The Reason Sprinkle Spangles Cereal Was Discontinued

There's nothing like the savor of nostalgia to flavor our childhood memories, but let's be real: for children of the 1990s (what's up, millennials and Gen Zers?), there was also sugar. For the same reason that Mexican Coke tastes different, the snacks of our childhood slapped so hard because they were phenomenally sweet. So many iconic breakfast cereals eaten in front of Saturday morning cartoons were basically one step removed from candy, and Sprinkle Spangles was no different.

Don't remember Sprinkle Spangles? That's not altogether surprising, because the cereal wasn't around for long. General Mills, which made Sprinkle Spangles, splashed out on a purple genie mascot voiced by comedian Dom DeLuise, but that wasn't enough to save the sugar cookie-flavored sugar bomb.

This iconic star-shaped cereal was discontinued in 1994 after just one glorious year on shelves. Why was Sprinkle Spangles given the ax after such a short time? Simply put, sales were unimpressive. What's more, the flavor was fairly divisive. For every person who raved about the inimitable taste, there seemed to be as many detractors who hated the sugary nature of the breakfast treat.

Every generation seems to have a breakfast fad that leads to seriously divided opinions. In the 2020s, it's perhaps the viral TikTok scrambled pancakes. In the 1990s, it was aggressively sweet cereal with a gimmick. Sprinkle Spangles' claim to fame was multicolored sprinkles, which crunched in the teeth and, anecdotally, tore up the roof of your mouth as you ate it. Some also complained that the cereal left an unappealing oil coating on your lips and tongue. But, for every gripe about Sprinkle Spangles, a middle-aged adult is raving on the internet that it was the best thing they ever tasted and that no cereal has scratched the itch since.

Some nostalgic cereal fans have since discovered copycat varieties, such as Post's Mickey Mouse Club cereal, which boasts of a confetti cake flavor, and Sprinkled Donut Crunch, a variety of Cap'n Crunch. Given that it has been over 30 years since Sprinkle Spangles left our lives, it's probably safe to say that the cereal is gone forever. Unlike French Toast Crunch, a cereal that was discontinued and came back, 30- and 40-somethings will just have to find a way to get through life without those sugary stars.