It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

Name: It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
Variation: n/a
Manufacturer: Kellogg's

Review: This is a pretty neat idea for a cereal (in the same spirit of nostalgic holiday family films as General Mills' Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer from last Christmas), but honestly, I was a little bit exasperated when I spotted it on the shelves after the 1st of October (who waits until October to stock their Halloween products anymore?), as I had already had all my review slots filled up through Halloween - including two cereals (Reese's Puffs Bats and Halloween Fruity Pebbles) I couldn't squeeze in last year. (Don't worry, I eventually got the scheduling figured out).

I considered writing an angry letter to Kellogg's, when I realized it was really General Mills I should be writing the angry letter to. This is the only brand new Halloween cereal from Kellogg's I've seen this year; by contrast, General Mills not only introduced a new Monster cereal, plus a remixed version of Monster Mash, but - as if that weren't already more than enough - they also debuted a Halloween version of Lucky Charms. There is such a thing as too much of a good thing, you know...

Anyway, it's a curious choice to make this a vanilla cereal (as opposed to, say, pumpkin spice?), but I really like the green and orange motif - it perfectly evokes the aesthetic of a pumpkin patch. I almost didn't notice it at first, but there are marshmallows present - little pumpkins hidden like camouflage among the orange puffs. And these puffs have that same pleasantly soft mouthfeel that I recognize from other recent cereals, including ICEE cereal (minus the menthol blast) and Miraculous. I'm not crazy about vanilla, but the flavor is inoffensive, and the texture of the puffs is quite inviting. I don't love it, but it's a very pleasant cereal to eat. As far as Kellogg's recycled novelties go, I like these "gentle puffs" much better than their "berry stars" (which we'll see again before the end of the year).

Rating: 🥣🥣
Leftover Milk: Subtly vanilla.