Tag Archives: pebbles

News: Another Cereal News Round-Up!

New Nutty Buddy Cereal

Just as the world keeps spinning, the new cereal world keeps on spooning—whether or not I’m able to keep up with it! Here’s a quick look at the big headlines that’ve cropped up (get it, because…grains?) these past couple weeks.

First up we have the obvious headliner above. For awhile, I’ve wondered whether Little Debbie and Kellogg’s would expand their line of snack cake-inspired cereals that started with Oatmeal Creme Pies Cereal and Cosmic Brownies Cereal—and if so, which of Deb’s iconic processed goodies would get the spotlight next.

Now, thanks to @steelbookobsessed on Instagram, we have the likely answer. While it’s still in the unconfirmed sampling phase, Nutty Buddy Cereal seems like a smart choice, and hopefully one that will evolve the shallow cocoa powdery taste of the Cosmic Brownies Cereal. Yes, CBC was pretty mediocre and sparsely flavored, while OCP was an agreeable, heavily powdered cinna–molasses affair, so there’s no telling where Nutty Buddy may land on that continuum.

One thing’s for sure, though: the pieces look like (fittingly dairy-ready) Milk Bones. Continue reading

Bite-Sized Reviews: DC’s Strong Berry Cereal, Cinnamon Toast Crunch Rolls, and Bath & Body Works Rainbow Cereal Soap

*Jean-Ralphio voice*

I’m the woooorst!

Folks, I’ll admit: between my day job, other writing projects, and the *gestures vaguely at everything*, I still haven’t really been feeling the long-form blogging bug for the past couple months. But that doesn’t mean I’ve been slouching on new cereal news and taste tests. On both The Empty Bowl and my Twitter, I still regularly share my thoughts on everything new and crunchy (and in this case, soapy) at the breakfast table.

Here are a few of my recent itty-bitty breakdowns. Stay tuned for more (and hopefully lengthier) content soon!

 

News: LeBron & Nike’s Magic Fruity Pebbles

Nike & LeBron James' Magic Pebbles Sneakers

How ironic: this cereal news has turned my brain into scrambled eggs.

Seriously, I thought General Mills’ recent Cinnamoji Toast Crunch news was so steeped in modern cultural lingo and touchstones that it could be a cognitohazard weaponized by time travelers, but if you showed Pebbles’ latest launch to, say, a Bedrock-era caveman, you’d be more likely to kickstart an esoteric new religion.

But let me try to explain it anyway. Apparently, LeBron James has loved Pebbles cereal since he was a kid, so he’s teamed up with Post and Nike for a new color variant of not-so-new Magic Fruity Pebbles (which taste just like normal Fruity Pebbles, by the way). This cereal includes a coupon for 20% off any one item on Nike.com, as well as a chance to win the star of the promo: a pair of Nike’s LeBron James 19 Low Magic Fruity PEBBLES™ sneakers.

LeBron & Fred

These sneakers are where the real high strangeness kicks off. Not only do they have an image of the red & yellow Magic Pebbles textured onto them, but the shoes, like the cereal, also have a special color-changing technology that I’ll just let the PR folks explain:

“The real magic is the new 19 Low’s Photochromic DCS Technology where the shoe’s airbag uses the power of the sun’s UV light to transition a completely clear Air unit to a purple colorway. This first-time collaboration between Fruity PEBBLES x LeBron means fans everywhere can unlock two colorways, both on and off the court.”

Ope, now I think my scrambled brain’s been burnt into the cast iron pan that is my skull.

Whether or not it’s capable for mere human minds to fully grasp the breadth of this promo, I have to admit the shoes are pretty cool. I’m no baller—not basket, base, or foot, at least. Maybe goof.—but I’d love to wear a pair to like, the grocery store, so I can further cement my status as the most uneasily eager weirdo in the cereal aisle.

Review: Pebbles Shake-Ups!

Pebbles Shake Ups Review Bags

What qualifies as a successfully transformative “Shake Up” (let alone one with an exclamation point at the end) in the cereal world? Is it enough to simply “shake together” a bunch of existing cereal bits, or do you need to “shake in” something entirely new? Well we’re about to find out, because Pebbles’ new pair of pieced-together pouches represent both ends of that continuum, and I’m here to be the supreme arbiter—the Lady Justice holding the bowl-shaped scales, if you will—of just how good they really are.

So let’s do this, Post: shake up my stomach like a wedding-day bottle of champagne! Continue reading

Review: Lucky Charms Marshmallow Pancake Kit (+ Mrs. Butterworth’s Fruity Pebbles Syrup!)

Lucky Charms Marshmallow Pancake Kit Review Box

I don’t know about this, y’all. Between this pancake kit and last week’s Cinnamon Toast Crunch Coffee Cake, cereal reviewing rarely requires this much effort from me. See, half the fun of reviewing cereal is that you’ve just gotta pour a bowl, pour some milk, and dig in. Take some pictures, and then there’s only one dish to clean. But now you’re telling me I have to soak ‘n’ soap ‘n’ scrub a big mixing bowl, a whisk, a measuring cup or two, a frying pan, a plate, and a fork? Maaaan, it really harshens my vibe when I have to elevate myself from “total lazy layabout” to “lowest-bar functioning person.”

But for you, dear readers, I will clear that ankle-high bar. Just let me take a seat on it first and rest my eyes for a moment… Continue reading

Spooned & Spotted: Mrs. Butterworth Fruity Pebbles Syrup

This is her body…

*hands you a small waffled wafer*

…and this is her blood.

*pours Fruity Pebbles syrup directly into your mouth*

Yes, dear parishioners at this holy maple mass, you can now top your breakfast with Mrs. Butterworth’s own crimson lifeblood! Or perhaps it’s Fred Flintstone’s—the scripture isn’t clear on this matter. And this viscous red syrup sure ain’t clear either. All we can be sure about is that Mrs. Butterworth’s Fruity Pebbles-flavored syrup is now available at Walmart.

Personally, I can’t imagine loving the taste of liquefied Pebbles enough to finish an entire bottle of it, so I feel like you’d have to get creative with how you use this stuff. Pour it in your coffee, maybe? Or perhaps pour it all over your body and build the world’s stickiest slip-n-slide? I have no idea, but at least Cap’n Crunch’s Ocean Blue Syrup now has a competitor for the “most eerily food-colored cereal sauce in history” title belt.

What cereal do you think should get syrup-ified next? I feel like Waffle Crisp is too redundant of an answer, so maybe Golden Grahams?

News: Post Pebbles Shake Ups!

New Fruity Pebbles Shake Ups!

Ugh, typical: another job lost to automation.

Well at least, “AI-generated cereal mixology” is the only rational explanation I can think of for Post’s new Pebbles Shake Ups! cereal pouches and the nonsensical menagerie of cereal pieces contained therein. First off, you’ve got Birthday Cake Pebbles Boulders, which is an edible enigma in its own right. Not only did I never expect Pebbles to dust off the spherical, ten-year-old Pebbles Boulders sub-brand, but they decided to create a new Boulders flavor just to use in these Shake Ups! Pebbles Boulders proper were only ever released in Caramel Apple and Chocolate Peanut Butter varieties, so Birthday Cake Pebbles Boulders are a new cereal released within a new cereal mix—that is, unless you assume these Boulders are just rebranded Birthday Cake Timbits Cereal pieces (which they totally are).

Rounding out this odd ensemble are Waffle Crisp squares and “Salted Pretzel Bits.” Don’t get me wrong, I love Waffle Crisp, and actual salty pretzel sound interesting, but a taste trilogy of birthday cake, maple, and salted pretzel seems just a little too random to rev my engine. Continue reading

News: Marshmallow Cocoa Pebbles

New Marshmallow Cocoa Pebbles Cereal

*Throws hands up in the air with enough gusto to alter the flight patterns of passing geese*

Fine, I guess.

Innovation in the cereal sphere is often a weirdly all-or-nothing affair. Sure, we get intelligent strokes of sweet strategic genius like Apple Pie Toast Crunch, but a lot of the time it seems like if we’re not getting bludgeoned over the buzz-fed head with wacky headline-grabbers like Green Onion Chex or…meaty cereals, big cereal companies will instead play it super safe by simply making a sugary cereal more sugary—whether that means frosting an already frosted cereal or just chucking in a mittful of marbits and calling it a day.

Case in point: new Marshmallow Cocoa Pebbles. Pebbles are no stranger to marbits: from Dino Pebbles to Marshmallow Mania Pebbles, it’s well-trodden territory for the shaved rice crisps brand. Which is why I can’t find myself getting too excited about another (admittedly kinda lazy) marshmallow addition—even if they are using cocoa-infused marbits this time. If nothing else, as a purple-loving people cereal eater, I adore this vibrant box, but, uh, I’m drawing a big, white and fluffy blank when it comes to saying anything else interesting about Marshmallow Cocoa Pebbles.

The cereal has already been spotted out in the wild, so if Marshmallow Cocoa Pebbles sounds like your bag, run—do not walk—your stone-age car to the store ASAP.