Monster Cereal Smackdown: Fruity Yummy Mummy

To celebrate the return of the vintage packaging for the "Monster Cereals" from General Mills, I'll be running a series of blog posts that explore each product. I was a kid when these cereals were first introduced, so they hold a lot of fun memories for me (even though I really only remember the first three produced). Being in Canada, I was lucky enough that one of my relatives was able to pick up all five vintage boxes at a Target store, since they're only for sale in the United States--and it's the first time that all five are available at once!

First up is Yummy Mummy, the "orange cream flavor frosted cereal with spooky-fun marshmallows" (shortly after being introduced, "Fruity" was added to the name). This cereal had a limited run back in the day, from 1987 through 1992. I was at university by then, so I have no recollection of this one (and by that time breakfast for me consisted of black coffee and left-over pizza). So eating this was a new experience--and boy, was it tasty! I managed to get through the entire box in less than a week (the things I do for science!).

I can't say for sure if it truly tasted like "orange cream" but the flavour was...fruity...so it definitely lived up to that description. The cereal itself consists of orange, red and yellow-ish shapes that vaguely resemble the ghosts from Pac-Man. The "spooky-fun" marshmallows were little bundles of sugar, as expected, and kind of looked like monster heads. I guess. (To a child's eyes, I'm sure everything was exactly as described.)

On the left is the re-release packaging, while on the right is an original box c. 1989:

(I personally prefer the bat marshmallows!!)

Here's the original commercial, which would have first aired in the late '80s. Oddly enough, the Mummy's voice kind of sounds like Wolfman Jack:

Next up is the cereal that Fruity Yummy Mummy replaced: Frute Brute, the "cherry flavor frosted cereal with spooky-fun marshmallows" (on the shelves from c. 1974-82). At first blush, both are very similar, except the latter only has the red and yellow-ish ghost shapes (not all three)--and, of course, it features a werewolf instead of a mummy.

I'll need a couple of days off to come down from my sugar high before I crack open the next box...