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Why Was the 80s the Golden Age for Sugary Cereals?
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Mar 31, 2025
Weird History Food is gonna get a bowl and some milk for this look back at the History of 80s Sugary Cereals. Thanks to some deregulation in the early 80s, kids saw a flood of delicious sugary cereals, often with movie or toy tie-ins, make their way onto the shelves of grocery stores across the United States. This Cereal History video is not going to get soggy. Dig in!
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0:00
I'm the master rapper and I'm here to sing
0:02
Can't get enough super golden crisp. These guys can handle it. Tony the Tiger, Cap'n Crunch, the Rice Krispies elves
0:10
and many more colorful characters have been hawking breakfast cereal to kids for decades
0:14
But there hasn't been a period of gung-ho excess quite like the 1980s
0:19
Loaded with sugar, decorated with licensed characters from the biggest cartoons and movies
0:24
and stuffed with fun prizes, the 80s saw breakfast cereal undergo its biggest transformation in history
0:31
And things have never been the same since. Today, we're going to investigate why the 80s was the golden age for sugary cereals
0:40
Okay, time to crack open a fresh gallon of milk and clip out those UPCs
0:50
The man who brought cereal into the mainstream was Dr. John Harvey Kellogg
0:54
In 1876, Kellogg took over the Battle Creek Sanitarium in Battle Creek, Michigan
1:00
Kellogg believed the key to good health was a simple diet and regular exercise
1:05
But in his view, a simple diet meant land is all hell
1:09
He steered patients away from salty, spicy, and fatty foods. And he prescribed a vegetarian diet for many, including himself
1:19
Among his many questionable and flat-out incorrect claims, He believed that a proper diet would keep his patients from engaging in sexual activity
1:27
which he also thought was bad for your health. You probably don't want to take medical advice from a Corn Flakes guy
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Because Kellogg's list of banned foods included, well, most food, he began to experiment with creating something new that would meet his limited criteria
1:42
Then one day, around 1877, Kellogg invented the world's first ever Corn Flake
1:47
an easy-to-digest breakfast food that was meant both to help with gut health
1:52
and to reduce the onset of stomach aches and ulcers. Kellogg served his cornflakes to sanitarium patients
1:58
and they were an instant hit, the flakes, not the patients. Unfortunately for Kellogg, what then ensued was a bitter fight over cornflakes
2:07
and the Kellogg brand with his brother, Will, and his one-time patient, C.W. Post
2:12
until Will ultimately gained full control in 1906. As the new corn king in town, Will Kellogg decided to tweak the formula in a way his brother John never would have allowed
2:23
He began to add sugar. By that time, Corn Flakes had already earned a national reputation as a bland health food
2:31
Will dropped all nods towards their supposed health benefits and changed his company's marketing to play up their flavor
2:37
With advertisements that showed Corn Flakes buried under berries and that recommended giving them to children as soon as they learned to chew
2:44
the new and improved, suddenly sugary Kellogg's brand was primed and ready to make it big
2:50
And just three years later, in 1909, Kellogg's introduced the first ever cereal box prize
2:56
the Funny Jungle Land Moving Pictures Booklet. Who doesn't remember that one
3:00
After buying just two boxes of cornflakes, children the country over could mail order
3:05
their very own free book of animal illustrations. There were not a lot of exciting things
3:10
to do around the house in 1909. The campaign was such a success
3:13
that Kellogg's kept it going for 23 years. After the end of World War II many advertisers changed their marketing strategies to target teenagers and children While the pre years brought with them the likes of Sonny Jim and Snap Crackle Pop
3:33
it wasn't until 1949 that the cereal mascot arms race truly began
3:38
That year, Post's Sugar Crisp, later renamed Golden Crisp, became the first ever cereal brand to use animated cartoon characters in its television commercials
3:47
a move cigarette brands would soon emulate. It was a hit with kids everywhere
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and soon every cereal brand from Cheerios to Frosted Flakes was slapping cartoons in its commercials in an effort to appeal to kids
3:59
And as animation became a primary marketing tool for Post, Kellogg's, and General Mills alike
4:04
the big brands were going to need to start churning out some non-threatening mascots
4:08
to appeal to their young consumer base. Tony the Tiger and Trix the Rabbit were grandfathered in from the 1950s
4:14
But between 1961 and 1965 alone, Sonny the Cuckoo, Toucan Sam, Cat and Crunch, Lucky the Leprechaun, and Sugar Bear
4:23
all debuted to advertise their new, more sugary-than-ever cereals. I can't get enough of that sugar crisp, sugar crisp
4:31
It's a honey of a snack, you know. With this nuanced lot of TV cereal mascots
4:35
along with television programming that targeted kids in all sorts of other ways
4:39
parent groups and corporate watchdogs took notice. And in 1968, a grassroots foundation called Action for Children's Television was formed
4:48
Their primary objective? To replace violent children's cartoons and shows with more educational programming
4:54
A.K.A. to suck all the fun out of everything. They also went after the ways shows sold products to children
5:01
They specifically targeted a little show called Romper Room, which had its own lineup of toys that were subtly advertised during its episodes
5:12
With parents more worried than ever before about the ways in which marketers were reaching their children
5:17
the Federal Communications Commission considered an outright ban on advertisements that targeted kids
5:23
Still, they were too slow moving to stop the Flintstones from getting their own cereal brand
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Nothing like being slower to evolve than literal cavemen. But shortly thereafter, the FCC reached a compromise with advertisers that would limit the amount of commercial time
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allowed during young children's programming and cut practices that exploded children's suggestibility
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to sell products. These restrictions gave rise to shorter interstitial programming, like Schoolhouse Rock, as networks tried to find ways
5:53
to fill up the commercial blocks that were previously reserved for advertisements. This brief renaissance of short educational programming
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came crashing down in 1981, when an actor moved into the White House
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Ronald Reagan's presidency is arguably best remembered for its deregulation of just about everything
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Remember how you were told that deregulation would lead to skyrocketing prices
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Well, the evidence is in, and the doomsayers were dead wrong. Under the guidance of Mark Fowler, Reagan's appointed head of the FCC
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restrictions on children's advertising were entirely rolled back, and the floodgates were reopened
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What came next was a tsunami of pent-up kid-focused marketing, like a suddenly unkinked fire hose once more allowed
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to spread its tendrils all across America. Gone were the days of boring old educational programming And in its place were He Who the big guy with the muscles G Joe That right it William the Refrigerator Perry
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Care Bears, Tenderheart Bear, I love you! Transformers, My Little Pony, They're also pretty, I could never pick a favorite
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You know, all the cool stuff. In the immediate aftermath of Reagan's deregulation
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there was a 300% increase in cartoons that had licensed characters. These cartoons regularly introduced new characters, vehicles, and set pieces
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just so the creators could sell an ever-expanding catalog of toys. Then they would market this catalog during the show's commercial breaks
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and kids in turn, freshly amped up from having seen their favorite Ninja Turtles bore the Turtle Blimp
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would beg their parents for a Turtle Blimp all their own, along with some Ninja Turtles to go with it
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The Blimp can't fly itself, Mom. It wasn't just toys that were being sold to kids, though
7:41
While the serial characters of the 50s, 60s, and 70s never went away, they suddenly had a lot more competition, all sponsored by existing TV and movie characters
7:50
In 1982, General Mills launched Strawberry Shortcake Cereal with its own cute animated commercial to boot, starring the popular cartoon character who had initially been created by American Greetings for a line of greeting cards
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It was an instant success, and General Mills made moves to secure more existing IPs for the growing product line
8:09
They soon released E.T. cereal, which had peanut butter and chocolate crispies
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along with a mail-in offer that gave kids across the nation the E.T. storybook album
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which featured a sort of family portrait of E.T. and Michael Jackson. Yeah, that's where it came from
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Shortly thereafter, they also came out with Pac-Man cereal, which was like Lucky Charms, but with corn pops instead of whatever the little bits that aren't marshmallows are
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Neither E.T. nor Pac-Man came anywhere near the success of Strawberry Shortcake, though
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And General Mills stopped pursuing character licenses by the mid-1980s. Kellogg's tried their hand at a few licensed cereals during this time, too
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Most notably, in 1984, the company released C-3PO's, which boasted a crunchy honey flavor
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along with cut-out cardboard masks of everyone's favorite space butler. He's their butler, right
9:01
Unfortunately, the brand suffered from having been released a year after the original Star Wars trilogy was already completed
9:08
and Star Wars hype faded considerably as the decade went on. But that didn't stop Quaker Oats from wetting its beak
9:14
It's terrific! In 1984, they released the relatively successful Mr. T cereal
9:20
which pitied crispy sweet corn and oats, along with some free stickers and enough for any fool's balanced breakfast
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It's cool! Mr. T. For almost 60 years, Ralston Purina has been researching nutrition for ways to help dogs live longer lives
9:44
With this new strategy of licensing existing characters in place, it was only a matter of time before someone else stepped up and made it their entire business model
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Time to make the donuts. Enter Ralston Purina, a pet and breakfast food conglomerate based out of St. Louis
10:00
Ralston Purina didn't have any prominent serial characters of its own, but they realized that they
10:05
could take the General Mills model and use existing characters to promote new serial brands for much less cash than it would take to create their own So they stepped right in where the other cereal companies left off and started their own never lineup of cereals in 1985
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Their first licensed property was Cabbage Patch Kids, which were at the time in the middle of a Beanie Baby-sized consumer frenzy
10:29
and saw parents fighting other parents in toy stores everywhere. It's weird how often that happens
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It's like the Equinox. Ralston Purina's Cabbage Patch Kids cereal likewise sold well
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With their foot now in the kitchen door, the company began launching product after product at breakfast tables across the nation
10:49
Grocery store shelves were stuffed full of cereals for Donkey Kong. You want to help get Donkey Kong? Give me a crunch
10:56
G.I. Joe. Bye, Mom. G.I. Joe. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. This is the cereal and this is the poster that'll turn your room into a sewer
11:06
Barbie. It is a beautiful part of this delicious breakfast. Batman. A smashing team
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Ghostbusters. First cereal box that glows in the dark with four glow-in-the-dark Ghostbuster trading cards. Fire
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And gremlins. Wait a minute. How do you pour milk on your gremlin cereal if you're not supposed to get them wet
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Each of these already enticing crossovers usually came with some sort of prize
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By buying G.I. Joe's cereal, kids could mail in to get a free camo shirt
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And Breakfast with Barbie had its very own cut-out vanity tables. The Turtles cereal even had a poor game on the back of the box
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Meanwhile, Ghostbusters simply gave out free bazooka bubblegum in its boxes. They could have at least called it ooooh bullgum
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Nintendo, it's for breakfast now. Nintendo, it's a cereal. Wow. Licensing characters for cereals lasted well into the early 90s
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with such hits as Spider-Man cereal, Rolling with marshmallows like Hot Goblins Pumpkin Bob
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And the Kingpin. Bill & Ted's Excellent Cereal. It's most excellent! And everyone's all-time favorite, Urkel O's
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I've got a great new cereal. Can I do that? However, most of them lasted only 14 to 18 months
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And when General Mills spent $570 million to purchase the Ralston portion of Ralston Purina in 1996
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they largely ended the trend of never-ending licensing. What's more, as the 90s dragged on
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consumers became increasingly critical of the amount of sugar in cereals geared towards children
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So companies began to load up their cereals with extra vitamins and minerals
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in a bid to return cereal to its original health-conscious image. When that wasn't enough, they began to reduce both the use of artificial ingredients
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and the amount of sugar they were putting into their recipes. In other words, they made cereal lame again
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And as the decades dragged on, sales dragged with them. Cereal sales decreased a whopping 17% between 2009 and 2016
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and they didn't get better from there. In 2020, in an attempt to win back lost customers
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General Mills decided to dig back into their older recipes. Gone were the days of capitulating to health nuts
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If their cereals were seen as unhealthy, sugary treats, they might as well lean into it
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So they permanently restored the 1980s recipes of Trix, Cocoa Puffs, Cookie Crisp, and Golden Grahams
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promising more nostalgic all-around goodness in every box. Now if they'd only bring back Urkelos
#Breakfast Foods
#TV Commercials