Fruity Yummy Mummy (History, Photos & Commercials)

Fruity Yummy Mummy is one of General Mills Monster Cereals. These cereals were first introduced in 1971 and featured a whole group of fun and silly monsters as well as colorful and enjoyable cereal flavors for the benefit of kids and adults alike. The original mascots were Franken Berry and Count Chocula, but an entire line of monsters grew up around these cereal varieties as time went on.

For those who were not around during the monster craze of the 1970s, it might seem silly to make cereals that are based on a monster. At the time, however, the craze for monster movies was huge. This meant that monster-related cereals were hugely popular and easy to market to kids and adults alike. Fruity Yummy Mummy was an offshoot of this craze and it enjoyed a limited time on the market alongside these other Monster Cereals made by General Mills.

History

In March of 1971, the first two Monster Cereals were released. These were Count Chocula, which was chocolate-flavored and Franken berry, which was strawberry flavored. The ads and all of the promotional materials were aimed at the two mascots, who were a Frankenstein character and a count Dracula-style character. These original recipes were hugely popular despite a hiccup related to a mistaken medical condition associated with the cereals.

Franken Berry Stool was a condition that was identified by a doctor after a rash of children were admitted to hospitals around the US with strangely colored stools. The pink color of the stools of these children was later tied back to Franken Berry cereal. All of the original cereals in the Monster cereal lineup were originally made with a dye that did not break down in the digestive tract. This caused a medical condition that turned out to be of no concern after all.

Once the dye was removed from the cereals, there were no more troubles with this issue and the cereals were returned to market year-round. Later, these cereal varieties were made to be produced just during the Halloween holiday season and were not offered year-round as they had been before. This primarily affected Franken Berry and Count Chocula, as they had been the only cereals sold consistently throughout the years since the cereals were first released.

Fruity Yummy Mummy was an off-shoot of the popular original flavors of this cereal. It was added to the lineup in 1987 to replace Fruit Brute. Fruit Brute has been an addition to the lineup that was intended to add variety, but which flopped. Fruity Yummy Mummy was also a fruit-flavored offering and was advertised to include “Monster Mallows”. This was one of the first cereals with mega-sized marshmallows and the same fruity flavor profile of the original cereal.

Fruity Yummy Mummy was also advertised in connection with an often cartoony mummy character mascot which was connected with the fruity coloring of the cereal through its wrappings. This was not much more successful than the Fruit Brute version of the cereal, however, and Fruity Yummy Mummy was discontinued in 1992.  It was 21 years before Fruity Mummy Yummy was added back to the lineup of the monster Cereal brand.

In 2013, Frute Brute and Fruity Yummy Mummy were brought back to the market when all of the original five monster kinds of cereal were sold again during the holiday season. This was one of the only times that Fruity Yummy Mummy has been back on the shelves since and the cereal’s mascot was given a facelift along with all of the other mascots. Fruit Brute became cherry-flavored during this process of re-release and Fruity Yummy Mummy became organ-cream flavored. The retro box designs were sold alongside the new and re-imagined cartoon mascots as well.

Fruity Yummy Mummy has been sold on and off since this re-release but has yet to find its footing amongst all the other sugary cereals and 70s candy on the market. You will find that monster cereal lovers still miss this Fruity and delicious cereal but new cereal fans are few and far between. The classic two flavors continue to do well, but Fruity Yummy Mummy lags behind them in popularity.

Logo

Ingredients

Per the Instacart entry for the cereal:

• Whole grain corn
• Cornmeal
• Sugar
• Marshmallows (sugar, modified corn starch, corn syrup, dextrose, gelatin, calcium carbonate, red 40, yellow 5 & 6, blue 1, artificial flavor)
• Corn syrup
• Canola/rice bran oil
• Salt
• Trisodium phosphate
• Natural and artificial flavor
• Red 40
• Yellow 6
• BHT
• Vitamins and minerals
• Calcium Carbonate
• Tricalcium phosphate
• Iron and zinc
• Vitamin C
• A C vitamin
• Vitamin B6
• Vitamin B2
• Vitamin B1
• Vitamin A
• A B vitamin
• Vitamin B12
• Vitamin D3

There are no new varieties of this cereal and the original recipe was not that different. There were some changes to the flavor profile when this cereal replaced Frute Brute, and the lime flavoring was dropped along with some of the sweetness.

Nutrition

Serving Size: Servings Per Container 8	1.00 cup	% Daily Value
Amount Per Serving
Calories	130
Total Fat	1.5g	2%
Saturated Fat	0g	0%
Trans Fat	0g
Polyunsaturated Fat	0.5g
Monounsaturated Fat	0.5g
Cholesterol	0mg	0%
Cholesterol	0mg	0%
Sodium	150mg	6%
Total Carbohydrate	28g	9%
Dietary Fiber	1g	4%
Sugars	9g
Protein	2g

• Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

Reviews

Many people equate this to a frosted cereal with vanilla marshmallows. The marshmallow pieces are made to look like a mummy face. Some boxes refer to them as Monster Mallows, but they are all the same shape and have the same taste profile. The cereal is often critiqued as being too sweet and is not one of the more popular flavor profiles.

 Despite removing the lime flavoring from the cereal lineup, the Fruity Yummy Mummy taste profile is still not a bit hit overall. There are already other fruity cereals in the Monster cereal lineup and this might just be overkill with fruity cereals when compared to Boo Berry and the other sweet cereals in the lineup.

The other issue might be the mascot since mummies are just not popular in mainstream culture. Even the vampire and werewolf have enjoyed new success in popular culture of late, but the mummy remains less popular. This mascot error, along with the taste profile, might have been the real reason for the short lifespan of this portion of the Monster Cereal lineup.

Future Promotions

There is a plan to re-release all of the classic cereal flavors inside one box of combined cereal goodness. In 2021 it was announced that the 50^th anniversary of the Monster Cereals would be celebrated with a mash-up cereal that included all of the original flavors in one box. This cereal would be called “Monster Mash”. This would be the first time that Fruity Yummy Mummy has been on shelves since the last time it was discontinued in the 90s.

For those who have always loved the Monster Cereal brand, this mash-up is long overdue. The boxes were given a facelift by a famous DC comics artist and the line is set to release for the holiday season each year with these re-imagined boxes and mascots. This was long overdue, and the refreshed look of the boxes will likely help with sales. Monster cereals are still unique enough to perform well and people who are thrilled with monster cereals will love the chance to enjoy this revised version of an old classic.

Varieties of Monster Cereals

• Count Chocula
• Boo Berry
• Franken Berry
• Fruity Yummy Mummy
• Frute Brute

The mascots for these cereals have been Count Dracula, a ghost, Frankenstein, a mummy, and a werewolf.

There were fruit roll-ups made for the brand in 2010 and some cereal bars were released as well. These did not perform very well and it was determined that sticking with cereal was the way to go for the Monster Cereal lineup.

Slogans

The common tagline for this short-lived cereal was, “Fruity Yummy Mummy makes your tummy go yummy!” This was used for many of the years that the cereal was on shelves and probably did not connect with new audiences when used in the 90s. There would need to be a new slogan for the product if the cereal was released again as a stand-alone product.

The slogans for the original cereals have been revised over time and the advertising that has been done for the other more popular brands has been completed with well-thought-out commercials as well as cute and silly slogans and toys. Frute Brute and Fruity Yummy Mummy have gotten the short end of the stick for this part of the advertising efforts of General Mills.

Promotions for the Monster Cereals

All of these cereals were promoted with toys that were included inside the boxes of cereals, as well as mail order toys and coupons that allowed for the purchase of other desirable items that kids wanted. All of the boxes were made with games and riddles and other fun things that kids might like emblazoned on the back. The promise of gifts for saving up box tops and proofs of purchase was very exciting and helped make the Monster Cereals very popular over the years.

Pictures

Commercials

A commercial from the 90s:

An ad with the other mascots:

The original monster cereal ads: