'Where Can I Buy A Box Of Fragile Masculinity?': Man Cereal Gets Blasted Online, For Obvious Reasons

Once upon a time, it seemed that society was actually making strides on the gender parity front, especially as it pertained to food. Men could nibble salads, women could chow down on tomahawk steaks, and everyone could enjoy a sweet taste of nostalgia in the form of colorful, sugary breakfast cereals used on everything from French toast to donuts and milkshakes. In fact, 2023 saw a cereal aisle milestone when female mascot Carmella Creeper adorned a box of her eponymous spooky cereal. (Nearly all cereal mascots are male, although fellow Halloween-themed mascot Boo Berry is somewhat ambiguous.) Now, it seems we're heading in the opposite direction, judging by a product called "Man Cereal" that's packed with "manly" nutrients like protein powder and creatine. One of the four available flavors even has a taste that ties in with the macho man gimmick — maple bacon, described as "sweet, smoky, and sigma." (The fruit, cinnamon, and chocolate varieties are, however, fairly standard for cereal.)

Man Cereal's website states that the name is meant to be "un-serious" and falls all over itself explaining that women can eat its product, too, but the internet is still roasting it. Commenters on an Instagram reel yielded the words quoted in the title, while on Reddit, an r/pointlesslygendered thread entitled "Real men eat man cereal, not any of that sissy liberal fruitloop stuff," had a commenter weighing in with " ... Why have colorful cereal when you can get big muscles and increase your testosterone?" Another person speculated, "What in the Generic, that design must be to attract sad GenX men," while a fourth spoke with the voice of reason: "I've always preferred agender cereal."

The smallest amount of Man Cereal you can buy from the website is a three-pack priced at $58.00 ($19.33 per box). Before dropping that kind of cash, you'll want to know what to expect. The reviewer in the above-referenced Instagram reel found the salted fudge cereal okay but admitted it tasted bland. A reviewer for Today thought the cinnamon version had flavor but didn't care for the pronounced taste of stevia. Both reviewers, however, appreciated the cereal's robust crunch.

A Reddit reviewer was far less impressed: "Cardboard taste. Weird chalky aftertaste. Leaves a weird feeling in my mouth. And yeah the price is mad. I highly recommend avoiding and just shaking up for your milk with protein and creatine and pouring that over some fruit loops (which is what I'm gonna do from here on out)." One person replied, "This is just kibble for people," and someone else added, "Bachelor chow! Now with flavor!" On a different Reddit thread, someone even took issue with the star ingredient: "Why the hell put creatine in the cereal? Just so I can f*** up my dosing? I always wanted a cereal I could only eat EXACTLY X grams of, no more and no less no matter how many/few calories I wanted/needed. That's so smart."

Dietitians are also not sold on Man Cereal. They point out that you'd need to eat a lot of the stuff, every single day, to derive any real benefit from the protein and creatine. They also note that the jury's still out on what creatine actually does for the body. With that in mind, it may not be worth shelling out $20 for a creatine-supplemented cereal, no matter how manly.