Lucky Charms

File:Lucky charms.jpg

“They’re always after ‘me Lucky Charms!”

Lucky Charms is a popular brand of breakfast cereal produced by the General Mills cereal company of Golden Valley, Minnesota. The cereal consists of two main components: small, toasted bits of oats and multi-colored marshmallow bits (or marbits) in various "magical" shapes making up over 25 percent of the cereal's volume. The label features an affable leprechaun mascot, Lucky, animated in commercials.

History

The cereal was created in 1963 by a team headed up by the manufacturing vice-president of General Mills, John Holahan. The team was to use the available manufacturing capacity from either of General Mills' two principal cereal products — Wheaties or Cheerios — and do something unique to them. Lucky Charms were first invented by mixing Cheerios with bits of Kraft Circus Peanuts.

An advertising company employed by General Mills suggested marketing the new cereal around the idea of charm bracelets. Thus the charms of Lucky Charms were born. The mascot, Lucky the Leprechaun, was also born in 1963, a cartoon character whose voice was supplied by Arthur Anderson until 1992. The oat cereal originally was not sugar coated. After initial sales failed to meet expectations, the oats became sugar coated and the rest is history. Following launch, the General Mills marketing department found that sales performed dramatically better if the composition of the marbits changed periodically. Various other features of the marbits were also modified to maximize their appeal to the cereal's target young consumers. In focus groups and market research, more brightly colored charms resulted in better sales than dull or pastel colors. Holahan called Lucky Charms a "lesson in creative marketing." Currently, General Mills conducts frequent "concept-ideation" studies on Lucky Charms.

For a brief period of time in 1975, Lucky the Leprechaun was replaced as the cereal's mascot by Waldo the Wizard, who performed better in focus groups and initial market tests than Lucky. Waldo was quickly retired, and Lucky once again reinstated a year later.

In the 1990s the cereal was sold in the United Kingdom, including Northern Ireland, but is no longer retailed in any part of the UK, and neither in the Republic of Ireland. [1] The cereal can be obtained through specialty internet/mail-order companies, or upmarket stores such as Selfridges in the UK at greatly inflated prices however. (Due to the nature of importing items from the US to the UK - Prices can be as much as £10 per box if delivered)

Marshmallows

The main selling point for Lucky Charms has always been the marshmallows (or "marbits" as General Mills calls them). The first boxes of Lucky Charms cereal contained marshmallows in the shapes of pink hearts, yellow moons, orange stars, and green clovers. The lineup has changed occasionally over the years, beginning with the introduction of blue diamonds in 1975. Purple horseshoes joined the roster in 1984, followed by red balloons in 1989, rainbows in 1992, pots of gold in 1994, leprechaun hats in 1996, and shooting stars in 1998.

Generally as General Mills introduces new shapes, older marshmallows are phased out. The first marbits to be phased out were the yellow moons and blue diamonds, as General Mills introduced their "Pot of Gold" marshmallow. Since they already had a yellow marbit, they changed the yellow moons to blue moons and eliminated the blue diamonds. Sometimes the marbit phase outs are done quietly, other times the changes form the basis for various commercials and other promotional materials. The current assortment (October 2006) thus consists of purple horseshoes; red balloons; blue moons; orange and white shooting stars; yellow and orange pots of gold; pink, yellow, and blue rainbows; two-tone green leprechaun hats; pink hearts (the only shape to survive since the beginning); with the most recent addition being the return of the clovers in 2004. There have also been slight cosmetic changes in the marbits, as when the orange star changed from six points to five in 1995 and when all of the colors were brightened that same year. Other marshmallows have appeared as short-term promotions, such as a whale shape in 1986, shapes based on the Olympic Games in 1996, and marshmallows shaped like various world landmarks in 1999. The marshmallows also grew in size in 2004.

Recent changes to the marshmallows include: the star shape took more of a "shooting star" design, the orange 5 pointed star being added together with a white "trail" (though making the 5th point in the star almost invisible). More recently, in late 2005 another different kind of marshmallow was added, the "Hidden Key". It is a solid yellow marshmallow that resembles the shape of an older designed door (similar to the shape of a tombstone; flat at the bottom, flat sides with a round top). When liquid is added to the cereal, the sugar inside the marshmallow dissolves and the shape of an older key "appears" as if "by magic". The new tagline for this is "Unlock the door with milk!" This "new" marshmallow type has been used in other kinds of hot and cold cereals, but with mixed success (from characters "hidden" inside a bigger marshmallow to letters appearing). Also to note, this new "Hidden Key" marshmallow only appears in the "regular" Lucky Charms; NOT in the Chocolate or Berry Versions. In early June 2006, General Mills introduced a new Lucky Charms marshmallow, Magic Mirror marshmallows.

The Lucky Charms theme song is a product jingle that describes the contents of the box:

Hearts, stars and horseshoes!

Clovers and blue moons!

Pots of gold and rainbows!

And me red balloons!

The first three lines are generally said by the various children in the commercial, with the last line being said by Lucky the Leprechaun himself.

In 2007, General Mills changed some of the marshmallows in the Lucky Charms cereal, chocolate and berry versions as well, to clovers. On the commercial, Lucky the Leprechaun himself says you can double your luck with more clovers.

In 2008, yellow and orange hourglass marshmallows were introduced with the marketing tagline of "The Hourglass Charm has the power to Stop Time * Speed Up Time * Reverse Time".

Taglines

• They're Magically Delicious!
• They're Always After me Lucky Charms!
• Hearts, Stars, and Horseshoes, Clovers, and Blue Explosions! Pots of Gold and Ammunition, and me Red Balloons!
• The Chase Never Stops!

External links

• Topher's Breakfast Cereal Character Guide
• General Mills corporate Lucky Charms site: includes package information and Nutrition Facts.