By Heather Taylor, Editor-in-Chief, PopIcon
Every day is Halloween when you’re a fan of the General Mills Monster Cereals and their respective mascots. Around May 2024, exciting news began to circulate online in this niche breakfast cereal community. Not only would the cereals be receiving new Halloween packaging this year, but each of the spooktacular icons would get their own pets. Said pets would also be seen in every bowl of Monster Cereals in various marshmallow shapes.
Here’s what the newly expanded Monster Cereals universe looks like now that each icon has its own ghoulishly adorable pet.
- Count Chocula and Igor the Spider
- Franken Berry and Bennie the Bat
- Boo Berry and Meow Berry the Cat
- Carmella Creeper and Scratch the Snake
Almost immediately, the internet was in an uproar about one of these pets. At first glance, it seemed like it should belong to a different Monster.
Why Doesn’t Count Chocula Get a Pet Bat?
Why would Franken Berry get Bennie the Bat for a pet when Count Chocula, a cartoon vampire, is right there? As easy as it would be to chalk this one up to a marketing mistake, no such error was made.
Igor the Spider is part of Monster Cereals lore dating all the way back to the 1990s. In a 1993 Count Chocula commercial, the Count explains to a bunch of kids that Igor is his guard spider. People love his chocolate-flavored cereal so much that Igor helps keep a watchful eye over it while the Count is away.
Giving Bennie the Bat to Franken Berry is definitely the kind of friendly behavior we’re accustomed to seeing from our fellow Monsters. Besides, Bennie looks way too much like Franken Berry. There’s scientific evidence that supports how humans will often look like their dogs. A similar hypothesis can be drawn between these brand mascots and their spooky sidekicks.
Meet the Monster Cereals Icons and Their Pets
We briefly introduced the pets above, but didn’t get a chance to properly introduce the squad — or what they’ll look like inside every bowl of your favorite Monster Cereals.
Count Chocula and Igor the Spider
As recapped above, Igor is Count Chocula’s long-time guard spider. Every bowl of Count Chocula cereal will include plenty of spine-tingling, spider-shaped marshmallows.
Franken Berry and Bennie the Bat
It’s all treats and no tricks in every box of Franken Berry which is loaded with bat-shaped marshmallows and the signature berry flavor of Franken Berry cereal. Bennie the Bat is Franken Berry’s bestie and is described as having a wicked sense of humor.
Boo Berry and Meow Berry the Cat
Pour yourself a bowl of blueberry-flavored Boo Berry and delight in its cat-shaped marshmallows. These are a nod to Meow Berry the Cat, Boo Berry’s pet. She’s a ghost cat who loves to help Boo Berry get into the spooky season spirit by being quick to disappear…
Carmella Creeper and Scratch the Snake
Monster Cereals fans will remember Carmella Creeper joined the crew as their first-ever female mascot in 2023.
Carmella is back again this year and this time she’s joined by Scratch the Snake, who can be spotted as snake-shaped marshmallows in every bowl of the caramel apple cereal. Carmella is a DJ and Scratch acts as her partner-in-crime: his vibes and rhythm will leave you howling.
Image credits: General Mills
About the Author
Heather Taylor is the senior writer and editor-in-chief of PopIcon, Advertising Week’s blog about brand mascots. Got a pitch on brand mascots or want to wax nostalgic about characters? Drop her a line at howveryheather@gmail.com.
