DUNKIN' DONUTS CEREAL

 

DUNKIN’ DONUTS CEREAL
 
Ralston

 

 

            Dunkin’ Donuts, now known as simply Dunkin’, is a multinational quick service restaurant. Founded in 1950 by Bill Rosenberg (after opening as Open Kettle in 1948), the chain’s original claim to fame was its donuts and coffee; the two most popular items when he used to sell food to factories and construction sites. The chain continued to expand to include more items on its menu, particularly of the breakfast variety, and almost 13,000 restaurants. Beginning in 1981, Dunkin’ Donuts ran an ad campaign with an advertising mascot called Fred the Baker, portrayed by actor Michael Vale, whose catchphrase was “Time to make the donuts”. The campaign was incredibly popular, with the phrase’s debut commercial being named one of the five best commercials of the 1980s by the Television Bureau of Advertising. When the character was retired in 1997, by fan demand the company created an entire celebration around him including a parade in Boston and a “free donut” day. In 2019, the company began removing “Donuts” from its name to symbolize its new status as a “beverage-led” company, focusing on coffee, tea, and speedy to-go service.

            In 1988, the company attempted to expand into the breakfast market with Dunkin’ Donuts cereal. Produced by Ralston, the cereal featured three shapes representing their donuts: standard ring shapes, round balls for their Munchkins (donut holes), and figure eights. They came in two flavor varieties: glazed and chocolate. Of course, this wasn’t the first donut-inspired cereal on the market, as Ralston had released on in 1980 called Dinky Donuts and General Mills’ Powdered Donutz. Dunkin’s cereal was as short-lived as those two; lasting only a year despite the commercials and the box featuring Fred. Premiums included a send-away offer for a Dunkin’ Donuts-branded duffle bag, a flashlight, a card trick system branded by magician Harry Blackstone Jr., Nintendo trading cards with a chance to win a NES, and a back-to-school kit featuring a pencil case with pencils, erasers, a ruler and a sharpener. The cereal was also part of Ralson’s line-wide promotion offering a real Porsche.

Interactive ad for the cereal.

PRINCE OF THIEVES CEREAL

PRINCE OF THIEVES CEREAL

Ralston

            By now the story of Robin Hood is well-known. Robin of Locksley returned to England from the Crusades to discover that interim ruler Prince John had run roughshod over the citizenry with the aid of the crooked Sheriff of Nottingham. Locksley joined up with a group of misfits known as the Merry Men and set siege to John’s empire by robbing from the wealthy and giving it back to the poor.

            The story has been the basis of countless retellings across various media. 1991’s version was Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, written by Pen Densham and John Watson, directed by Kevin Reynolds, and starring Kevin Costner in the title role. Despite mixed reviews and negative criticism directed at the screenplay and Costner’s performance, the film went on to gross over $390.5 million; making it the second-highest grossing film of the year. It also featured the hit Bryan Adams song “(Everything I Do) I Do It For You”.

The match game box.

            As part of the film’s promotional and merchandising campaign, Ralston acquired the rights to produce a cereal based on it. However, this cereal ended up being a bit of an oddity in the licensed cereal field. For starters, it lacked all Robin Hood branding was called simply Prince of Thieves Cereal. Instead of using a photo still of Costner from the film or even the movie’s poster, a Robin Hood-esque drawing was put on the box bearing no resemblance to the actor. An earlier prototype box had Robin looking even less like the film’s version with a more traditional outfit and accompanying hat. The cereal itself had fruit-flavored pieces shaped like arrows (although, they took on a more unfortunate shape in reality) with blue and green sprinkles.

Movie poster giveaway.

            Like the film, the cereal ended up selling well enough to remain on store shelves for two years. During that time, it came with several activities on its box. One featured cards that could be cut out for a memory matching game. Another had arrows that could be cut out of the side panel and “shot” at a target gallery drawn onto the back panel or at enemies to rescue a princess. Another saw the box able to be turned into a small castle complete with people to populate it. One box featured a board game on the back panel with a die that could be cut out of the side and folded together. At one time, a free movie poster was offered inside as well as a send-away offer for a pop-up atlas.

Build your own castle!

The game box.

Shooting game boxes.

The prototype box.

BREAKFAST WITH BARBIE CEREAL

BREAKFAST WITH BARBIE CEREAL

Ralston

            Watching her daughter Barbara play with paper dolls and giving them adult roles, Ruth Handler suggested making an adult-bodied doll to her husband, Elliot. Ruth and Elliot, by the way, just happened to be the co-founders of the Mattel toy company. He and the company’s directors saw no merit in the idea until 1956, when Ruth brought back a Bild Lilli doll from Germany. The doll was based on a popular comic strip character that was initially sold to adults, but became popular with children who enjoyed dressing her in a variety of outfits as Ruth had in mind for her own doll. Ruth and engineer Jack Ryan redesigned the doll, named it Barbie after her daughter, and introduced it to the world at the American International Toy Fair on March 9, 1959.

            The doll became an instant success, thanks largely in part to the television advertising campaign never before utilized for that type of toy. A wide number of accessories were made for the doll, ranging from clothing to habitats. The line was gradually expanded to include a long-term boyfriend, Ken (named after Ruth’s son), ethnically diverse representation, younger sisters, and dolls based on famous people or fictional characters. The most notable part of the doll, and part of her lasting appeal, was the fact that Barbie was depicted in a multitude of occupations; many of which were progressive for their time. Since the doll’s debut, the Barbie brand has expanded to a multimedia franchise including video games, books and movies.

Super Star, Dance Club, Beach Blast, Cool Times and the promo box.

            In 1989, to celebrate Barbie’s 30^th anniversary, Ralston licensed the rights to produce a cereal based on the doll. Breakfast with Barbie Cereal was a fruity cereal in the shapes of hearts, bows, stars, cars and the letter “B” in yellow, orange, pink and purple. The box came in hot pink like the Barbie packaging and featured one of five different dolls throughout its lifespan: Super Star Barbie, Beach Blast Barbie, Dance Club Barbie, Cool Times Barbie and Happy Holidays Barbie. A sixth promotional box sent out to supermarkets featured Super Star Barbie holding an award against a different background. The marketing for the cereal included playing on the nostalgia of mothers who had a Barbie growing up and encouraging them to share that experience with their own daughters. To battle growing health concerns over sugary cereals, it was also marketed as having less sugar than leading competitors.

Ad for the cereal with a coupon playing on nostalgia and health concerns.

            Although a doll didn’t come packaged in the cereal (like they would in later cereal promotions), Ralston was sure to incorporate some fun into their product. The back of the Super Star box could be converted into a small vanity table by cutting out a part of the back panel and taping a piece of tinfoil inside of it to act as a mirror. The Beach Blast box came with a beach scene on the back with a challenge to find objects hidden in it, as well as an offer for one of two Barbie books. The Dance Club box featured instructions for how to do “The Barbie dance” as well as a coupon for accessories for the doll. The Cool Times box came with nail stickers inside and a coupon for the Barbie Soda Shoppe playset or her ’57 Chevy convertible. The Happy Holidays box was the big one, being accompanied by a competition to win a real diamond worth $4000. The winner was selected by finding a “Diamond Dazzle Scope” inside (a distorted diamond-like clear plastic piece that could be held by a simple cardboard tube and looked through) that was marked with “WINNER”. 

            While the cereal itself didn’t return for the 40^th anniversary a decade later, the “Breakfast with Barbie” name did make a brief comeback. This time, Mattel used it for an actual doll: Barbie enjoying breakfast in a small cardboard nook in her jammies. However, her cereal of choice was General Mills’ Honey Nut Cheerios. It was released during the time of the “Got Milk?” ad campaign, featuring the slogan on the carton of milk Barbie “poured” and on a poster that was advertised on the packaging.

TRANSFORMERS CEREAL

TRANSFORMERS CEREAL

Ralston

           

In 1984, Hasbro imported the toyline that would become Transformers into North America hoping to duplicate the success of their recently-revived G.I. Joe line. Transformers followed the consistent battle between the Autobots and Decepticons; humanoid shape-shifting robot aliens that took on the forms of various vehicles, objects and animals. Duplicating that formula, the concept behind the toys was fleshed out and published in comic form by Marvel Comics, and Marvel Productions and Sunbow Productions produced an animated series.

View of the cut-out head and one of the arms.

Also returning was Ralston with the license to produce a cereal based on the toys, much as they had with G.I. Joes Action Stars cereal. The cereal would have been chocolate flavored, with the box touting that it would “transform ordinary milk into chocolate flavored milk.” Additionally, the panels of the box would feature robotic limbs and a head that could be cut out and folded in such a way to turn the box into a generic Transformer. The box, which resembled the toy packaging, featured Autobot leader Optimus Prime on the front with a spoon at the ready, and a mail-away offer a Jazz figure.

Legs, arm and Jazz offer.

At least, that was the plan. The cereal was set for release in 1986, but because the Transformers franchise was steadily losing steam in the American market, Ralston decided to cut their losses and cancelled the cereal’s release. The cereal never made it past the test box phase, and those boxes have turned up on eBay from time to time fetching high prices. 

G.I. JOE ACTION STARS CEREAL

G.I. JOE ACTION STARS CEREAL

Ralston

           

G.I. Joe has been produced by Hasbro fairly consistently since its debut as 12” action figures in 1964. However, the anti-war sentiment caused by the Vietnam War led Hasbro to divert away from the toys’ military origins into more action-oriented professions; like an astronaut or a super hero. Inspired by the success of Kenner’s 3.75” Star Wars figures, Hasbro wanted to revive G.I. Joe in a similar format. But, this time they wanted their line to have some story behind it and make it more interesting to consumers. Hasbro partnered with Marvel Comics and brought to life the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero line. The figures were prominently featured as fully-realized characters in the book, and Hasbro could use advertisements for the books to subvert restrictions in toy advertising on television.

In 1985, Marvel Productions, who had already been supplying the animation for the ads, brought American Hero into a fully-realized animated series. Ralston acquired the license to the franchise and made G.I. Joe Action Stars Cereal to coincide with the debut of the series. Action Stars was a descriptive name, as the cereal was, in fact, shaped like the star in the Joe logo.'

Starduster, Gung-Ho, Duke and Shipwreck boxes.

The cereal was released in two waves. Released in mid-1985, the first wave featured three different characters on the box: Gung-Ho, Duke and Shipwreck. Although the cereal was the same, the back of each box featured a description of a character-specific mission and featured a cut-out and assemble object relative to the mission. Each box also featured a mail-away form for a camouflage t-shirt.

In the winter of 1985, the second wave was released featuring three new boxes with Quick-Kick, Flint and Starduster. While the mission cards remained, the cut-out was removed in favor of a mail-away offer for a Starduster action figure. Starduster was a Joe who was a jetpack expert, and before the release of the cereal no one had ever heard of him before. That’s because Starduster was created exclusively for Ralston as the potential mascot for the cereal. The only time Starduster was ever animated was in the commercial for the cereal, and he was only featured in the three mini-comics that told his origin included in random boxes. However, shortly after this wave was released the cereal ended production and was off shelves by early 1986.

The Flint and Starduster boxes.

Starduster never appeared in any of the cartoons or comics. In 1988, he was made available as part of a mail-in offer from Hasbro Direct. There were three variants before the figure was discontinued in 1989. The character returned with heavy modifications in 2007, and the name “Skyduster” in 2008, before one final version was released in 2009.

Quick Kick box.

RAINBOW BRITE CEREAL

RAINBOW BRITE CEREAL

Ralston

           

In the early 1980s, Hallmark Cards wanted to break into the licensing business with the creation of characters marketed towards children. Garry Glissmeyer, Vice President of Creative/Licensing, and Lanny Julian, Vice President of Sales and Marketing, were tasked with overseeing the creation of Hallmark’s franchise. Glissmeyer came up with the concept of a young girl who had power over nature, which gradually evolved into her being responsible for all the colors of the universe.

1983 stickers featuring Rainbow Brite and the Sprites.

A team of artists led by Cheryl Cozad, along with Editorial Director Dan Drake, fleshed out the characters and concepts behind the idea. G.G. Santiago developed the final look for the character that would become Rainbow Brite. Hallmark introduced the character on their cards and other merchandise in 1983. With style guides completed for all future licensing opportunities, it was time to bring Rainbow Brite and her friends to the masses. Julian selected Mattel to produce toys based on the character, while DiC Entertainment would create a syndicated animated series to promote the toys.

Hallmark writer Mary Loberg and freelance television writer Woody Kling worked with DiC to develop the storylines for the series. The premise followed a young girl named Wisp (Bettina Bush) who found herself in a gray, desolate land. She found the legendary color belt which allowed her to rescue the trapped seven Color Kids: Red Butler (Mona Marshall), Lala Orange (Robbie Lee), Canary Yellow (Marshall), Patty O’Green (also Marshall), Buddy Blue (Pat Fraley), Indigo (Lee) and Shy Violet (also Lee). Together, they defeated the King of Shadows and brought color back to the land, with Wisp being made the leader of the Color Kids and renamed Rainbow Brite.

The Rainbow Brite series made its debut with a primetime special, “Peril in the Pits”, on June 27, 1984. It was followed by two more two-part adventures before going on a year-long hiatus. To bridge the gap, a theatrical film, Rainbow Brite and the Star Stealer, was also produced by DiC and released by Warner Bros. on November 15, 1985. The film focused on The Dark Princess (Rhonda Aldrich) attempting to steal the Spectra gem, diminishing the Color Kids’ powers and causing Rainbow to be unable to change the seasons on Earth. It was poorly reviewed and largely dismissed as nothing more than a long commercial for the toys.

Ralston acquired the license to produce a cereal as part of the promotion for the film. Rainbow Brite Cereal featured fruity-flavored pieces in the shapes of monotoned rainbows. The original box introduced the world of Rainbow Brite to the eater on the back panel. Subsequent panels featured the various promotions and premiums the cereal had including stickers, a night shirt and bowl set, a Crazy Chain that featured plastic goofy charms, a kite, a poster and savings on toys. The cereal had an impressive lifespan for a licensed cereal, staying on shelves for five years before it was discontinued.

DiC produced a commercial for the cereal using the same animation style as a typical episode of the Rainbow Brite series. It featured series villains Murky (Peter Cullen) and Lurky (Fraley) attempting to remove the color from Rainbow’s new cereal as she enjoyed it with Brian (Scott Menville), the only human that could see Rainbow and her friends. But, the cereal proved too powerful and left the villains covered in color instead.

GREMLINS CEREAL

GREMLINS CEREAL

Ralston

            Chris Columbus got the inspiration to for Gremlins after hearing what sounded like a “platoon of mice” in his loft scurrying about. He wrote the script as a show of his skills for potential employers. The idea to actually make it a film didn’t happen until Steven Spielberg got ahold of the script and felt it was the most original thing he’d seen in a long time. Tapping Joe Dante to direct and Warner Bros. to produce the film along with his Amblin Entertainment, the film was a horror-comedy centered around a family’s acquisition of a mogwai: a cute, furry little creature. That is, as long as three rules were followed: 1) don’t expose it to strong light, 2) don’t let it get wet, and 3) never feed it after midnight. Of course, these rules get violated and a horde of ugly, savage gremlins end up on the loose; terrorizing the small town of Kingston Falls. Gremlins opened on June 8, 1984 and became a box office hit.

            As part of the promotion for the film, Ralston licensed the right to make a cereal based on it. Gremlins Cereal came with pieces in the shape of the film’s star, Gizmo (Howie Mandel), who also graced the box and was featured in the commercial for it. Incidentally, the commercial also starred Jonathan Ward as one of the kids eating the cereal, who would go on to appear in a Dante-directed Twilight Zone revival episode. With two proofs of purchase from the box and $9.95, people could send away for a plush Gizmo doll. Each box also included one of 11 different collectible stickers. The cereal was a limited edition and stayed on the shelves about as long as the film’s original theatrical run.

DONKEY KONG JR. CEREAL

DONKEY KONG JUNIOR CEREAL

Ralston

            Following the incredible success of arcade hit Donkey Kong, Nintendo commissioned the creation of a sequel. Donkey Kong Jr. hit arcades in 1982 and followed the son of Donkey Kong as he set out to rescue his father from the clutches of Mario (in his only turn as a videogame villain). Ralston, having already produced a cereal for Donkey Kong, quickly snatched up the license to Jr. and created a cereal based around that.

            Unlike Donkey Kong Cereal, Donkey Kong Junior Cereal was fruit-flavored and featured shapes reminiscent of bananas and apples. The commercials for the cereal featured two kids sitting down to breakfast, then becoming immersed in an animated jungle once they start pouring the cereal into their bowls. Unlike how he appeared in the game art, Junior wore a full-body red outfit with a yellow “J” and white cuffs. The cereal offered several premiums, including baseball cards, three different game books, free fruit flavored Pez, and a mail-away offer for a Junior Pez dispenser (which was just their standard gorilla dispenser with a “J” stuck onto its hat).  

GHOSTBUSTERS CEREAL

GHOSTBUSTERS CEREAL

Ralston

           

Ghostbusters was the hit movie of 1984, taking second in the box office only to Beverly Hills Cop. The combination of horror and comedy, mixed with the talents of Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, Ernie Hudson, Sigourney Weaver, Rick Moranis and Annie Potts created a multi-media dynasty that, despite some lulls, continues on strong today. However, until recently, the movie had almost zero promotional tie-ins.

As the legend goes, it was discovered late into the movie’s filming that Filmation actually owned the rights to the title Ghostbusters due to the live-action Saturday morning children’s show they produced back in 1975. Alternate titles were tossed around, but when the crowd gathered for the big climax was chanting “Ghostbusters”, producers scrambled to make sure Columbia Pictures secured the rights from Filmation. Since the name of the film was in doubt for a time, it was hard to come up with a decent marketing campaign beyond commercials, posters and novelizations.

Columbia made up for that in 1985 with the re-release of the movie that summer. Knowing the movie was a hit with kids, Columbia partnered with Ralston to produce a cereal based on the film. Ghostbusters cereal featured fruit-flavored shapes in the form of the “no” symbol from the logo with marshmallow ghost shapes. The commercial featured the ghost from the logo animated and singing a version of the theme song with modified lyrics talking about the cereal to two live-action kids. Initial premiums included a piece of Bazooka bubble gum inside the box and a mail-away offer for a Ghostbusters kit that included a poster, glow-in-the-dark stickers and light switch cover, regular stickers, a button, and a membership certificate. Another mail-away premium was a free “ghost flyer”, which was a glow-in-the-dark Frisbee with the logo on it. A big contest was held to win a real Corvette by finding a specific toy car inside the box out of a series of them.

One of the original hologram boxes.

In 1986, Ghostbusters got its next hit with the debut of The Real Ghostbusters. The animated series proved as popular as the film, and this time Columbia could market the hell out of it. There wasn’t a single product that didn’t have The Real Ghostbusters title slapped onto it. Ralston acknowledged this with three collectible boxes adorned with holograms; one featuring the no-ghost logo, one with Slimer, and one with a promotional image of the animated team. Those boxes came with a mail-away offer for a special collector’s edition VHS of a Real Ghostbusters episode. In 1987, Ralston changed the name of their Ghostbusters cereal to The Real Ghostbusters.

The box introducing the new marshmallow shapes.

Initially, there wasn’t anything different about the cereal beyond the name change. Soon, however, purple ghost marshmallows joined the mix and as Slimer became more popular he got his own marshmallow representation, as well as began to be featured as the mascot for any promotions advertised on the box. Ralston did a second series of hologram boxes as part of their promotion for send-away t-shirts, which would feature the hologram from one of the five respective cereals involved. A third series of hologram boxes followed, however only the cereal-specific shirt was offered.

The most unique feature came when Ralston added glow-in-the-dark capabilities to various parts of the box. A new commercial was made touting the new marshmallows in an animated segment reminiscent of the cartoon, and the glow-in-the-dark feature in a live-action follow-up segment. Amongst the premiums at this time were cut-out trading cards on the back, a glow-in-the-dark cut-out Slimer door hanger, and posters. One promotion featured a series of three small kaleidoscopes inside the box to collect, along with a chance to win a diamond worth $4,000. Another car promotion came as well, this time to win a real Porsche.

In 1989, Ghostbusters II came to theaters and Ralston once again changed the name of the cereal in order to tie-into it. While there was nothing remotely new about Ghostbusters II cereal, it did have one of the most prolific premiums to date: the chance to meet a real Ghostbuster (Egon) in Hollywood and visit the actual firehouse. Each box, as well as boxes of Cookie Crisp and Dinersaurs, would come with a small record that had Rob Paulsen introduce animated Egon (Maurice LaMarche) to ask a series of three trivia questions about the movie. There were two versions of the record: a white version, and a gold version, each with a different set of questions. Kids could write down and send in their answers for a chance to win. The same animated commercial was re-used, except the follow-up segment advertised the contest.

Ghostbusters II cereal.

After the movie fervor died down in 1990, Ralston returned the cereal to its animated form. Back in 1988, several changes had been made to the animated series including increasing Slimer’s prominence in it. The show was increased to an hour adding a Slimer spin-off series and he was given top-billing as it was renamed Slimer! and the Real Ghostbusters. So, too, was the cereal renamed and, for the first time, the logo was replaced with the animated characters. A new contest to win $20,000 for college was launched, and crayons were included inside to color in a picture on the back of the box. Another contest launched was a chance to win 15 toys from Kenner’s toy line. That box came with a slimy light switch cover that could be cut out of the box, and the consolation prize was a small Slimer toy found inside. Slimer! boxes later featured an on-box board game.

Slimer and the Real Ghostbusters take center stage.

In terms of longevity, this was the longest-running media tie-in cereal on the shelves, as well as the longest-running licensed cereal from Ralston. While most Ralston cereals had a shelf life of a year or less, Ghostbusters cereal held on for six years. By 1991, The Real Ghostbusters was coming to an end and Ghost Fever had tapered off for the first time. Although Ghostbusters had since rebounded in popularity, Ghostbusters cereal would become nothing but a fond memory of of fans, retro bloggers, list writers and cereal box collectors.

THE ADDAMS FAMILY CEREAL

THE ADDAMS FAMILY CEREAL

Ralston

           

The Addams Family began as a series of one-panel macabre cartoons in The New Yorker by Charles Addams. However, the most well-known incarnation of The Addams Family came when a television sitcom was made in the 1960s. There, the characters received their names and many of their distinctive character traits. The series was short-lived, but the Addamses did appear in a Hanna-Barbera animated series, a musical variety show and a Halloween special in the 1970s.

In the 1990s, Scott Rudin, president of production at 20^th Century Fox, realized that the dormant Addams franchise was still on the minds of the populace when an impromptu sing-a-long to the sitcom’s Vic Mizzy theme broke out in a van he was in with other executives. Sharing that notion with studio chiefs Barry Diller and Leonard Goldberg led to the production of The Addams Family feature film. The film ended up grossing $113 million at the box office, prompting producers to greenlight a sequel and the production of yet another animated series, again by Hanna-Barbera.

One of the six portrait premiums on the back of the box.

Ralston acquired the license from Paramount Pictures and made a cereal to tie into the film. The cereal was comprised of three shapes: headless dolls, creepy skulls and Thing. The box sent out to supermarkets to promote the cereal featured the movie cast sitting for a portrait in a gothic frame and a picture of the Addams mansion on the back. The actual box would feature the cast standing together. The only feature shared by both was Thing taking a spoon to a bowl full of the cereal.

The cereal’s commercial featured Lurch (Carel Struycken) and Pugsley (Jimmy Workman), as well as Thing (Christopher Hart), from the movie with the cereal amongst various clips set to a modified version of the theme. The cereal enjoyed a nice two-year longevity on the shelves as it had the popularity of the animated series and the sequel, Addams Family Values, to keep interest in it going.

The flashlight premiums.

Amongst the premiums for the cereal was a Thing door hanger that could be cut out of the back, glow-in-the-dark posters inside, six collectible scenes from the movie that could be cut out and displayed like a framed picture, and a card game on the back of the box. Some cereals came packaged shrink wrapped with one of four flashlights on the front in the shape of Itt, Lurch, Thing and Fester.