Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Monster Cereal Smackdown: Boo Berry


This third entry is part of a series that celebrates the return of the vintage packaging for the "Monster Cereals" from General Mills. This retro packaging was only available in the United States, but many industrious Canadians (like me!) found a way to get their hands on a few boxes. It's taking me a while to work my way through each of the cereals, but I'm pushing on, despite the constant sugar high and the adverse affect that so much artificial colouring is having on my, um, system.

The taste test this time around is for Boo Berry, which I consider to be one of the "original three" Monster Cereals, even though it wasn't released until 1973 (two years after the debut of Franken Berry and Count Chocula). Boo Berry is described as the "artificial berry flavor frosted cereal + marshmallow bits," which is a fairly accurate description. The taste was distinct from the other two "fruity" cereals (Fruity Yummy Mummy & Frute Brute), and definitely hinted of blueberries--and apparently this was the first cereal to champion this flavour. As you can see in the picture, however, the cereal itself is a charcoal-grey, and definitely not blue. This one also seemed less sweeter, although there appeared to be an equal amount of marshmallow bits when compared to the other cereals.

On the left is the re-release packaging, while on the right is an original box c. 1985:


(No fun toys are included with the new cereals...)

Finally, here's one of the first commercials for Boo Berry. If you look closely enough, you'll see the original packaging from the 1970s. Much like how the other monster's voices are inspired by genre actors, the Boo Berry character sounds very much like Edward G. Robinson:


Coming up next: Franken Berry, one of the first two Monster Cereals released in 1971.


0 comments:

Post a Comment