia, they 0:05:08.680 --> 0:05:11.320 all have cereal markets that rival the size of our own. 0:05:11.400 --> 0:05:14.320 And in recent years cereal has also gained in places 0:05:14.360 --> 0:05:17.680 like China and India and Brazil. In fact, the breakfast 0:05:17.680 --> 0:05:21.360 cereal marketing industry rakes and about thirty five billion dollars 0:05:21.360 --> 0:05:24.640 in revenue each year from the foreign markets. So when 0:05:24.640 --> 0:05:26.800 I took my kids to India last year, I remember 0:05:26.800 --> 0:05:29.480 waking up jet lag the first day and they were 0:05:29.480 --> 0:05:32.200 already up watching cartoons and we're wired on a bowl 0:05:32.240 --> 0:05:36.360 of chocos. We didn't have chacos in all my years 0:05:36.360 --> 0:05:38.839 agoing in to India though, we never ate breakfast cereals 0:05:38.880 --> 0:05:40.720 and we never ate in from the TV. So it 0:05:40.760 --> 0:05:44.159 was almost jarring to see this American experience transplanted to India. 0:05:44.480 --> 0:05:47.880 But you know, sugar and grain is obviously this winning combination. 0:05:48.360 --> 0:05:51.240 But I have seen a few reports about sagging sales 0:05:51.279 --> 0:05:53.719 as more and more people opt for, you know, either 0:05:53.839 --> 0:05:58.480 easier or healthier breakfast options, so pop tarts or avocado 0:05:58.560 --> 0:06:00.640 toast or you know, maybe a quick trip to the 0:06:00.760 --> 0:06:02.719 drive through on the way to work. And and of 0:06:02.760 --> 0:06:05.680 course there's this growing segment of the population that just 0:06:05.720 --> 0:06:08.320 doesn't eat breakfast period. So when you were listing those 0:06:08.360 --> 0:06:11.080 easier and healthier options and you said pop tarts, which 0:06:11.080 --> 0:06:13.120 one of them, I'm guessing that's the easier option there. 0:06:13.160 --> 0:06:16.080 But they are delicious well as big as the cereal 0:06:16.120 --> 0:06:18.760 industry is today, There's no question that it used to 0:06:18.839 --> 0:06:22.720 be bigger. According to NPR, serial consumption peaked right around 0:06:22.839 --> 0:06:26.720 nine I guess it was, and has steadily gone downhill 0:06:26.839 --> 0:06:30.400 ever since, generally by a full percentage point each year. 0:06:30.800 --> 0:06:32.880 And while the stuff you mentioned is definitely played a 0:06:32.920 --> 0:06:35.719 part in that decline, it's really due to a combination 0:06:35.760 --> 0:06:39.400 of factors. You know. For example, back in lawmakers passed 0:06:39.400 --> 0:06:42.800 the Nutrition and Labeling Education Act, and that made it 0:06:42.839 --> 0:06:46.280 mandatory for all products to include the now commonplace list 0:06:46.320 --> 0:06:49.359 of nutrition facts on the packaging. And this made it 0:06:49.440 --> 0:06:52.719 easier than ever for consumers to see the nutritional value 0:06:52.960 --> 0:06:56.080 or lack thereof, I guess, and they could look at 0:06:56.120 --> 0:06:58.159 this and all of their cereals now at this point, 0:06:58.160 --> 0:07:01.240 and as more people became edge caated about just how 0:07:01.360 --> 0:07:04.080 much sugar and carves they were eating or feeding to 0:07:04.120 --> 0:07:06.760 their kids, you know, they started to think twice before 0:07:06.839 --> 0:07:09.440 tossing a box in the car whenever they're with grocery store. 0:07:09.720 --> 0:07:12.280 So I looked into just how sugary cereal can be, 0:07:12.600 --> 0:07:16.040 and it's insane, Like the whole cereal industry uses around 0:07:16.240 --> 0:07:19.720 eight hundred sixty million pounds of sugar in its products 0:07:19.720 --> 0:07:22.920 every year, and apparently most of that's going into honey Smacks. 0:07:23.680 --> 0:07:26.000 You know, for some reason, you don't know out there, 0:07:26.120 --> 0:07:28.440 that's the one with the cool frog wearing the backwards 0:07:28.480 --> 0:07:30.160 baseball cap on the box. I thought you were talking 0:07:30.160 --> 0:07:32.720 to me for a second, was like, I know, honey Smacks, mango, 0:07:32.840 --> 0:07:36.440 Come on, Well, honey Smacks is consistently ranked the worst 0:07:36.440 --> 0:07:38.600 cereal for your health because it has less than two 0:07:38.720 --> 0:07:41.880 grams of five or per serving and its ingredients breakdown 0:07:41.880 --> 0:07:47.880 to almost sixty sugar. It's tasty, but according to the 0:07:48.000 --> 0:07:51.360 Environmental and Working Group, there's more sugar in one cup 0:07:51.480 --> 0:07:54.480 serving of honey Smacks than there isn't a Hostess twinkie, 0:07:54.480 --> 0:07:57.560 no way. I know that it's sweet, obviously, and I 0:07:57.600 --> 0:08:01.000 knew it wasn't good for you, But honestly, the taste 0:08:01.000 --> 0:08:02.760 of honey Smacks, I wouldn't have guessed it was the 0:08:02.920 --> 0:08:05.360 most sugary cereal. But it kind of makes my teeth 0:08:05.400 --> 0:08:07.640 are just thinking about that. And you know that that 0:08:07.760 --> 0:08:10.960 sugar to fiber ratio might make us cringe. But there's 0:08:11.000 --> 0:08:13.800 one particular serial leading demographic that you're not going to 0:08:13.880 --> 0:08:16.200 hear complaining about this, and that's kids, or at least 0:08:16.240 --> 0:08:19.440 my kids. Yeah, my kids to Actually, do you remember 0:08:19.800 --> 0:08:22.400 there was this great Calvin and Hobbs where Calvin's eating 0:08:22.440 --> 0:08:26.240 his favorite cereal. I think it's something like chocolate frostage 0:08:26.240 --> 0:08:29.600 sugar bombs, and he gives Hobbs a try, and Hobbs 0:08:29.760 --> 0:08:33.040 just starts shaking, gagging from the sweetness, and Calvin says, 0:08:33.480 --> 0:08:35.920 actually they're kind of blend until he scoops some sugar on. 0:08:37.160 --> 0:08:39.800 But what I find really interesting is how deeply ingrained 0:08:39.800 --> 0:08:42.319 the fondness for breakfast cereal is and so many people, 0:08:42.400 --> 0:08:45.800 and how so much of that seems rooted in their childhood. Yeah. 0:08:45.840 --> 0:08:48.040 I mean, i'd say for most adults serial leaders, it's 0:08:48.080 --> 0:08:49.680 a big part of the allure. I mean, it's what 0:08:49.720 --> 0:08:52.400 you were saying about your kids. There's these memories of 0:08:52.400 --> 0:08:55.360 watching Saturday morning cartoons with a big bowl of Captain 0:08:55.400 --> 0:08:58.040 Crunch in your hand, or maybe indulging in a late 0:08:58.120 --> 0:09:00.600 night fix of Lucky Charms sitting in your college dorm. 0:09:00.640 --> 0:09:03.360 I don't know who you're talking about, right, Well, it's 0:09:03.400 --> 0:09:04.880 sort of a comfort food in a way. I mean, 0:09:04.920 --> 0:09:06.880 it takes us back to simpler days when most of 0:09:06.920 --> 0:09:09.360 us were a little more carefree about what we ate 0:09:09.400 --> 0:09:14.120 and why. Yeah, so nostalgia is definitely a strong factor. Actually, well, 0:09:14.120 --> 0:09:16.319 what are some of the weirdest discontinued cereals you can 0:09:16.320 --> 0:09:18.000 think of? I was trying to think about this earlier, 0:09:18.000 --> 0:09:21.280 and I remember seeing cuber cereal when I was a kid. 0:09:21.360 --> 0:09:25.080 Do you remember Cuberta that video game character? And and 0:09:25.120 --> 0:09:28.520 also eating one with smurfberries. Like, my parents only really 0:09:28.520 --> 0:09:30.680 bought us sugar cereals for maybe a year or two, 0:09:30.720 --> 0:09:33.800 but I remember sampling some weird ones. Yeah, I mean 0:09:33.880 --> 0:09:36.600 I always thought it was completely bonkers that some cereals 0:09:36.600 --> 0:09:39.040 didn't even mask the fact that they were candy, Like 0:09:39.280 --> 0:09:42.240 you know, Kellogg's did a candy corn Pops. But even 0:09:42.280 --> 0:09:45.360 more blatant than that, there was a Nerds Cereal and 0:09:45.400 --> 0:09:49.280 I'm ticked off that I never tried it Nerds Cereal, 0:09:50.000 --> 0:09:51.839 by the way, listeners, I just wanted to break for 0:09:51.840 --> 0:09:53.800 a second because Will and I have been debating what 0:09:53.880 --> 0:09:56.400 the official candy of Part Time Genius should be, and 0:09:56.440 --> 0:10:00.240 Will was saying it should be atomic fireballs, and I 0:10:00.320 --> 0:10:03.080 was thinking Nerds. So if you have any thoughts on this, 0:10:03.200 --> 0:10:06.040 please let us know on Facebook or Twitter. But well, 0:10:06.320 --> 0:10:09.320 you're right, nerds, cereal is insane. But looking back, like 0:10:09.360 --> 0:10:12.520 the box was so cool. It came in these two flavors, 0:10:12.520 --> 0:10:14.800 just like the candies, and you could pour orange out 0:10:14.800 --> 0:10:17.280 of one side and cherry out of the other. Can 0:10:17.320 --> 0:10:20.920 you imagine, Like, who would let their kids buy this? Probably? 0:10:22.600 --> 0:10:24.520 It also makes me wonder like if so much a 0:10:24.559 --> 0:10:27.240 serials appeal is rooted in the past, Like what does 0:10:27.320 --> 0:10:29.520 this say about our future? Well, you know, there's a 0:10:29.559 --> 0:10:32.280 new generation of kids getting hooked on cereal now, and 0:10:32.720 --> 0:10:34.720 many of them will stick with it into adulthood. And 0:10:34.720 --> 0:10:36.760 that's part of the reason there's so many brands duking 0:10:36.760 --> 0:10:39.120 it out, you know, trying to get kids to eat 0:10:39.160 --> 0:10:42.679 these cereal is because people's breakfast routines tend to be 0:10:42.760 --> 0:10:45.720 the same, you know, pretty much every day. But there's 0:10:45.760 --> 0:10:48.880 another point to consider, and those declining sales numbers we 0:10:48.880 --> 0:10:52.720 mentioned earlier also coincide with declining birth rate, So you know, 0:10:53.280 --> 0:10:55.040 it's it's not like the birthrate will ever drop to 0:10:55.160 --> 0:10:58.240 zero or anything like that, but fewer kids does result 0:10:58.240 --> 0:11:01.440 than fewer cereal fans, obviously. Yeah, It's it's funny that 0:11:01.559 --> 0:11:04.439 something that started out as health food became so dependent 0:11:04.480 --> 0:11:07.560 on selling sugar to kids. But I guess that's usually 0:11:07.600 --> 0:11:09.920 how it goes with food trends. Like someone with these 0:11:10.040 --> 0:11:14.280 very altruistic intentions gets the ball rolling, hoping to better society, 0:11:14.400 --> 0:11:16.280 and and then you know, at a certain point, the 0:11:16.280 --> 0:11:19.720 marketing team steps in writing eximally. Yeah. Dr Kellogg used 0:11:19.720 --> 0:11:22.920 to give lectures about his methods for leading a healthy lifestyle, 0:11:22.960 --> 0:11:25.360 and he would sometimes give out the recipes for his 0:11:25.440 --> 0:11:27.240 corn Flix so that people could make them at home. 0:11:27.360 --> 0:11:29.920 And at one talk he told the crowd, you may 0:11:29.960 --> 0:11:32.400 say I'm destroying the health food business here by giving 0:11:32.440 --> 0:11:36.200 these recipes, but I'm not after the business. I'm after reform. 0:11:36.320 --> 0:11:38.480 I mean, yeah. He really did seem to believe and 0:11:38.520 --> 0:11:40.719 what he was selling, sure, But the problem was that 0:11:40.760 --> 0:11:43.160 the same couldn't be said of his brother, Will Kellogg. 0:11:43.320 --> 0:11:45.760 And and Will try for years to convince his brother 0:11:45.800 --> 0:11:48.080 to add sugar to their cereal, believing it would add 0:11:48.120 --> 0:11:50.840 some flavor to what he called horse food. But the 0:11:50.840 --> 0:11:53.679 tipping point came into late forties when their competitor Post 0:11:53.720 --> 0:11:57.320 Cereals released Sugar Crisp. So Posted branched out beyond the 0:11:57.320 --> 0:12:00.800 health food market with its first sugarcoated sea and like 0:12:00.920 --> 0:12:04.040 it or not, Kellogg kind of had to follow the suit. Yeah, 0:12:04.080 --> 0:12:06.559 but it's really post World War Two that the industry 0:12:06.559 --> 0:12:09.120 started to focus on marketing directly to kids. I mean, 0:12:09.400 --> 0:12:13.120 companies had dabbled with these ads before, including Kellogg's use 0:12:13.120 --> 0:12:15.840 of Snap, Crackle and Pop as the characters for Rice Crispies, 0:12:15.840 --> 0:12:19.280 and that marketing began in the nineteen thirties. But even 0:12:19.280 --> 0:12:22.200 with cartoon gnomes pleading their case, you know, these highly 0:12:22.240 --> 0:12:26.000 processed oats and grains were a tough sell without adding something, 0:12:26.160 --> 0:12:28.400 you know, sweet to it. That's crazy though, I like, 0:12:28.520 --> 0:12:31.000 I had no idea that the Rice Christie's trio had 0:12:31.000 --> 0:12:33.719 been around that long. I thought they were post fifties 0:12:33.800 --> 0:12:37.200 like most other cereal mascots. Yeah, Snap cracklin Pop are 0:12:37.240 --> 0:12:39.840 actually one of the longest running ad campaigns in history, 0:12:39.880 --> 0:12:41.640 and as I was looking up at that, they're actually 0:12:41.679 --> 0:12:44.640 the longest for cereal brands. Actually, by the way, did 0:12:44.679 --> 0:12:46.520 you know that their names are on amount of pia 0:12:46.640 --> 0:12:49.160 sounds for what you hear when milk is added to 0:12:49.200 --> 0:12:52.880 the cereal. But apparently Rice Crispies were always marketed as 0:12:52.880 --> 0:12:55.280 the cereal you can hear, and this was even before 0:12:55.320 --> 0:12:58.040 the mascots came along. In fact, the guy who created 0:12:58.040 --> 0:13:00.280 the characters did so after being inspired by one of 0:13:00.320 --> 0:13:03.760 the brand's previous radio jingles. Because I know you're dying 0:13:03.760 --> 0:13:06.000 to know what it was. You're the lyrics, I jotted 0:13:06.040 --> 0:13:08.920 them down, So all right, listen to the fairy song 0:13:09.000 --> 0:13:11.840 of help the Mary Corus sung by Kelloggs Rice Crispies 0:13:11.920 --> 0:13:14.560 as they merrily snap, crackle and pop in a bowl 0:13:14.600 --> 0:13:17.840 of milk. If you've never heard food talking, now is 0:13:17.840 --> 0:13:20.040 your chance. I'm so hungry for a bowl of cereal. Now, 0:13:20.080 --> 0:13:21.800 why didn't we do this before? And also that was 0:13:21.800 --> 0:13:24.800 a jingle like it doesn't even rive. I was I 0:13:24.840 --> 0:13:26.600 was gonna put it to song that I just made 0:13:26.679 --> 0:13:29.839 up sided against it. So, I mean, obviously mascots were 0:13:29.840 --> 0:13:32.160 a smart move, since it's hard to market like a 0:13:32.200 --> 0:13:34.720 fairy song of health without them. But wasn't there also 0:13:34.760 --> 0:13:37.000 a fourth gnome for a while, Yeah, you bet there 0:13:37.120 --> 0:13:41.160 was Pal He stood for the serials nutritional punch, I think, 0:13:41.200 --> 0:13:43.920 And of course he didn't last very long. But let's 0:13:43.920 --> 0:13:46.800 get this back on track. So gradually the Sweden Cereals 0:13:46.840 --> 0:13:49.800 come to dominate the market, thanks, you know, because of 0:13:49.920 --> 0:13:53.640 product placement and children's programming and they've never looked back since. 0:13:53.960 --> 0:13:56.320 And in fact, the breakfast Cereal industry is still one 0:13:56.360 --> 0:13:58.839 of the top spenders for a commercial air time. More 0:13:58.880 --> 0:14:01.440 than a million series adds air on TV each year, 0:14:01.480 --> 0:14:04.839 which cost companies like Posting Kellogg's more than I want 0:14:04.880 --> 0:14:08.040 to say, like half a billion dollars. Yeah, well so, 0:14:08.040 --> 0:14:10.240 so all those old TV ads are a big part 0:14:10.240 --> 0:14:12.280 of why Cold Cereal took such a hold in the 0:14:12.320 --> 0:14:15.160 hearts and minds of baby boomers, and then they of 0:14:15.200 --> 0:14:17.800 course passed on that fondness to their now adult children. 0:14:17.880 --> 0:14:20.080 But you know, there's another element that helped in dear 0:14:20.320 --> 0:14:23.120 entire generations to breakfast Cereal that I want to talk 0:14:23.160 --> 0:14:25.800 about it, and that's the prizes that came packed inside 0:14:25.800 --> 0:14:29.040 those boxes. I mean, the prizes played such a big role. 0:14:29.160 --> 0:14:31.400 Like I might have wanted a box of Cookie Crisp, 0:14:31.440 --> 0:14:33.600 but if the Apple Jacks had one of those wacky 0:14:33.600 --> 0:14:35.960 wall walkers in it, I mean you remember those sticky 0:14:35.960 --> 0:14:38.320 octopuses that were walked down the wall of course. Yeah, 0:14:38.360 --> 0:14:40.680 and then of course that's the box I'd end up with. Yeah, 0:14:40.680 --> 0:14:42.400 I mean, I'm with you on that. Actually I would 0:14:42.440 --> 0:14:44.040 buy a box of cereal for one of those. Now 0:14:44.080 --> 0:14:46.280 it's been years since I played, and they were awesome. 0:14:46.320 --> 0:14:48.160 But you know, let's talk a little bit about how 0:14:48.200 --> 0:14:51.200 toys and games ended up inside the boxes, as well 0:14:51.240 --> 0:14:53.280 as some of the coolest and strangest ones to come 0:14:53.320 --> 0:14:55.640 along over the years. But before we do that, let's 0:14:55.640 --> 0:15:04.080 break for a quiz. Then we've got Gabe Fonseca on 0:15:04.120 --> 0:15:07.080 the program. Now, gabees an accomplished TV writer, but he's 0:15:07.160 --> 0:15:10.800 also got the best unboxing series on YouTube. It's called 0:15:10.880 --> 0:15:14.000 Serial Time TV, and this is where he unboxes and 0:15:14.040 --> 0:15:18.000 reviews incredible breakfast cereals. Welcome to Part Time Genius, Gabe, 0:15:18.240 --> 0:15:20.720 Thanks for having me. I'm I'm a fan of the podcast, 0:15:20.760 --> 0:15:22.360 so I'm honored to be on the show. Thank you 0:15:22.440 --> 0:15:24.360 so much. Now, I know you're out in Los Angeles. 0:15:24.400 --> 0:15:26.840 Man Guesh is actually on vacation today. He's out on 0:15:26.880 --> 0:15:30.320 your coast in Portland's so he sends his best But 0:15:30.600 --> 0:15:32.600 but I hope you're still willing to chat with me today, 0:15:33.160 --> 0:15:35.600 of course, of course. All right, now, so, Gay, we've 0:15:35.600 --> 0:15:38.520 read that you have over three hundred Cereal boxes in 0:15:38.520 --> 0:15:41.000 your collection, and I have to ask, like, how did 0:15:41.040 --> 0:15:44.280 you get into this? In the first place, and what 0:15:44.400 --> 0:15:47.800 are some of your more prized cereal boxes. You know, 0:15:47.800 --> 0:15:49.760 I've always been a collector, and I think at one 0:15:49.800 --> 0:15:51.840 point I saw Old Spider Man, So I think that 0:15:51.880 --> 0:15:55.440 was my first box. Um, it was from Zerio and 0:15:55.560 --> 0:15:57.440 I saw it on eBay when I was just browsing, 0:15:57.480 --> 0:15:59.320 and I was like, that'd be cool to have on 0:15:59.360 --> 0:16:02.800 my bookshelf, and I bought it and then uh, and 0:16:02.800 --> 0:16:04.120 then I was like, well, you know what, there are 0:16:04.120 --> 0:16:05.800 some other ones that I remember from back in the day, 0:16:05.840 --> 0:16:07.560 and and then it kind of just turned into this 0:16:07.640 --> 0:16:10.440 black hole on eBay where I just was was scouring 0:16:10.480 --> 0:16:12.560 and finding old cereals that that brought back to these 0:16:12.560 --> 0:16:15.440 nostalgic memories to me. Wow. Wow, Now I think I've 0:16:15.440 --> 0:16:17.720 read that you've tried some even some like thirty year 0:16:17.720 --> 0:16:21.360 old cereals. Is this right? Yeah? Yeah. When I first 0:16:21.400 --> 0:16:24.160 started this unboxing channel on YouTube, and I started it 0:16:24.160 --> 0:16:26.360 because I started to run out a room of just 0:16:26.400 --> 0:16:29.080 having these unopened cereal boxes on my shelf and it 0:16:29.120 --> 0:16:30.840 was like, you know, this is just taking up space 0:16:30.840 --> 0:16:33.320 and this is kind of silly. I could just flatten 0:16:33.400 --> 0:16:36.560 them out, so I I decided like, well, let's for posterity. 0:16:36.640 --> 0:16:39.520 Let's just record myself opening these boxes and and you know, 0:16:39.600 --> 0:16:41.760 recording with the cereal looks like and documenting it so 0:16:41.800 --> 0:16:45.200 I'll have it, you know, for posterity. And uh. And 0:16:45.240 --> 0:16:46.960 I never thought I was like going to try him, 0:16:46.960 --> 0:16:49.640 and then I'd opened some boxes and uh, I'd be like, well, 0:16:49.720 --> 0:16:51.600 let me just see if it holds up. I think 0:16:51.600 --> 0:16:54.120 the oldest one I might have tried was a grim 0:16:54.240 --> 0:16:58.200 smiles giggles and last cereal, which was from the seventies, 0:16:58.240 --> 0:17:00.800 I believe, and it was pretty grass guessing. Oh man, 0:17:00.800 --> 0:17:04.000 they're terrible. They just don't you know. It tastes mostly 0:17:04.040 --> 0:17:06.040 like it tastes like the plastic in a way. It 0:17:06.000 --> 0:17:09.000 takes great toxic and disgusting. But I would I definitely 0:17:09.040 --> 0:17:11.640 do not recommend it. I can't imagine now. In terms 0:17:11.640 --> 0:17:13.440 of cereals, are there any that you wish you could 0:17:13.520 --> 0:17:16.440 have tasted if you could go back in time? Yeah. Absolutely. 0:17:16.480 --> 0:17:19.080 There's one from before my time, in the seventies called 0:17:19.080 --> 0:17:21.600 It's a Great Fellow. It was actually, um they released 0:17:21.640 --> 0:17:24.000 a Great Fellow and Baron von red Berry. There were 0:17:24.000 --> 0:17:26.720 General Mills cereals and uh, this is a Great Fellow 0:17:26.760 --> 0:17:30.040 one tasted like you know, grape the grape cereal or 0:17:30.119 --> 0:17:32.199 grape kool aid, I imagine I never actually got to 0:17:32.200 --> 0:17:34.560 try it, but I'm a I'm a sucker for great 0:17:34.600 --> 0:17:37.600 flavored things. And uh and even though I got a 0:17:38.040 --> 0:17:40.320 Nerds cereal which came out in the eighties, which I 0:17:40.359 --> 0:17:42.320 which I got to try back and back then, I 0:17:42.920 --> 0:17:45.760 it just wasn't the same, you know, it wasn't it 0:17:45.840 --> 0:17:47.879 wasn't that great great flavor. It was kind of it 0:17:48.000 --> 0:17:50.760 wasn't a great cereal, and Sir, great fellow, just just 0:17:50.880 --> 0:17:52.719 like I look at the ad campaigns I see on 0:17:52.720 --> 0:17:55.280 YouTube and I'm just like this, this was like, this 0:17:55.320 --> 0:17:57.440 is great. I really wish I was alive for this one. 0:17:57.480 --> 0:17:59.480 I could I could try that one. Yeah yeah, Now, 0:17:59.480 --> 0:18:01.320 how about any boxes you'd love to add to your 0:18:01.320 --> 0:18:04.080 collection but haven't been able to get ahold of? For me? 0:18:04.160 --> 0:18:06.199 I I kind of at this point, I feel like 0:18:06.200 --> 0:18:08.280 I'm at peace and I've kind of completed my collection 0:18:08.359 --> 0:18:12.399 and kind of everything I want. There is one really 0:18:12.480 --> 0:18:15.320 random cereal from General Mills in the nineties. It was 0:18:15.359 --> 0:18:18.280 called Buen Alitos, and I remember it. It was on 0:18:18.320 --> 0:18:21.160 shelves for a limited time, and I just can't find 0:18:21.160 --> 0:18:23.560 a box of that anywhere, and that's probably like the 0:18:23.640 --> 0:18:26.159 last you know, my great you know, white whale that 0:18:26.200 --> 0:18:28.640 I'm trying to obtain. Still, I don't know, Gabe. I'm 0:18:28.640 --> 0:18:30.600 hearing in your voice that maybe you're not quite at 0:18:30.600 --> 0:18:33.720 piece yet until you find that so off, if if, 0:18:34.000 --> 0:18:35.920 if any of our listeners out there know how to 0:18:35.960 --> 0:18:38.800 get ahold of some did you say bueno altos? Yes, 0:18:39.480 --> 0:18:41.040 all right, we'll see what we can do for you. 0:18:41.359 --> 0:18:43.879 There'll be a free part time Genius t shirt on 0:18:43.920 --> 0:18:46.760 the line for these people. But but before we let 0:18:46.840 --> 0:18:50.320 you go, Mango did leave me a quiz titled the 0:18:50.359 --> 0:18:53.560 Most Important Meal Quiz of the Day. So I'm gonna 0:18:53.560 --> 0:18:56.400 ask you a few questions if you obscure serial questions, 0:18:56.400 --> 0:18:57.800 and all you gotta do is answer them. How does 0:18:57.800 --> 0:19:00.840 that sound? All right? I'll give it my best, alright? 0:19:00.920 --> 0:19:04.199 Question number one. According to a nineteen fifty six confidential 0:19:04.240 --> 0:19:08.440 magazine report, what breakfast cereal was supposedly responsible for Frank 0:19:08.520 --> 0:19:14.000 Sinatra's success with women? It is Wheaties. Yeah. The article 0:19:14.000 --> 0:19:17.320 claimed that Sinatra could thank Wheati's for his reputation as 0:19:17.359 --> 0:19:23.000 the quote Tarzan of the Boudoir. So yes, congratulations there, alright? 0:19:23.040 --> 0:19:27.000 One for one. Question number two. Before a certain tiger 0:19:27.040 --> 0:19:29.800 became spokes animal for this breakfast cereal, he had to 0:19:29.840 --> 0:19:33.399 beat out three other contenders, Elmo the Elephant, Newt the 0:19:33.400 --> 0:19:37.560