Company: General Mills
Years: 1993-1994
I told him "It was an old cereal that was made so you could eat it with your hand."
His 8 year old mind thought for a second, then he says "All cereals can be eaten by hand if you don't add milk."
And he's right.
Which I guess is why this product flopped. You didn't need to market a cereal that can be eaten by hand since ALL cereals can be eaten by hand.
Fingo's was a strange offering from General Mills. It came in 2 flavors, Honey Oats and Cinnamon, and there was also a variety pack called "Fingos Singles" that had smaller snack packs of each flavor.
But nobody bought it, because they could see through the gimmick.
It also didn't help that "Fing" is the Hungarian word for passing gas, and the word "Fingos" translated to "He Farts a lot" in that language.
Which come to think of it, probably would have actually helped with sales, had they made that public. Well, it would have helped with sales among 6-13 year old boys, anyway.
Also, part of their sales slogan was "Anytime, anywhere", which sort of makes me feel like they are threatening to fight me.
Wanna go, Fingos? Huh? Let's go....you and me.....RIGHT NOW! (wait, what's that smell...)
Anyway, they didn't last, but this strange, flatulant, eager to fight cereal still deserves a spot on our shelves.
It was a swing and a miss for General Mills, but perhaps it was just a little before it's time, as there have been several other snackable cereal offerings similar to this in the recent years.
So do you remember eating these back in the early 90s?
I don't recall these, but I do have a memory of being at a friend's house in the mid 80's and asking if he had anything to snack on. He brings out of box of Life cereal and starts eating it right out of the bag. My mind was blown. You could eat it outside of breakfast?! And you could eat it without milk?! That would have never flown in my home growing up. Cereal was strictly for breakfast and no snacking on it!
ReplyDeleteI remember eating those I also remember the having some kind of stale taste I was 8 at the time so my memory is kind of vauge
ReplyDeleteI have a really clear memory of this cereal. I only eat cereal without milk, and my child self was like, finally, the world is seeing things MY way. I BEGGED my grandfather to buy this in the grocery store. Sadface! This awesomely fun to eat cereal was clearly meant for grownups. Yuck! And then I went back to eating my Cinnamon Toast Crunch sans milk, the way nature intended.
ReplyDeleteI never ate them but saw them in the movie The Professional evertime I watch it and wondered what they were. So a Google search led me here.
ReplyDeleteOMG, I remember these...
ReplyDeleteDid anyone else catch that these are supposed to be healthier than ACTUAL HEALTHY FOODS? Geez. The 90s low fat craze truly was something.
ReplyDelete