Buzz
The breakfast cereal industry is highly competitive. Manufacturers have employed a range of colorful strategies to attract young buyers. While some products have remained beloved mainstays in cereal aisles, others enjoyed only short-lived success, now existing only in our memories and in old commercials recorded on VHS. If you're looking to reminisce, take a trip down memory lane with these discontinued cereals from the 1970s, '80s, and '90s.
1. Crazy Cow
The creators of this now-defunct General Mills product understood that the best part of cereal was often the sweet milk left behind. Each box of Crazy Cow contained cereal coated with flavored powder that dissolved in milk. The chocolate version made its own chocolate milk, while the strawberry-flavored variety turned the milk pink with a fruity flavor. Despite the clever concept, Crazy Cow didn’t make it past the '70s.
2. Banana Frosted Flakes
Frosted Flakes has introduced various special flavors over the years, but few have achieved the legendary status of the banana variety from the early '80s. Banana Frosted Flakes featured real banana pieces baked onto each flake, ensuring kids received a bit of nutrition with their sugary breakfast. Although the fruity cereal didn’t become a permanent fixture in Kellogg’s lineup, it made a brief return in 2019 with the limited-edition Banana Creme Frosted Flakes flavor.
3. Waffleos
Shaped cereals have been a winning concept for decades, and Ralston, the company behind the '80s tie-in novelty cereal craze, followed suit with Waffleos, a bite-sized waffle-shaped cereal introduced in 1979. Available in maple and blueberry flavors, the box featured a cartoon cowboy wearing a 10-gallon hat—perfectly designed to catch the eye. Unfortunately, Waffleos were pulled from the market in 1982, and although other waffle-shaped cereals have since appeared, it remains a nostalgic favorite.
4. Cinna-Crunch Pebbles
Fruity Pebbles and Cocoa Pebbles are two of the most successful tie-in cereals ever. In 1998, Post introduced another Flintstones-themed variety: Cinna-Crunch Pebbles. According to the commercials, the cereal was created when a meteor struck Bedrock's cinnamon bakery, with the resulting debris deemed perfect for breakfast. As far as discontinued cereals go, Cinna-Crunch Pebbles was iconic, but it vanished from shelves by 2001. In 2017, Post released a similar variant called Cinnamon Pebbles.
5. Cinnamon Mini Buns
Kellogg's launched Cinnamon Mini Buns in 1991, only to replace them two years later with Mini Swirlz Cinnamon Buns, another cereal shaped like a traditional breakfast item. This rebranded version of the cereal was discontinued for good in 2009.
6. Smurf-Berry Crunch
The success of the Smurfs cartoon led to the release of Smurf-Berry Crunch in 1982. The colorful, fruit-flavored cereal quickly became popular with kids, though it had some unexpected side effects: it was infamous for turning poop Smurf-blue. (Frankenberry experienced similar issues, with its reddish stool causing an even greater panic.) In 1987, Post replaced Smurf-Berry Crunch with a reformulated version, the short-lived Smurf Magic Berries cereal.
7. Ghostbusters Cereal
One of Ralston’s most popular tie-in products from the '80s was Ghostbusters cereal. First introduced in 1985, this ghost-shaped marshmallow-filled cereal stayed on shelves for an impressive five years, partly thanks to the animated show's popularity. Fans of the cereal got a special treat with its brief return in 2021 to promote Ghostbusters: Afterlife.
8. Sprinkle Spangles
General Mills introduced Sprinkle Spangles in the fall of 1993. This star-shaped cereal, coated with sprinkles, made its debut just a year after Disney's Aladdin (1992) and featured a cartoon genie as its mascot. The character was voiced by comedian Dom Deluise, channeling Robin Williams in the commercials. By 1995, Sprinkle Spangles was phased out of the market.
9. Vanilly Crunch
Cap’n Crunch inspired a number of popular spin-offs, including Crunch Berries and Peanut Butter Crunch. But one variation that might have slipped your mind is Vanilly Crunch. As the name implies, this was a vanilla-flavored version of Cap’n Crunch, which made its debut in the '70s. The cereal even had its own mascot, Wilma the Winsome White Whale.
10. Ice Cream Cones
While some people enjoy cookies for breakfast, ice cream cereal was apparently a step too far. Ice Cream Cones debuted in 1986, offering vanilla and chocolate chip flavors, but was pulled from shelves by 1987. It made a short comeback, however, in 2003 when General Mills re-released it to celebrate the ice cream cone’s 100th anniversary.
11. Hidden Treasures
Each piece of Hidden Treasures cereal held a mystery: some of the crispy corn squares were filled with fruit flavors (cherry, grape, or orange), while others were plain. Kids were tasked with taking spoonfuls and discovering what flavor they had. Sadly, General Mills introduced Hidden Treasures in the early '90s and discontinued it by 1995.
12. Nerds
The Ralston Food Company also introduced this tangy cereal, inspired by the famous candy. Each box contained two separate flavors and was available in two combinations: orange and cherry, or strawberry and grape. Kids could even send away for a special two-sided bowl, designed to let milk flow into one side, while cereal filled the other. The ads famously asked, “Which side are you gonna eat first?” Unfortunately, consumers chose neither, as this cereal, launched in 1985, was pulled from shelves within a year after reports that it caused red and orange-colored stool, much like Frankenberry.
