Ushering In A New Era Of Cereal Box Prizes

Disappointment the psychological reaction to an outcome that does not match up to expectations. The greater the disparity, the greater the disappointment.

My 90’s childhood may have spoiled me but walking through the cereal isle lately leads me to believe the new generation is being deprived of something essential. Cool cereal box prizes. The 90’s were ripe for selling out and they did it in style; I treasured my collection of plastic, licensed crap.

Then I remembered something. In 1955 Quaker Oats gave actual deeds to property in the Yukon to those who mailed in box tops and eventually included one in every box! They had bought up 19.11 acres of land and gave out 21 million titles to it. Now I sit envious of children born 50 years before me and the creativity and hype surrounding a cereal. And now, in modern day, roughly 10 years after my last real cereal box prize, Usher has partnered with Honey Nut Cheerios to include an exclusive new single in their boxes. A child can only get so excited over a paper code for a small digital prize and it also puts an extra step between them and what they were promised. Pulling out something physical delivers that added value feeling even if it’s crap. Maybe the box could sing when you open it?! That would be cool, as long as there’s an Usher Frisbee or calculator in there as well.