The monstercereals are a line of breakfast cereals produced by General Mills Corporation in North America. The line was introduced in 1971, and at various times has included five brands, each featuring a cartoon version of a classic movie monster: Count Chocula, Franken Berry, and Boo Berry, as well as Fruit Brute and Fruity Yummy Mummy.
History
In March 1971, the first two cereals in the line were introduced, the chocolate-flavored Count Chocula and the strawberry-flavored Franken Berry. In the commercials, the two monsters, Count Alfred Chocula and Franken Berry, would engage in comic bickering over which cereal was better, when something or someone else interfered in their verbal sparring and scared them out of their wits. In February 1972, Franken Berry cereal included an indigestible pigment that turned some children's feces pink, a symptom sometimes referred to as "Franken Berry Stool". The Count Chocula and Franken Berry recipes were reformulated to remove this pigment. Count Chocula and Franken Berry sold well, although Boo Berry and Fruit Brute were less popular. Boo Berry, reputedly the first blueberry-flavored cereal, was released in December 1973, and Fruit Brute in 1974. Fruit Brute was discontinued by 1982 and replaced in 1987 by Fruity Yummy Mummy, which was discontinued in 1992. In 2010, Betty Crocker released Franken Berry and Boo Berry Fruit Roll-Ups. General Mills released Count Chocula cereal bars. Since 2010, Franken Berry, Boo Berry, and Count Chocula cereals have been manufactured and sold only for a few months during the autumn/Halloween season in September and October. As of late 2010, information such as nutrition data and historical facts can still be found on the official General Mills website at all times of the year. In August 2013, General Mills released all five monster cereals for purchase during the Halloween season. Both Fruit Brute, which was being released for the first time in 31 years, and Fruity Yummy Mummy, which was being released for the first time in 21 years, received updated packaging like the other cereals. Additionally, it was revealed on I-Mockery that special retro edition boxes of all five cereals with their original packaging art would be sold exclusively at Target stores. In 2014, General Mills enlisted the help of DC Comics to create new designs for the cereals in time for that Halloween. The designs, revealed on August 6, consisted of a Boo Berry design by Jim Lee, a Count Chocula design by Terry Dodson and a Franken Berry design by Dave Johnson.
Prizes
During the initial decade of production until the early 1980s, the monster cereals were also known for their wide variety of both in-pack and mail-away cereal premiums. Many items, such as posters, stickers, paint sets, speedster cars, parachutes, and even vinyl advertising figures were produced.
