The Popping Toy That Caused A Major Quaker Recall

As a kid growing up between the late 1980s and mid-1990s, choosing a breakfast cereal was serious business. My fellow adolescents and I were wooed by the ads shown during Saturday morning cartoons, which would lure us in with promises of sugary flavors, vibrant colors, and flavored cereal milk. But when it came down to it, we'd usually go for the ones with our favorite cereal box prizes. 

The big dogs of the cereal world, like Post, Kellogg's, General Mills, and Quaker, gave us some great options. While stickers, trading cards, and plastic figurines were brilliant marketing tools, some of these prizes didn't come without risk for youngsters. For example, in 1993, Quaker had to recall over 8 million boxes of Cap'n Crunch cereal that included a perilous plastic popping toy.

The toy looked like a giant gumball cut in half with the middle hollowed out. The idea was to place it –- domed side up — on a flat surface, press it down so that it inverted, and wait for it to pop itself back up. When it did, it would fly into the air -– ta-da! It was innocent enough, but when kids started pressing the toys to their faces and eyelids, problems arose. The suction pressure resulted in bruised skin and eye injuries. After 36 reports, the company issued a recall. Boxes containing the popping toy were pulled from grocery store shelves, and Quaker advised those who had boxes at home to throw the toy away, though the cereal was still good to eat. This was just one of the Quaker Oats recalls that affected millions.

While toys and prizes in cereal boxes do still exist, their presence has largely decreased. There are several factors that made cereal box toys less and less desirable to cereal companies. For one, safety concerns became prominent. Complaints and lawsuits regarding toys that posed potential choking hazards caused many cereal manufacturers to stop taking the risk of including small prizes altogether. 

In the early 2000s, there was also an increased awareness of children's nutrition and how companies advertised foods to them. In a nutshell, stricter marketing regulations discouraged cereal companies from enticing kids to eat high-sugar cereal with colorful toys.

Another factor might even be technology. While folks from the Gen X and Millennial generations focused their attention on the backs of cereal boxes and the prizes within while they ate their breakfast, kids today have tablets and phones to occupy their brains while they eat. To be sure, this classic breakfast doesn't seem to be going anywhere anytime soon, but there may be dark days ahead for cereal as overall sales appear to be on the decline.