Then and Now: How Cereal Mascots Have Changed

It’s funny to think as an adult how bland and tasteless my box of Fruity Pebbles might be without the unshaven, spastic faces of Fred, Barney and the rest of The Flintstones gang adorning its rainbow splattered box. True, though, there exist cereals that avoid the mascot schtick (often geared towards health-conscious adults) my favorite brands will always be the ones that capture my attention visually with their assortment of colorful characters and oft-times zany adventures. For my money those Photoshop-ed boxes of of bran will simply never compare to a strawberry-flavored Frankenstein’s Monster or the rest of his fruity brood no matter how hard they try.

That said, I thought it might be fun to take a look at some of breakfast’s most famous icons to see how they’ve changed over the years. It’s interested to note that not only the mascots have changed, but the name of some of the cereals as well– many dropping the “sugar” portion of their name for a “healthier” sounding alternative.