The History of Our Monsters

Remember the excitement of Halloween from your childhood? 

There were plastic pumpkin pails filled with candy, expertly carved jack-o-lanterns and brilliant costume ideas aplenty! 

And as soon as they hit the shelf, you asked your parents for Count Chocula, Franken Berry and Boo Berry. You had to try all three flavors, right? How else would you know your favorite?

All of this nostalgia sparked our curiosity, and we did some checking into the history of our monster cereals. Here's what we discovered: 

• Count Chocula and Franken Berry were both introduced in March 1971. These two flavors were the only chocolate and strawberry flavored cereals on the market at the time. 
• The first blueberry flavored cereal, Boo Berry, was launched in December 1972. 
• The monster cereals were initially the same cereal shape but with different colors and flavors (along with color-matched marshmallow bits). 
• Our monster cereals are now character-shaped, but they all used to be small cylinders shaped like a circle with a cross in the middle. 
• They were created following the success of kid-loved Lucky Charms (notice the resemblance?) which also have marshmallow bits. 
• Early commercials, like this one, helped the monster cereals become popular. And who could forget the commercial with the "Boo Hooter" prize? 
• Other monster cereals were launched (such as Fruit Brute and Fruity Yummy Mummy) but are discontinued. 
• Count Chocula, Franken Berry and Boo Berry were available year round for about 35 years. Today, the cereals make an appearance just in time for Halloween. 
• The monsters cut a record titled "Monster Adventures in Outer Space." You can hear part of it in this clip.

This story originally appeared on A Taste of General Mills.