Cereal box prize
Encyclopedia
A cereal box prize is a promotional toy or small item that is offered as an incentive to buy a particular breakfast cereal
. Prizes
are found inside or sometimes on the cereal box. The term "cereal box prize" is sometimes used as a broader term to also include premiums
that can be ordered through the mail from an advertising promotion printed on the outside of the cereal box.
and premiums
have been distributed in four ways. The first, not frequently used now, was an in-store (or point-of-sale) prize that was handed to the customer with the purchase of one or more specified boxes of cereal. The second method of distribution is to include the prize in the box itself, usually outside the liner bag. The third method is attaching the prize to the box (as with plastic records laminated to the back of the box) or printing the prize on the box (as with numerous games and trading cards). Some prizes include a gameboard or other interactive activity printed on the box that corresponds with the prize inside the box, which is used as a gamepiece. The fourth method of distribution is to have the consumer mail in the UPC
proof-of-purchase labels cut from a specified number of boxes, sometimes with a cheque
or money order
to defray the cost of shipping, and the premium is sent to the consumer by mail (rarely first-class), usually from a third-party source.
in boxes of cereal. The marketing strategy that he established has produced thousands of different cereal box prizes that have been distributed by the tens of billions.
had the first cereal premium
with The Funny Jungleland Moving Pictures Book. The book was originally available as a prize
that was given to the customer in the store with the purchase of two packages of the cereal. But in 1909, Kelloggs changed the book give-away to a premium mail-in offer for the cost of a dime
. Over 2.5 million copies of the book were distributed in different editions over a period of 23 years.
s into each box of Pep cereal. Pep pins have included U.S. Army squadrons as well as characters from newspaper comics and were available through 1947 . There were 5 series of comic characters and 18 different buttons in each set, with a total of 90 in the collection. Other manufacturers of major brands of cereal (including General Mills
, Malt-O-Meal, Nestlé
, Post Foods, and Quaker Oats
) followed suit and inserted prizes into boxes of cereal to promote sales and brand loyalty.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geometric_distribution#Moments_and_cumulants
machine by American inventor James Watson Hendry in 1946 changed the world of cereal box prizes. Thermoplastics could be used to produce toys much more rapidly, and much more cheaply, because recycled plastic could be remolded using this process. In addition, injection molding for plastics required much less cool-down time for the toys, because the plastic is not completely melted before injected into the molds. Hendry also developed the first gas-assisted injection molding process in the 1970s, which permitted the production of complex, hollow prizes that cooled quickly. This greatly improved design flexibility as well as the strength and finish of manufactured parts while reducing production time, cost, weight and waste.
secret-decoder rings and.. baking soda-powered frogmen" whose arrival by mail children waited for "impatiently". In 1959, columnist Tom Harris of the West Virginia Gazette-Mail
lamented the passing of the send-in box-top prize in place of the in-box prize. The column humorously noted the family battles over cereal purchases which the in-box prizes instigated. In late 1974, the Federal Trade Commission
considered banning television commercials which promoted cereal box prizes as a means of selling cereal.
number of boxes consumed before acquiring a complete collection is (asymptotically) n log n.
Breakfast cereal
A breakfast cereal is a food made from processed grains that is often, but not always, eaten with the first meal of the day. It is often eaten cold, usually mixed with milk , water, or yogurt, and sometimes fruit but sometimes eaten dry. Some cereals, such as oatmeal, may be served hot as porridge...
. Prizes
Prize (marketing)
Prizes are promotional items—small toys, games, trading cards, collectables, and other small items of nominal value—found in packages of brand-name retail products that are included in the price of the product with the intent to boost sales...
are found inside or sometimes on the cereal box. The term "cereal box prize" is sometimes used as a broader term to also include premiums
Premium (marketing)
Premiums are promotional items—toys, collectables, souvenirs and household products—that are linked to a product, and often require box tops, tokens or proofs of purchase to acquire. The consumer generally has to pay at least the shipping and handling costs to receive the premium...
that can be ordered through the mail from an advertising promotion printed on the outside of the cereal box.
Distribution
Cereal box prizesPrize (marketing)
Prizes are promotional items—small toys, games, trading cards, collectables, and other small items of nominal value—found in packages of brand-name retail products that are included in the price of the product with the intent to boost sales...
and premiums
Premium (marketing)
Premiums are promotional items—toys, collectables, souvenirs and household products—that are linked to a product, and often require box tops, tokens or proofs of purchase to acquire. The consumer generally has to pay at least the shipping and handling costs to receive the premium...
have been distributed in four ways. The first, not frequently used now, was an in-store (or point-of-sale) prize that was handed to the customer with the purchase of one or more specified boxes of cereal. The second method of distribution is to include the prize in the box itself, usually outside the liner bag. The third method is attaching the prize to the box (as with plastic records laminated to the back of the box) or printing the prize on the box (as with numerous games and trading cards). Some prizes include a gameboard or other interactive activity printed on the box that corresponds with the prize inside the box, which is used as a gamepiece. The fourth method of distribution is to have the consumer mail in the UPC
Universal Product Code
The Universal Product Code is a barcode symbology , that is widely used in North America, and in countries including the UK, Australia, and New Zealand for tracking trade items in stores. Its most common form, the UPC-A, consists of 12 numerical digits, which are uniquely assigned to each trade item...
proof-of-purchase labels cut from a specified number of boxes, sometimes with a cheque
Cheque
A cheque is a document/instrument See the negotiable cow—itself a fictional story—for discussions of cheques written on unusual surfaces. that orders a payment of money from a bank account...
or money order
Money order
A money order is a payment order for a pre-specified amount of money. Because it is required that the funds be prepaid for the amount shown on it, it is a more trusted method of payment than a cheque.-History of money orders:...
to defray the cost of shipping, and the premium is sent to the consumer by mail (rarely first-class), usually from a third-party source.
History
W.K. Kellogg was the first to introduce prizesPrize (marketing)
Prizes are promotional items—small toys, games, trading cards, collectables, and other small items of nominal value—found in packages of brand-name retail products that are included in the price of the product with the intent to boost sales...
in boxes of cereal. The marketing strategy that he established has produced thousands of different cereal box prizes that have been distributed by the tens of billions.
The first cereal premiums
Kellogg's Corn FlakesCorn flakes
Corn flakes are a popular breakfast cereal originally manufactured by Kellogg's through the treatment of maize. A patent for the product was filed on May 31, 1895, and issued on April 14, 1896.-History:...
had the first cereal premium
Premium (marketing)
Premiums are promotional items—toys, collectables, souvenirs and household products—that are linked to a product, and often require box tops, tokens or proofs of purchase to acquire. The consumer generally has to pay at least the shipping and handling costs to receive the premium...
with The Funny Jungleland Moving Pictures Book. The book was originally available as a prize
Prize (marketing)
Prizes are promotional items—small toys, games, trading cards, collectables, and other small items of nominal value—found in packages of brand-name retail products that are included in the price of the product with the intent to boost sales...
that was given to the customer in the store with the purchase of two packages of the cereal. But in 1909, Kelloggs changed the book give-away to a premium mail-in offer for the cost of a dime
Dime (United States coin)
The dime is a coin 10 cents, one tenth of a United States dollar, labeled formally as "one dime". The denomination was first authorized by the Coinage Act of 1792. The dime is the smallest in diameter and is the thinnest of all U.S...
. Over 2.5 million copies of the book were distributed in different editions over a period of 23 years.
Cereal box prizes
In 1945, Kellogg inserted a prize in the form of pin-back buttonPin-back button
A pin-back button or pinback button, pin button, button badge or simply pin-back, is a button or badge that can be temporarily fastened to the surface of a garment using a safety pin, or a pin formed from wire, a clutch or other mechanism...
s into each box of Pep cereal. Pep pins have included U.S. Army squadrons as well as characters from newspaper comics and were available through 1947 . There were 5 series of comic characters and 18 different buttons in each set, with a total of 90 in the collection. Other manufacturers of major brands of cereal (including General Mills
General Mills
General Mills, Inc. is an American Fortune 500 corporation, primarily concerned with food products, which is headquartered in Golden Valley, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis. The company markets many well-known brands, such as Betty Crocker, Yoplait, Colombo, Totinos, Jeno's, Pillsbury, Green...
, Malt-O-Meal, Nestlé
Nestlé
Nestlé S.A. is the world's largest food and nutrition company. Founded and headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland, Nestlé originated in a 1905 merger of the Anglo-Swiss Milk Company, established in 1867 by brothers George Page and Charles Page, and Farine Lactée Henri Nestlé, founded in 1866 by Henri...
, Post Foods, and Quaker Oats
Quaker Oats Company
The Quaker Oats Company is an American food conglomerate based in Chicago. It has been owned by Pepsico since 2001.-History:Quaker Oats was founded in 1901 by the merger of four oat mills:...
) followed suit and inserted prizes into boxes of cereal to promote sales and brand loyalty.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geometric_distribution#Moments_and_cumulants
Technical advances
The invention of a screw injection moldingInjection molding
Injection molding is a manufacturing process for producing parts from both thermoplastic and thermosetting plastic materials. Material is fed into a heated barrel, mixed, and forced into a mold cavity where it cools and hardens to the configuration of the cavity...
machine by American inventor James Watson Hendry in 1946 changed the world of cereal box prizes. Thermoplastics could be used to produce toys much more rapidly, and much more cheaply, because recycled plastic could be remolded using this process. In addition, injection molding for plastics required much less cool-down time for the toys, because the plastic is not completely melted before injected into the molds. Hendry also developed the first gas-assisted injection molding process in the 1970s, which permitted the production of complex, hollow prizes that cooled quickly. This greatly improved design flexibility as well as the strength and finish of manufactured parts while reducing production time, cost, weight and waste.
Nostalgia and media
A 1974 article characterized cereal prizes of the 1950s as "Captain MidnightCaptain Midnight
Captain Midnight is a U.S. adventure franchise first broadcast as a radio serial from 1938 to 1949. Sponsored by the Skelly Oil Company, the radio program was the creation of radio scripters Wilfred G. Moore and Robert M...
secret-decoder rings and.. baking soda-powered frogmen" whose arrival by mail children waited for "impatiently". In 1959, columnist Tom Harris of the West Virginia Gazette-Mail
The Charleston Gazette
The Charleston Gazette is a five-day morning newspaper in Charleston, West Virginia. It is published Monday through Friday mornings. On Saturday and Sunday mornings the combined Charleston Gazette-Mail is published, which is, more or less, similar to the Gazette.The Gazette was established in...
lamented the passing of the send-in box-top prize in place of the in-box prize. The column humorously noted the family battles over cereal purchases which the in-box prizes instigated. In late 1974, the Federal Trade Commission
Federal Trade Commission
The Federal Trade Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, established in 1914 by the Federal Trade Commission Act...
considered banning television commercials which promoted cereal box prizes as a means of selling cereal.
Mathematics
Suppose that there are n distinct prizes, appearing equally frequently. Then the expectedExpected value
In probability theory, the expected value of a random variable is the weighted average of all possible values that this random variable can take on...
number of boxes consumed before acquiring a complete collection is (asymptotically) n log n.
See also
- PrizesPrize (marketing)Prizes are promotional items—small toys, games, trading cards, collectables, and other small items of nominal value—found in packages of brand-name retail products that are included in the price of the product with the intent to boost sales...
- PremiumsPremium (marketing)Premiums are promotional items—toys, collectables, souvenirs and household products—that are linked to a product, and often require box tops, tokens or proofs of purchase to acquire. The consumer generally has to pay at least the shipping and handling costs to receive the premium...
- W.K. Kellogg — Pioneer in cereal box prizes.
- Breakfast cerealBreakfast cerealA breakfast cereal is a food made from processed grains that is often, but not always, eaten with the first meal of the day. It is often eaten cold, usually mixed with milk , water, or yogurt, and sometimes fruit but sometimes eaten dry. Some cereals, such as oatmeal, may be served hot as porridge...
- Baking powder submarineBaking powder submarineA Baking powder submarine is a plastic toy submarine that dives and surfaces with the addition of baking powder .In 1953 Benjamin and Harry Hirsch, two brothers in a cosmetics company discovered that the gas bubbles from baking powder could make a toy submarine dive up and down in fresh water...
External links
- The Cereal Prize Project
- The Freakie Magnet Cereal Collectors Zine
- Cereal Box Archive
- Cereal Box Article