Cereal Experiments: Knock-Offs

In lieu of a cereal review today, I thought it would be fun to celebrate April Fools' Day by highlighting some of the hilarious generic brand knock-offs I've spotted while hunting for cereal over the years.

Round 1

I was browsing the cereal aisle in a Family Dollar store (because I can't go into stores anymore without looking at their cereal), when I spotted these generic knock-off cereals that were so shameless, it was actually funny. I swear, if this isn't copyright infringement, this brand must have a lawyer researching just how far they can push it. Thanks for the laugh, Chestnut Hill!

Frosted Mini Wheats becomes Frosted Bite-Size Wheat

Honey Nut Cereal also features a bee with a honey dripper

Fruity Hoops trades the toucan for a monkey; retains the styling of the o's

Berry Crunch flips the title, and the Cap'n becomes a... big bird?

Cinni-Mini Crunch also features swirls of flavor and toast with emotion

Fruity Bites borrows Fruity Pebbles' colorful text, but subs in a giraffe

Golden Honey Puffs swaps in a turtle for the Dig 'em Frog

Round 2

This time, I was browsing the cereals in Price Cutter when the generic knock-offs leaped off the shelves at me. (Not literally). Here's what I saw, courtesy of the Best Choice* brand:

*Yeah, I'm not sure about that.

The name "Apple Delicious" is perhaps a bit presumptuous, but there are still apples with creepy faces!

Frosted Fruit O's ditches the "loopy" text styling, but there's a definite resemblance between the rhino's rainbow-striped horn and Toucan Sam's similarly-colored beak.

I literally laughed out loud - right there in the store - when I saw "Peanut Butter Cocoa Spheres". At least you know what you're getting!

Note how well Cinnamon Sugar Bites apes the alternating colors in the name of the cereal it's imitating.

I actually like the branding of "Magic Marshmallows" - it's uncharacteristically clever. But you can bet it's no coincidence that the dragon is green.

"Koo-kies!" is another pretty hilarious knock-off. Let's not get carried away here - it's not like this is Cocoa Puffs or anything.

I imagine they picked an elephant mascot for Cocoa Crunch so that its trunk could echo the sucking action of Sonny's straw. Imagine if they'd picked an anteater instead...

I can't help thinking that Berry Bits Crisp Crunch is just Berry Crunch with two extra words sandwiched in the middle. Although I enjoy the alliteration, and that shark's a pretty cool mascot.

Like Fruity Bites, Fruity Crisp Rice not only keeps the text coloring, but also picks a giraffe as its mascot. So now we're knocking off the knock-offs?

Both of these cereals' reference to "crisp rice" alludes more to Rice Krispies than the Pebbles cereals; and Cocoa Crisp Rice's monkey mascot makes more sense when you consider Cocoa Krispies' former association with Coco the Monkey.

Believe it or not, I actually joked as I walked into the store that they would have a knock-off version of Cheerios called "Happy O's". I was not disappointed. But I guess obvious is what they're going for.