Earlier this week I ran a Lenny Poll on popular 80’s breakfast cereals. When researching it a found a vast array of cereals I didn’t even know existed (at the time). If you’ve ever seen the movie “Moscow on the Hudson”, well, lets just say I was starting to feel like Robin Williams’ character Vladimir, when he goes grocery shopping for the first time in America and is overwhelmed by the choices compared to what he was used to in his homeland Russia.
The Free Market can be daunting at times, and coming into strong economy (like that of the 1980’s) companies not only like to take chances, but love to copy each other and capitalize on successful trends. For whatever reason Breakfast Cereals became all the craze. Soon every Cartoon worth it’s salt had to have one. Even some Movies and Video games got in on it!
It wasn’t all sugar though. There was a huge health nut craze in the 80’s which spawned a plethora of new “healthy cereals” as well.
Overall, the Breakfast Cereal craze was totally out of control. Very few brands managed to survive for very long, but they left us with some fond memories anyway.
Here’s a few of those Commercials I found on Youtube
Mr. T Cereal
E.T. Cereal
Donkey Kong Cereal
Below is a comprehensive list of most the amazing breakfast options you probably missed if you weren’t a kid in the 1980’s… or maybe you didn’t?
Entertainment Branded Cereals
- Mr. T Cereal
- Rainbow Brite Cereal
- Pac-Man Cereal
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Cereal
- Strawberry Shortcake Cereal
- C-3P0’s
- Smurf Berry Crunch
- Smurf Magic Berries
- Gremlins Cereal
- G.I. Joe Cereal
- Dino Pebbels
- Cabbage Patch Kids Cereal
- Ghostbusters Cereal
- Breakfast with Barbie
- Nintendo Cereal System
- Cröonchy Stars Cereal (Swedish Chef, Muppets)
- Orange Blossom Cereal
- Donkey Kong Cereal
- Garfield Cereal
- Transformers Cereal
- Batman Cereal
- Bozo’s Little O’s Cereal
- Mickey Mouse Magic Crunch
- California Raisins Cereal
- Ghostbusters 2 Cereal
- Donkey Kong Jr. Cereal
Sugary Kids Cereals
- Dunkin’ Donuts Cereal
- Ice Cream Cones Cereal
- Rocky Road
- Cinnamon Mini Buns
- Fruit Islands
- Waffle O’s
- Crispy Critters
- Circus Fun
- Fruity Yummy Mummy
- Banana Frosted Flakes
- Nerds Cereal
- Morning Funnies
- S’mores Crunch
- Marshmallow Krispies
- Donutz Cereal
- Dinky Donuts
- Super Golden Crisp
- Cracker Jack Cereal
- Choco Crunch
- Wishing Stars
- Strawberry Honeycomb Cereal
- Cinnamon Toast Crunch
- Dinersaurs Cereal
- Crisp Crunch Cereal
- Tootie Fruities
Health Kick Cereals
- Apple Raisin Crisp
- OJ’s
- Raisin Squares
- Body Buddies
- Honey Nut Corn Flakes
- Wheat & Raisin Chex Cereal
- Raisins Rice & Rye
- Corn Bran
- Nutri-Grain Cereal
- Fruit & Fibre
- Fruit & Nut Granola Cereal
- Raisin Grape Nuts
- Malt-O-Meal Raisin Bran
- Crispix
- Crispy Oatmeal & Raisin Chex Cereal
- Double Chex
- Pro Stars (Wayne Gretzky)
- Bran Muffin Crisp
- Just Right Cereal
- Honey Nut Toasty O’s
- K-O’s
- Almond Delight Cereal
- Clusters Cereal
- Fruit Wheats Cereal
- Horizon Cereal
- Mueslix Cereal
- Nutrific Cereal
- Pro Grain Cereal
- Raisin Nut Bran
- Oat Squares
- Common Sense Oat Bran
- Mana Millet Rice Flakes Cereal
- Honey & Nut Crunch Biscuits
- Cracklin’ Oat Bran
- Apple Cinnamon Cheerios
- Oatbake Cereal
- Heartwise Cereal
- Honey Bunches of Oats
The trend lasted well into the 90’s and even continues today. While most of the brands fade away there are very few that stand the test of time.
Parting Bonus Video
Night Owl Questions of the Day
How many listed Breakfast cereals have you tried? What is your favorite?
