Tag Archives: general mills

31

Jul. ’16

News: General Mills Introduces a Trix “Rabbit Showdown” Competition

General Mills Trix Rabbit Showdown

Fall is approaching, which means I’m Counting down the days until I get to share the annual cereal news that I’m—quite Frankly—Berry excited about. The kind of news that no one would ever Boo.

But for now: let’s talk about Trix!

You may remember how earlier this year, General Mills chose an “Honorary Real Trix Rabbit” out of many hopeful contestants. Now the winner, Cinnabun, appears to have taken on the role of Olympic recruiter. From now until August 19th, General Mills’ Rabbit Showdown competition is looking for videos of the country’s most athletic rabbits. And if you needed a good reason to enter, the prize sounds pretty fluffing sweet:

General Mills Trix Rabbit Showdown Boxes

See, this is why the competition excites me. I’m a sucker for new packaging design, and the three winners of the Rabbit Showdown will get to appear on boxes with some of the cereal aisle’s most recognizable celebrities. It’s always been a dream of mine to be immortalized in cardboard while high-fiving Sonny the Cuckoo, so now I guess I have to learn one of those Harry Potter transfiguration spells.

Or at least just ask my doctor how many Cadbury Eggs I have to eat to be biologically classified as a rabbit. Continue reading →

Posted by . Categories: News. Tags: , . 4 Comments

24

Jul. ’16

Spooned & Spotted: Nature Valley Maple Brown Sugar & Cinnamon Granola Crunch

Nature Valley Maple Brown Sugar Granola Crunch and Nature Valley Cinnamon Granola Crunch

If you haven’t heard, I’m now a born-again granola evangelist.

See, I once doubted that granola was right for me. It felt wrong to munch on sticky Aggro Crag chunks of oats and healthy protein while I sat criss-cross applesauce in front of a Nickelodeon Guts marathon. But then a wise granola sensei taught me that “it’s not about the nutrition destination: it’s about the cinnamon syrup-coated journey.”

Or maybe I just read that on the back of an ’80s Southern Comfort Cookbook in the 10-for-$1 bin at a Salvation Army. I can’t quite remember.

Regardless, I’m ready to start seeing other granolas again. And thankfully, Nature Valley has just pushed out these new Granola Crunch pouches. Each satchel comes in either Maple Brown Sugar or Cinnamon and promises to contain the equivalent of 21 Nature Valley granola bars.

Anyone who’s ever sat on a Nature Valley granola bar, left a Nature Valley granola bar in their pocket, or even looked at a Nature Valley granola bar for more than 5 seconds knows that those things love to explode into avalanches of microscopic crumbs, so I don’t doubt Nature Valley’s claim. They probably just stuffed 21 bars into each bag and said some rude words about them behind their back.

Poor Nature Valley granola bars: too fragile for this world.

New Chex Box Designs

Oh, and here’s a bonus Spooned & Spotted for those of you who tragically don’t follow Cerealously on Instagram. Chex cereals are starting to roll out new box designs, and these ones are way more aesthetically pleasing. Posting this photo of those geometrically crisp pieces probably just made my high school geometry teacher cheer out loud without even knowing why.

I spotted both all of these products at Kroger, but if you’ve seen or tasted something awesome, you can send your picture or thoughts and have them featured on a “Spooned & Spotted” post. All you have to do is head over to our submissions page or email us at cerealously.net@gmail.com.

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08

Jul. ’16

Review: Nature Valley Chocolate Oat Bites Cereal

Nature Valley Chocolate Oat Bites Box

Please, oh please, Nature Valley Chocolate Oat Bites: you have to be better than Attack of the Clones.

Let me explain what I mean by this. I recently came to the conclusion that my experience with General Mills’ new 2016 line of Nature Valley cereals closely parallels my experience watching the Star Wars films.

Nature Valley’s “original trilogy” provided an exciting plot arc. First, Chocolate Oat Clusters brought an innovative breath of fresh air to the breakfast table. With its fudgy decadence and rich clusters, Chocolate Oat Clusters gave me A New Hope that grown-up cereal could be fun.

Then Baked Oat Bites Struck Back. With layers of sour cream doughnut complexity, it improved on Cracklin’ Oat Bran’s seemingly un-improvable formula. Finally, Honey Oat Clusters happily rounded out the saga with a Return to its predecessors’ doughnut-esque delightfulness, but it lacked a sense of cliffhanging, compelling intrigue.

I thought the fun was done there, but then Nature Valley announced two more cereals. The first, Raisin Oat Clusters, was a bit of a disappointment. It was less imaginative and more dry. And unlike the other movies, The Phantom Menace didn’t even taste like a bakery dessert!

Wait a minute—I think I mixed my metaphors there.

That’s a long-winded way of explaining how Chocolate Oat Bites—the newest Nature Valley cereal—has to break the cycle. Attack of the Clones may not have been the worst Star Wars film, but I sure wouldn’t want to watch it for breakfast every morning. Continue reading →

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01

Jul. ’16

Review: Annie’s Organic Berry Bunnies Cereal

Annie's Organic Berry Bunnies Box

“No no, you must have misheard me,” I said to the cashier. “I want to buy Annie’s Berry Bunnies cereal, not Very Moneys cereal. In fact. I don’t think Very Moneys is even grammatically correct.”

And that’s how I ended up making a cashier grimace and walking home with a $5+ box of cereal.

I’ve joked before about how Annie’s three new organic cereals are hare-raisingly expensive, and how in the case of Frosted Oat Flakes, it made me not want to purchase them again. Yet here I am, pouring another bowl of mauve & marmalade colored baby rabbits. If you weren’t impressed enough with those color names, allow me to consult my Behr Paint Color Guide and get even more specific:

“…another bowl of Muscat Grape and Acapulco Sun colored baby rabbits.”

There, that one would make even a Home Depot employee proud.

Continue reading →

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29

Jun. ’16

Cereal Time with Gabe Fonseca: Kix, Chex, Tiny Toast, and Cap’n Crunch’s Orange Creampop Crunch!

Need a YouTube series that’s kid tested, mother approved, and berry berry nostalgic? Well look no further than cereal documentarian Gabe Fonseca’s Cereal Time! This series brings colorful cereals of the past, present, and future right to your computer screen, and we want to share Gabe’s latest bowlful of videos with you.

The first is all about Kix. Kix seems to be a wildly divisive cereal: in most cases, you either grew up with sugary cereal and found Kix too bland, or you weren’t allowed to have the sweet stuff and treated Kix like a glazed oasis. Gabe, like me, falls in the former camp, but that doesn’t stop him from showcasing all of Kix’s cool extinct mascots.

Somewhere, buried in the plateaus of Montana, are the fossilized remains of that toothy cartoon cow. Continue reading →

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09

Jun. ’16

Spooned & Spotted: Nature Valley Raisin Oat Clusters and Chocolate Oat Bites

Nature Valley Raisin Oat Clusters and Nature Valley Chocolate Oat Bites

Nature Valley’s first three cereals were all delicious. They must have been successful, too, because now we’re getting two more!

Raisin Oat Clusters and Chocolate Oat Bites are joining Chocolate Oat Clusters, Baked Oat Bites, and Honey Oat Clusters, all debuted earlier this year from General Mills’ resident granola-smiths at Nature Valley.

If my experiences with Nature Valley’s first three offerings—which all tasted like baked goods for some reason—are to be believed, Raisin Oat Clusters will taste like a cinnamon raisin bagel, while Chocolate Oat Bites will be like miniature chocolate doughnut flavored Cracklin’ Oat Bran.

Yep, I’m gonna start surfing Craigslist now for bulk deals on larger sized pants. Maybe I’ll pick up a sketchy old mattress and a bag of soggy fireworks while I’m there, too.

To all readers who would like to see their picture or thoughts featured on a “Spooned & Spotted” post (yours truly spotted these at Kroger), head over to our submissions page, or just email us at cerealously.net@gmail.com.

Posted by . Categories: Specials. Tags: , , , . 1 Comment

06

Jun. ’16

Review: General Mills Strawberry Tiny Toast and Blueberry Tiny Toast Cereals

Tiny Toast Boxes

The first toaster was invented in 1893.

The first fully functional bread slicer came in 1928.

And in 2016, General Mills released Tiny Toast cereal. Shortly after, bread historians declared a new era of toast prosperity: the Golden Brown Age.

You see, since Cinnamon Toast Crunch isn’t shaped like bread, and since French Toast isn’t made in a toaster, that makes Strawberry and Blueberry Tiny Toast the first truly toast-themed cereals ever made.

It’s hard to believe that Tiny Toast is also General Mills’ first new cereal brand in 15+ years. The only thing harder to believe is that humans had to slice bread by hand like barbarians in order to make toasty delight for 35 whole years.

But it’s true: GM’s last new brand was Harmony Cereal in 2001, a short-lived cereal marketed specifically for women. I’m glad that Tiny Toast is aimed at the much more universal audience of “bread lovers,” and as a self-professed “bread head” myself, I’m just as grateful that both flavors now sit in a bowl before me.

No more loafin’ around: let’s roll!

Continue reading →

Posted by . Categories: Reviews. Tags: , , , , . 11 Comments

30

May. ’16

What’s New on “Cereal Time with Gabe Fonseca?”

Ready those recliners and steady your novelty wooden back scratchers, because we want to share another hearty bunch of videos from Gabe Fonseca’s Cereal Time YouTube series. Speaking of bunches, Gabe has covered everything from Honey Bunches to Cap’n Crunch.

His show gives a nostalgic and fun exposé on a different cereal each week. For cereal junkies like me, it’s more addicting than, well, a bowl of Reese’s Puffs.

While we’re on the topic of peanut butter and chocolate (and when aren’t we on the topic of the greatest flavor combination ever invented? A big thanks to George Washington Carver and Montezuma for making it possible), let’s start with Gabe’s first video on E.T. Cereal.

Anyone who has seen the movie E.T. knows that the titular alien’s favorite candy is Reese’s Pieces. As a result, his cereal was given the same flavors. As Gabe mentions, E.T.’s favorite candy was originally supposed to be M&M’s, but the rights couldn’t be secured. While I’m sad that the movie missed out on a lot of good “Mars” puns, I’m glad we got a more interesting cereal flavor out of the deal than boring ol’ chocolate.

Besides, M&M’s don’t hold up well in milk. Trust me: I know. Continue reading →

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