General Mills Resurrects 4 Classic Monster Cereals

Monster fans grab your bowls and spoons. General Mills, whose cereals have been canonized in our collective imaginations with iconic brands like Cheerios, Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Lucky Charms, has brought back its annual monster cereals for a limited-edition release. You know, the scary cereals like Franken Berry, Count Chocula, Boo-Berry, and for the first time in nearly a decade, Frute Brute!

American artist and monster enthusiast KAWS even got in on the fun and created the cereal box designs for all four boxes. Each one harkens back to classic images that have been part of the American breakfast experience for the last half-century.

History of the Monster Cereals

These ghastly goofball cereals have roots that date back to the early 1970s when the iconic Count Chocula and Franken Berry arrived on the breakfast scene to the delight of every young boy or girl (and their parents). At the time they were the only chocolate and strawberry-flavored cereals on the market, making them instant hits.

Their debut was followed up in 1972 with the addition of Boo-Berry, the first-ever blueberry-flavored cereal.

General Mills used "frightfully fun" promotions to fuel the cereals' popularities, which included everything from toys inside the cereal boxes to animated commercials during kids' television programming. General Mills even praised the nutritious aspects of the cereals to parents, which further drove sales and excitement around the brand.

Frute Brute (originally Fruit Brute) hit shelves for the first time in 1974 but was sent back to the General Mills vault in 1982. The cereal is making an appearance for the first time since 2013 and will round out this year's seasonal spooky cereals. Don't remember Frute Brute? You might have seen it on the big screen in one of its several "appearances" in a handful of 1990s blockbusters, including Quentin Tarantino's "Pulp Fiction" and "Reservoir Dogs."

Collaboration With KAWS

Artist collaborations are nothing new to the monster cereal empire. In 1998, General Mills worked with Hillary Duff and "Casper the Friendly Ghost" for a cross promotion for the "Casper Meets Wendy" film release. DC Comics artists worked with the brand in 2014 to create limited edition cereal box art for the Boo-Berry, Count Chocula and Franken Berry releases.

This year's partnership with KAWS, a longtime fan of the cereals and monster fan in general, includes a limited number of KAWS-designed collectible prizes that fans can win via a sweepstakes through Dec. 1, 2022. KAWS, whose art includes paintings, murals, graphic design, street art and large-scale sculptures, also has collaborated with iconic brands and artists in the past, including Disney, Sesame Street and Peanuts. But these are his first cereal box art.

"It's been a thrill to collaborate with General Mills and Monster Cereals," KAWS said in a press statement. "I've been a big fan of the cereals since I was a kid. Even now, I love the original box designs and the creativity and imagination they invoke."

The monster cereals were available year-round up until 2009, when they were shelved for annual appearances around Halloween.