I should probably start this one off by letting you know that this is going to be one of many posts where we look at old Ghostbusters cereal boxes. This just happens to be the one that was easiest to pull off of the shelf without knocking 200 other things over.
Now, on to what we came here for.
You remember Ghostbusters cereal, right? If not, watch this wonderful commercial and we'll talk afterwards. Don't worry, I can wait.....
Okie dokie, now that we've either been refreshed, or newly introduced to the cereal thanks to the magic of Youtube, let's have a serious talk for a moment.
The cereal itself tasted like butt. While I cannot pinpoint exactly what kind of butt it tasted like, I would imagine it would compare to that of a dead Squirrel.
The downfall of the no ghost logo shaped pieces was overshadowed only slightly by the marshmallows. Marshmallows can seem to help anything taste okay, even dead Squirrel ass. However, from the depths of my memory, which has been clouded by lots and lots of beer, the marshmallows always seemed to be a little on the stale side, but hey, what can you really expect from a company that makes dog food?
Now that I have told you the product inside of the box all but sucked, let's look at the box itself, because it absolutely makes up for the bad taste of everything inside.
One of the ever so popular features on select boxes were the holograms on the front.
Not all boxes were made this way, so when Ralston-Purina cranked these bad boys out, kids knew they had to be special enough to make mom and dad spend $3 or $4 on it. And believe me, fighting with parents while trying to convince them to pick up a box of breakfast sugar can be one of the most daunting tasks that a child of any age can possibly undertake.
This box features a hologram of resident slob Slimer munching the shit out of the cereal. I mean, if Slimer was down to eat it, we could at least give it a shot, right?
On the back of the box, which to this day is an important place to put advertising and further make any child scream and cry until they get something (as if buying the cereal wasn't enough) we are given an offer for a Real Ghostbusters VHS tape.
This actually isn't half bad. This might even be borderline genius. What could make life better than eating a Ghostbusters themed cereal while watching The Real Ghostbusters? Perhaps a side of Ecto-Cooler, but that may be overkill, or maybe not enough.
By the way, notice how the family is gathered around, as if staring into a treasure chest discovering a Real Ghostbusters VHS tape. I mean, I'd be cool with that over a box full of gold.
Nutrition Facts are without a doubt the most boring part of any edible product. Nobody in their right mind really wants to know that they are putting total garbage into their body which will surely lead them to a future of diabetes and heart failure, so Ralston-Purina decided to jazz things up a little and put Slimer down at the bottom, chewing away at the information as if to give a big, "Kiss my ass" to the FDA.
Slimer, you rebel.
Lastly, the proof of purchase. How can you not fall in love with something as simple as a proof of purchase when it's in the form of the no-ghost logo?
Again, I say that while the product inside was typically less than wonderful, Ralston-Purina went well out of their way to make the box as awesome as it could possibly be, because everybody knows that when you are sitting at the table, eating Ghostbusters cereal, you probably want to stare at the box as if it's an artifact that only a few will ever lay claim to having seen.
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