RIP Product 19 ...................
November 7, 2016 6:55 PM Subscribe
"PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE don't discontinue this cereal," one fan wrote on Kellogg's community boards a few months ago. " I LOVE LOVE LOVE this cereal!" The Long Death of Product 19, the Most Beloved Cereal You've Never Heard Of
Serious Eats review
What's The Deal With Product 19?
Facebook Group
Bring Back Kelloggs Product 19
Commercials
Tom and Mark Harmon (1972)
Nancy Dussault (1977)
Serious Eats review
What's The Deal With Product 19?
Facebook Group
Bring Back Kelloggs Product 19
Commercials
Tom and Mark Harmon (1972)
Nancy Dussault (1977)
This was my favorite cereal when I was a little kid.
Later in life, I became pretty grossed out by milk, especially with cereal. I don't like even being in a room with someone eating cereal, much less purchasing and eating cereal myself. So if you're looking for someone to blame, that was probably me.
posted by ernielundquist at 7:03 PM on November 7, 2016 [2 favorites]
Later in life, I became pretty grossed out by milk, especially with cereal. I don't like even being in a room with someone eating cereal, much less purchasing and eating cereal myself. So if you're looking for someone to blame, that was probably me.
posted by ernielundquist at 7:03 PM on November 7, 2016 [2 favorites]
Huh. I can't really eat cereal these days because I can't deal with milk but I remember liking that stuff.
posted by octothorpe at 7:03 PM on November 7, 2016
posted by octothorpe at 7:03 PM on November 7, 2016
Wow, I haven't thought of that in ages, but yeah - I liked this too.
posted by LobsterMitten at 7:06 PM on November 7, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by LobsterMitten at 7:06 PM on November 7, 2016 [5 favorites]
Hearing about the death of Product 19 is like hearing about one of those celebrity deaths where the real surprise is that they were until quite recently still alive.
posted by drlith at 7:09 PM on November 7, 2016 [33 favorites]
posted by drlith at 7:09 PM on November 7, 2016 [33 favorites]
Product 19 is such a weird dystopian cereal name, though. It's like everybody's sitting at long tables in identical off-white papery jumpsuits, and then a robotic voice comes over the intercom and says CONSUMER UNIT B843 REQUIRES A REPLACEMENT SPOONFORK UTENSIL, and the spoonfork utensil comes out of a pneumatic tube, and then the guy uses it to eat his PRODUCT 19.
It's right up there with Special K near the top of the Least Likely To Succeed Product Names list.
posted by Sing Or Swim at 7:09 PM on November 7, 2016 [67 favorites]
It's right up there with Special K near the top of the Least Likely To Succeed Product Names list.
posted by Sing Or Swim at 7:09 PM on November 7, 2016 [67 favorites]
yeah idk why i loved this when i was a kid but i totally did, way more than any sugary awful kids' cereal
posted by poffin boffin at 7:13 PM on November 7, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by poffin boffin at 7:13 PM on November 7, 2016 [2 favorites]
I think I used to really like this as a child (we were only -- mostly -- allowed healthy cereal) but maybe I'm getting its taste/texture confused with Special K (which I also enjoyed). I know I had it but I remembered nothing about its existence until I read the description.
I still love the idea of cereal although I don't really drink milk anymore (soy/almond/whatever, sure). But like all millennials (OK, I'm basically on the old end of millennials, so ...), I don't eat cereal because it's too much trouble. That's a joke, but I'm really bad at keeping things around in the right proportions. I'm lucky if I have a smushed-up Clif Bar in the far reaches of my bag to eat during the first hour of work once my coffee is gone. Despite trying, I'm just really bad at breakfast.
posted by darksong at 7:18 PM on November 7, 2016 [1 favorite]
I still love the idea of cereal although I don't really drink milk anymore (soy/almond/whatever, sure). But like all millennials (OK, I'm basically on the old end of millennials, so ...), I don't eat cereal because it's too much trouble. That's a joke, but I'm really bad at keeping things around in the right proportions. I'm lucky if I have a smushed-up Clif Bar in the far reaches of my bag to eat during the first hour of work once my coffee is gone. Despite trying, I'm just really bad at breakfast.
posted by darksong at 7:18 PM on November 7, 2016 [1 favorite]
. for Product 19 and its weird metallic tang.
posted by Flannery Culp at 7:33 PM on November 7, 2016 [6 favorites]
posted by Flannery Culp at 7:33 PM on November 7, 2016 [6 favorites]
>I don't eat cereal because it's too much trouble.
The really troublesome thing about cereal is that you can't stop eating it when you want to, because you keep needing either a little more cereal to finish the milk, or a little more milk to finish the cereal.
posted by Sing Or Swim at 7:38 PM on November 7, 2016 [20 favorites]
The really troublesome thing about cereal is that you can't stop eating it when you want to, because you keep needing either a little more cereal to finish the milk, or a little more milk to finish the cereal.
posted by Sing Or Swim at 7:38 PM on November 7, 2016 [20 favorites]
Never had it, was always aware of it, never was interested, would probably like it now, am oddly disturbed that the Mark Harmon commercial seems familiar.
posted by sammyo at 7:40 PM on November 7, 2016
posted by sammyo at 7:40 PM on November 7, 2016
special k got mushy faster, product 19 stayed crunchy a lot longer
posted by poffin boffin at 7:42 PM on November 7, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by poffin boffin at 7:42 PM on November 7, 2016 [4 favorites]
Oh huh I had forgotten that adults freely chose to eat breakfast cereal once upon a time. I mean I eat Fiber One now, but that is for Reasons.
posted by infinitewindow at 7:59 PM on November 7, 2016 [6 favorites]
posted by infinitewindow at 7:59 PM on November 7, 2016 [6 favorites]
Costco in Japan recently started selling jumbo boxes (two of them, back to back) of Honey Nut Cheerios, and my nostalgia overwhelmed my common sense, and later, I learned that the quantity of milk required for cereal first thing in the morning also overwhelms the ghost of the gall bladder I used to have.
But damn, honey nut cheerios are awesome.
posted by Ghidorah at 8:06 PM on November 7, 2016 [1 favorite]
But damn, honey nut cheerios are awesome.
posted by Ghidorah at 8:06 PM on November 7, 2016 [1 favorite]
Product 19 tasted like cardboard, but it was Good For You. Therefore things that are Good For You taste bad. Except bananas, because bananas are awesome. I distinctly remember reaching this conclusion as a young child, slicing bananas into a bowl of Product 19.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 8:19 PM on November 7, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by BitterOldPunk at 8:19 PM on November 7, 2016 [2 favorites]
special k got mushy faster, product 19 stayed crunchy a lot longer
Exactly this. Special K was gag-inducing-bowl-of-maggots-like within seconds but Product 19 stayed crunchy to the end.
Product 19 tasted like cardboard, but it was Good For You
STFU NOOB!
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 8:25 PM on November 7, 2016 [1 favorite]
Exactly this. Special K was gag-inducing-bowl-of-maggots-like within seconds but Product 19 stayed crunchy to the end.
Product 19 tasted like cardboard, but it was Good For You
STFU NOOB!
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 8:25 PM on November 7, 2016 [1 favorite]
I remember Product 19! I remember most its lightly sweet, oaty taste, its thick texture, and best of all, that it never got soggy. Now that I know I will never eat it again I feel rather sad.
posted by Beethoven's Sith at 8:31 PM on November 7, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Beethoven's Sith at 8:31 PM on November 7, 2016 [1 favorite]
Product 19 was probably the most nutitious thing I ate in 1978 Douglasville that wasn't frozen vegetables. Thanks, Product 19. Also, I really liked it.
I can't really eat cereal these days because I can't deal with milk
What you want is very chilled original flavor Rice Dream (_not_ vanilla). There is an "unsweetened" variety that is quite the best. Soy milk isn't as good -- I use soy milk for cooking.
Unsweetened rice milk, very cold.
posted by amtho at 8:32 PM on November 7, 2016 [1 favorite]
I can't really eat cereal these days because I can't deal with milk
What you want is very chilled original flavor Rice Dream (_not_ vanilla). There is an "unsweetened" variety that is quite the best. Soy milk isn't as good -- I use soy milk for cooking.
Unsweetened rice milk, very cold.
posted by amtho at 8:32 PM on November 7, 2016 [1 favorite]
You know you can eat cereal dry too...
posted by atoxyl at 8:35 PM on November 7, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by atoxyl at 8:35 PM on November 7, 2016 [5 favorites]
Damn. I was just reminiscing about Product 19 yesterday when my wife bought some Total. (Now *that's* some fortified cardboard.) I was planning to look for it on my next grocery trip.
I moved away from cereal for breakfast a long time ago, but the last one I did eat was P19. I remember moving into my first solo apartment after college and realizing "Hey, I'm an adult on my own. I can put chocolate syrup on my breakfast cereal if I want!". I did, although using Product 19 made the experience slightly less devil-may-care.
I'm gonna miss missing that cereal.
posted by NumberSix at 8:45 PM on November 7, 2016
I moved away from cereal for breakfast a long time ago, but the last one I did eat was P19. I remember moving into my first solo apartment after college and realizing "Hey, I'm an adult on my own. I can put chocolate syrup on my breakfast cereal if I want!". I did, although using Product 19 made the experience slightly less devil-may-care.
I'm gonna miss missing that cereal.
posted by NumberSix at 8:45 PM on November 7, 2016
atoxyl: "You know you can eat cereal dry too..."
[looks at the bag of fortified white/rice flakes stuck in the bookshelf by his desk]
Who? Me?
posted by Samizdata at 8:46 PM on November 7, 2016
[looks at the bag of fortified white/rice flakes stuck in the bookshelf by his desk]
Who? Me?
posted by Samizdata at 8:46 PM on November 7, 2016
A good excuse to post the classic Cryptonomcon cereal passage:
Randy has worked out a set of mental blueprints for a special cereal-eating spoon that will have a tube running down the handle and a little pump for the milk, so that you can spoon dry cereal up out of a bowl, hit a button with your thumb, and squirt milk into the bowl of the spoon even as you are introducing it into your mouth. The next best thing is to work in small increments, putting only a small amount of Cap’n Crunch in your bowl at a time and eating it all up before it becomes a pit of loathsome slime, which, in the case of Cap’n Crunch, takes about thirty seconds.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 8:47 PM on November 7, 2016 [6 favorites]
Randy has worked out a set of mental blueprints for a special cereal-eating spoon that will have a tube running down the handle and a little pump for the milk, so that you can spoon dry cereal up out of a bowl, hit a button with your thumb, and squirt milk into the bowl of the spoon even as you are introducing it into your mouth. The next best thing is to work in small increments, putting only a small amount of Cap’n Crunch in your bowl at a time and eating it all up before it becomes a pit of loathsome slime, which, in the case of Cap’n Crunch, takes about thirty seconds.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 8:47 PM on November 7, 2016 [6 favorites]
Product 19 is such a weird dystopian cereal name, though. It's like everybody's sitting at long tables in identical off-white papery jumpsuits, and then a robotic voice comes over the intercom and says CONSUMER UNIT B843 REQUIRES A REPLACEMENT SPOONFORK UTENSIL, and the spoonfork utensil comes out of a pneumatic tube, and then the guy uses it to eat his PRODUCT 19.
PRODUCT 19 IS PEOPLE!
posted by ashbury at 8:54 PM on November 7, 2016 [4 favorites]
PRODUCT 19 IS PEOPLE!
posted by ashbury at 8:54 PM on November 7, 2016 [4 favorites]
Young Mark Harmon plus one of my fav cereals???? Ugh, yes please
posted by Hermione Granger at 9:01 PM on November 7, 2016
posted by Hermione Granger at 9:01 PM on November 7, 2016
Yeah, it's this weird quasi-Soviet name that's redolent of Ingsoc and Airstrip One, but even though it's been decades--maybe since the Carter Administration--since I'd had any, I can still feel the texture in my mouth.
posted by Halloween Jack at 9:04 PM on November 7, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Halloween Jack at 9:04 PM on November 7, 2016 [1 favorite]
Product 19 was one of the choices available in the little individual-serving cereal boxes in diners back in the day. The menu usually specified the options of having it served with milk or cream. I often chose Product 19 with cream. Good times.
posted by fairmettle at 9:04 PM on November 7, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by fairmettle at 9:04 PM on November 7, 2016 [1 favorite]
Man...Product 19 was the cereal I always had when I stayed with my grandmother.
posted by tallthinone at 9:08 PM on November 7, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by tallthinone at 9:08 PM on November 7, 2016 [2 favorites]
Product 19 and Total are no Vector. The cereal that has direction as well as magnitude.
posted by GuyZero at 9:13 PM on November 7, 2016 [14 favorites]
posted by GuyZero at 9:13 PM on November 7, 2016 [14 favorites]
Which tested much better among focus groups than their old motto, “Vector: the cereal that spreads diseases”.
posted by traveler_ at 9:23 PM on November 7, 2016 [6 favorites]
posted by traveler_ at 9:23 PM on November 7, 2016 [6 favorites]
What kind of bizarro person has never heard of Product 19?
posted by escabeche at 9:29 PM on November 7, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by escabeche at 9:29 PM on November 7, 2016 [2 favorites]
>escabeche
The sort of bizarro person who grew up in the Great White North in a city where it was extremely difficult to even find Trix. Now there was a cereal I mourned over. This Phase IV, Product 19 thing, never even heard of it.
It sounds delicious. But so did Reese's Puffs. It sounds like it was much better in execution than in theory.
posted by Neronomius at 9:35 PM on November 7, 2016
The sort of bizarro person who grew up in the Great White North in a city where it was extremely difficult to even find Trix. Now there was a cereal I mourned over. This Phase IV, Product 19 thing, never even heard of it.
It sounds delicious. But so did Reese's Puffs. It sounds like it was much better in execution than in theory.
posted by Neronomius at 9:35 PM on November 7, 2016
I am bummed about this. I always liked this cereal, and when they tried it last summer my kids actually liked it too. It's crunchy, nutty, and just a little sweet.
posted by Songdog at 9:38 PM on November 7, 2016
posted by Songdog at 9:38 PM on November 7, 2016
. for a reminder of my childhood that will never get triggered again.
posted by Songdog at 9:38 PM on November 7, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Songdog at 9:38 PM on November 7, 2016 [1 favorite]
God damn it, it's going for $26 a box on eBay. Oh, the stages of stupid first world consumer grief.
posted by Songdog at 9:41 PM on November 7, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by Songdog at 9:41 PM on November 7, 2016 [3 favorites]
I've been quite happy with my Raw Bits ("oat hulls and wheat chaff; it's not for everyone").
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:51 PM on November 7, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:51 PM on November 7, 2016 [2 favorites]
Product 19 was my favorite cereal. They stopped selling it around here a couple of years ago, but I liked knowing it was out there.
Maybe one reason it wasn't popular is was because it was always the most expensive "non-niche" cereal, there wasn't a cheaper store brand, it was never on sale, and there were never coupons. I bet it would be $6+ a box now.
With Special K I just pour in enough milk for a couple of bites, eat, and repeat. I have an idea! Hey, Kellogg's, make thick Special K, call it Product K.
Also in this class, and missed: Team.
posted by Room 641-A at 11:27 PM on November 7, 2016 [2 favorites]
Maybe one reason it wasn't popular is was because it was always the most expensive "non-niche" cereal, there wasn't a cheaper store brand, it was never on sale, and there were never coupons. I bet it would be $6+ a box now.
With Special K I just pour in enough milk for a couple of bites, eat, and repeat. I have an idea! Hey, Kellogg's, make thick Special K, call it Product K.
Also in this class, and missed: Team.
posted by Room 641-A at 11:27 PM on November 7, 2016 [2 favorites]
unpopular opinion: total raisin bran is better than regular raisin bran FIGHT ME
posted by poffin boffin at 1:16 AM on November 8, 2016
posted by poffin boffin at 1:16 AM on November 8, 2016
Product 19 is my favorite cereal ever and what my mom gave toddler me as a snack. I used to point to the cabinet and say "nine? nine?" and she'd give it to me dry, in a little cup. GODDAMN YOU SO MUCH 2016.
posted by wheek wheek wheek at 2:16 AM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by wheek wheek wheek at 2:16 AM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
how did you have cabinets in your lil guinea pig house
posted by poffin boffin at 2:30 AM on November 8, 2016 [14 favorites]
posted by poffin boffin at 2:30 AM on November 8, 2016 [14 favorites]
Am I the only American over 40 who has never even heard of Product 19? Sometimes I think I slipped over in a parallel universe, one exactly like mine...except it has stuff like Product 19.
posted by zardoz at 2:48 AM on November 8, 2016 [7 favorites]
posted by zardoz at 2:48 AM on November 8, 2016 [7 favorites]
All my life I have been encountering people who treat my aversion to milk on cereal with horror and disbelief. Like they think it's actually disgusting or impossible to simply eat cereal.
posted by thelonius at 2:49 AM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by thelonius at 2:49 AM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
Product 19 is such a weird dystopian cereal name, though. It's like everybody's sitting at long tables in identical off-white papery jumpsuits, and then a robotic voice comes over the intercom and says CONSUMER UNIT B843 REQUIRES A REPLACEMENT SPOONFORK UTENSIL, and the spoonfork utensil comes out of a pneumatic tube, and then the guy uses it to eat his PRODUCT 19.
Ugh, PRODUCT 19 is disgusting. First time I tried it I had to wash the taste away with HYDRATION LIQUID 3 and then find a spare TIME UNIT to grab some YEAST SNACK 27b on the way to my job at EMPLOYMENT LOCATION DELTA. GENERIC DEITY save us from whatever STANDARD NUTRITION ALGORITHM devised PRODUCT 19.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 2:55 AM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
Ugh, PRODUCT 19 is disgusting. First time I tried it I had to wash the taste away with HYDRATION LIQUID 3 and then find a spare TIME UNIT to grab some YEAST SNACK 27b on the way to my job at EMPLOYMENT LOCATION DELTA. GENERIC DEITY save us from whatever STANDARD NUTRITION ALGORITHM devised PRODUCT 19.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 2:55 AM on November 8, 2016 [4 favorites]
You know you can eat cereal dry too...
You know, most cereal killers are dry guys.
posted by AndrewInDC at 3:02 AM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
You know, most cereal killers are dry guys.
posted by AndrewInDC at 3:02 AM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
Am I the only American over 40 who has never even heard of Product 19?
I'm guessing so. I can recall P19 on the shelves all the way back to when I was a mere sprout. As a kid, I always sort of thought of it as the dads' cereal while Special K was for the moms. I can't say I've ever actually eaten the stuff, though (unless it came in one of those great 8-packs of mini-boxes they used to sell. I made sure I ate all of those.)
But, even as a kid, I loved the name. "Product 19." It was just so...healthily grown-up yet wonderfully weird. Like "Grape Nuts." (Which they had better leave their grubby mitts off of, or there will be hell to pay, boyo.)
posted by Thorzdad at 3:43 AM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
I'm guessing so. I can recall P19 on the shelves all the way back to when I was a mere sprout. As a kid, I always sort of thought of it as the dads' cereal while Special K was for the moms. I can't say I've ever actually eaten the stuff, though (unless it came in one of those great 8-packs of mini-boxes they used to sell. I made sure I ate all of those.)
But, even as a kid, I loved the name. "Product 19." It was just so...healthily grown-up yet wonderfully weird. Like "Grape Nuts." (Which they had better leave their grubby mitts off of, or there will be hell to pay, boyo.)
posted by Thorzdad at 3:43 AM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
Never a big fan of the cereal but I've always loved that name.
Product 19, Vicks Formula 44, WD-40. And there's one with a 12 in it, too, isn't there? If I ever release a product I'm going for this kind of name.
posted by dirtdirt at 4:01 AM on November 8, 2016
Product 19, Vicks Formula 44, WD-40. And there's one with a 12 in it, too, isn't there? If I ever release a product I'm going for this kind of name.
posted by dirtdirt at 4:01 AM on November 8, 2016
Have to admire the dedication to keyfabe on display here, but Product 19? Come on.
posted by rodlymight at 4:06 AM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by rodlymight at 4:06 AM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
unpopular opinion: total raisin bran is better than regular raisin bran FIGHT ME
Total Corn Flakes were also amazing, smaller and thicker and much better able to stay crisp in milk than Kellogg's, which are barely even paper flakes, let alone cardboard.
posted by Flannery Culp at 4:21 AM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
Total Corn Flakes were also amazing, smaller and thicker and much better able to stay crisp in milk than Kellogg's, which are barely even paper flakes, let alone cardboard.
posted by Flannery Culp at 4:21 AM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
I sort of recall Product 19. I have a stronger memory of Team, mentioned earlier. Both were crunchy, substantial flakes that conveyed "hearty". I expect there's still a cereal or two that hits close to that mark.
From working in advertising for a while, I have sort of a like/hate relationship with cereal. I know that they are engineered products - designed for taste and mouth-feel - and that the potential profits are massive, which is why there's so much put into their marketing.
We do semi-regularly eat cereal in the morning, but when I'm feeling anti-consumerish I'll make some oatmeal from scratch.
(and... Grape Nuts! wow hadn't thought about them for a while. Interesting process for making them. I always ate too much.)
posted by Artful Codger at 4:32 AM on November 8, 2016
From working in advertising for a while, I have sort of a like/hate relationship with cereal. I know that they are engineered products - designed for taste and mouth-feel - and that the potential profits are massive, which is why there's so much put into their marketing.
We do semi-regularly eat cereal in the morning, but when I'm feeling anti-consumerish I'll make some oatmeal from scratch.
(and... Grape Nuts! wow hadn't thought about them for a while. Interesting process for making them. I always ate too much.)
posted by Artful Codger at 4:32 AM on November 8, 2016
And there's one with a 12 in it
Eggs, one dozen.
posted by mikelieman at 4:42 AM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
Eggs, one dozen.
posted by mikelieman at 4:42 AM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
Always got mixed up in my young Bostonian brain with (also recently departed) Building 19. It didn't help that they were both something my paternal grandmother seemed to enjoy equally.
posted by Rock Steady at 4:51 AM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by Rock Steady at 4:51 AM on November 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
I might have eaten this as a kid. If I did I don't remember it. That may be part of the problem, no?
posted by Splunge at 5:14 AM on November 8, 2016
posted by Splunge at 5:14 AM on November 8, 2016
. For the most dystopian looking cereal in the cereal aisle.
posted by Elly Vortex at 6:32 AM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by Elly Vortex at 6:32 AM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
I've also never heard of Product 19 and have that feeling that there's some giant inside joke but I'm on the outside. Or possibly this is a viral campaign for the return of LOST. It does look like something I'd like but is it a lot different than the many other grain flakes cereals available?
I don't understand the "stays crispy/crunchy in milk" thing that so many cereals push. If I want crunchy cereal I don't add milk, but when I do add milk my intention is to make the cereal mushy. There are some cereals that I don't eat until they've been sitting in milk for a bit to get to the right level of mush - Frosted Mini Wheats and Rice Krispies especially. Am I the only crazy one who thinks that milk is supposed to de-crunch the cereal?
posted by Clinging to the Wreckage at 7:00 AM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
I don't understand the "stays crispy/crunchy in milk" thing that so many cereals push. If I want crunchy cereal I don't add milk, but when I do add milk my intention is to make the cereal mushy. There are some cereals that I don't eat until they've been sitting in milk for a bit to get to the right level of mush - Frosted Mini Wheats and Rice Krispies especially. Am I the only crazy one who thinks that milk is supposed to de-crunch the cereal?
posted by Clinging to the Wreckage at 7:00 AM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
Product 19 was one of those crappy cereals that never had a prize inside.
posted by lagomorphius at 7:13 AM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by lagomorphius at 7:13 AM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
I wonder if I never encountered Product 19 growing up because there was no generic version and it was never on sale.
It's ok, my parents gave us Flintstones with our breakfast cereals.
posted by aniola at 7:22 AM on November 8, 2016
It's ok, my parents gave us Flintstones with our breakfast cereals.
posted by aniola at 7:22 AM on November 8, 2016
Am I the only crazy one who thinks that milk is supposed to de-crunch the cereal?
Yes. Get the hell out of here with your blasphemy.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 7:30 AM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
Yes. Get the hell out of here with your blasphemy.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 7:30 AM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
And here I am, sad that just this morning I finished off the last of the three boxes of Frankenberry I bought in the run-up to Halloween.
posted by AzraelBrown at 7:36 AM on November 8, 2016
posted by AzraelBrown at 7:36 AM on November 8, 2016
.
posted by JoJoPotato at 7:47 AM on November 8, 2016
posted by JoJoPotato at 7:47 AM on November 8, 2016
Every time I go into a new grocery store I look for Product 19 and wonder why they don't stock it either. Now I know...
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 7:49 AM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 7:49 AM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
I don't understand the "stays crispy/crunchy in milk" thing that so many cereals push. If I want crunchy cereal I don't add milk, but when I do add milk my intention is to make the cereal mushy. There are some cereals that I don't eat until they've been sitting in milk for a bit to get to the right level of mush - Frosted Mini Wheats and Rice Krispies especially. Am I the only crazy one who thinks that milk is supposed to de-crunch the cereal?
You're not crazy, but your mental model of the situation is woefully, nay, dangerously oversimplified. Milk is supposed to help the cereal go down, at minimum. For some cereals, decrunchification is also necessary, but to different degrees for different cereals. Grape Nuts needs time in milk to be edible; Frosted Mini Wheats and Oatmeal Squares are helped as well. But Wheaties will become soup if left in milk for any time whatsoever, and Crispix dissociates into its constituent ions immediately on solution in milk.
posted by a snickering nuthatch at 7:51 AM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
You're not crazy, but your mental model of the situation is woefully, nay, dangerously oversimplified. Milk is supposed to help the cereal go down, at minimum. For some cereals, decrunchification is also necessary, but to different degrees for different cereals. Grape Nuts needs time in milk to be edible; Frosted Mini Wheats and Oatmeal Squares are helped as well. But Wheaties will become soup if left in milk for any time whatsoever, and Crispix dissociates into its constituent ions immediately on solution in milk.
posted by a snickering nuthatch at 7:51 AM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
My exposure to Product 19 was definitely in the variety pack of little boxes. I liked it OK but I admit it was among the last boxes to be eaten, after the Corn Puffs and Sugar Smacks and Raisin Bran were gone.
posted by thelonius at 7:53 AM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by thelonius at 7:53 AM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
But Wheaties will become soup if left in milk for any time whatsoever, and Crispix dissociates into its constituent ions immediately on solution in milk.\
But Wheaties Soup and De-Ionized Crispix Gel Paste are what I'm after. If I'm the only one, then explain Cream-Of-Wheat or Malt-O-Meal which I don't like at all for flavor reasons, but they're the consistency that I'm going for.
posted by Clinging to the Wreckage at 8:15 AM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
But Wheaties Soup and De-Ionized Crispix Gel Paste are what I'm after. If I'm the only one, then explain Cream-Of-Wheat or Malt-O-Meal which I don't like at all for flavor reasons, but they're the consistency that I'm going for.
posted by Clinging to the Wreckage at 8:15 AM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
What kind of bizarro person has never heard of Product 19?
Children who write clickbait articles.
posted by humboldt32 at 8:28 AM on November 8, 2016
Children who write clickbait articles.
posted by humboldt32 at 8:28 AM on November 8, 2016
What kind of bizarro person has never heard of Product 19?
Canadians, maybe? We are almost exactly like you in many ways, but I do not recall ever seeing this cereal. If nothing else, I think I would recollect the opposite side of the box, declaring it "Produit dix-neuf."
posted by ricochet biscuit at 8:45 AM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
Canadians, maybe? We are almost exactly like you in many ways, but I do not recall ever seeing this cereal. If nothing else, I think I would recollect the opposite side of the box, declaring it "Produit dix-neuf."
posted by ricochet biscuit at 8:45 AM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
Am I the only crazy one who thinks that milk is supposed to de-crunch the cereal?
Supposed to? I dunno...
posted by Splunge at 9:30 AM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
Supposed to? I dunno...
posted by Splunge at 9:30 AM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
Am I the only crazy one who thinks that milk is supposed to de-crunch the cereal?
1. Add Capt'n Crunch to bowl.
2. Add milk.
3. Let stand 5 mins.
Works well if you replace Capt'n Crunch with Raisin Bran (Post brand only). In which case add 1 tsp. Sugar and reduce standing time to 3 mins.
posted by humboldt32 at 9:39 AM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
1. Add Capt'n Crunch to bowl.
2. Add milk.
3. Let stand 5 mins.
Works well if you replace Capt'n Crunch with Raisin Bran (Post brand only). In which case add 1 tsp. Sugar and reduce standing time to 3 mins.
posted by humboldt32 at 9:39 AM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
It appears that my favorite brand of Cornflakes has died as well, Post Toasties. I found them in the 'states when I lived there and missed them when I moved back to the Frozen North. There is a close analog in a store brand here, but it's just not the same.
posted by NiteMayr at 9:48 AM on November 8, 2016
posted by NiteMayr at 9:48 AM on November 8, 2016
Yeah, Product 19 was my favorite cereal as a kid, mainly because I wasn't allowed to have sugary cereals. I think what I like about it is that it's a little salty. I found it in a store a few months ago, and had recently been ducking down the cereal aisle every time we went to a new grocery store to see if it was there, even though I hardly eat cereal anymore. I guess I'll stop now.
posted by pinothefrog at 9:54 AM on November 8, 2016
posted by pinothefrog at 9:54 AM on November 8, 2016
I wasn't allowed sugar-sweetened cereal when I was a kid, but I quickly figured out that a few spoonfuls of sugar snuck out of the canister + Product 19 = almost Frosted Flakes!
Also, I remember a change in Special K - either it started out as little circles and then changed to flakes, or started as flakes and then changed to little circles? Or maybe I'm making that up.
posted by 41swans at 10:15 AM on November 8, 2016
Also, I remember a change in Special K - either it started out as little circles and then changed to flakes, or started as flakes and then changed to little circles? Or maybe I'm making that up.
posted by 41swans at 10:15 AM on November 8, 2016
Wheaties will become soup if left in milk for any time whatsoever
the worst is grape nuts, the weird gritty kernels, not the flakes. i really enjoy eating it but if you leave it in the bowl for any longer than it takes you to snarf it down, it turns into the kind of cement that archaeologists 1000 years in the future would be praising for its durability.
posted by poffin boffin at 10:55 AM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
the worst is grape nuts, the weird gritty kernels, not the flakes. i really enjoy eating it but if you leave it in the bowl for any longer than it takes you to snarf it down, it turns into the kind of cement that archaeologists 1000 years in the future would be praising for its durability.
posted by poffin boffin at 10:55 AM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
I prefer its cement form to its gravel form.
posted by a snickering nuthatch at 11:14 AM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by a snickering nuthatch at 11:14 AM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
Aww, man. Of all the comparitively unsweetened grown-up cereals we used to get when I was a kid, Product 19 was one of my favorites, and I almost bought some within the last year... only to leave it on the shelf because it seemed inordinately expensive, and despite the health food branding it was basically low protein/empty carb glycemic crash in a box. (I say that as someone who will happily eat three bowls of cereal in a sitting if allowed, which is why I try to keep it out of the house altogether. I did indulge in a box of Count Chocula last month, and impressed myself by making it last about a week!)
posted by usonian at 12:46 PM on November 8, 2016
posted by usonian at 12:46 PM on November 8, 2016
almost Frosted Flakes!
I haven't thought about Frosted Flakes in perhaps three decades; as a kid, I'd pour extra granulated white sugar into my bowl of milk+FF and savour the ooie milk goop after I had eaten all the flakes.
Surprisingly, I completely lost my sweet tooth about the same time puberty hit me like a dump truck.
So Product 19 only had (presumably supplemented to minimum required levels of) “Vitamin E, Folic Acid, Iron, and Zinc.”
Were/are Americans generally deficient in these particular micronutrients (at the time?) or were they just some rando supplements that were cost-effective and could be added in sufficient quantities through food SCIENCE! and still have a palatable product?
posted by porpoise at 2:52 PM on November 8, 2016
I haven't thought about Frosted Flakes in perhaps three decades; as a kid, I'd pour extra granulated white sugar into my bowl of milk+FF and savour the ooie milk goop after I had eaten all the flakes.
Surprisingly, I completely lost my sweet tooth about the same time puberty hit me like a dump truck.
So Product 19 only had (presumably supplemented to minimum required levels of) “Vitamin E, Folic Acid, Iron, and Zinc.”
Were/are Americans generally deficient in these particular micronutrients (at the time?) or were they just some rando supplements that were cost-effective and could be added in sufficient quantities through food SCIENCE! and still have a palatable product?
posted by porpoise at 2:52 PM on November 8, 2016
Is this something I need to be not-Canadian to understand?
I am either an old or on the cusp, and I'm a cereal hound who several times a week can be found drinking a big, cold glass of milk. I am a minority in this way.
I usually have cereal around. I don't eat it every morning, but I know it's there and sometimes I'll eat it multiple times per day. When Target was establishing their grocery sections 5 or so years ago, I would go and stock up on the loss leaders they used to attract shoppers to the aisle: 24oz box of Crunch Berries (the best flavor) for $1.73? ON IT. Frosted Mini Wheats? I only have enough bags for three boxes. This is how I found out two things about Crunch Berries: my mouth skin was thicker as a child, and that they almost certainly have toned down the berry flavor. Frosted Mini Wheats are still good, though.
Here's a little factoid: the healthy cereal "Smart Start" has almost the exact same nutritional value (macros) as Frosted Mini Wheats. It was then that I stopped hunting among the neo-healthy cereals, King Vitamin having long since shuffled off this mortal spoon. I decided I can ignore Total, Product 19, Special K, Wheaties, and whatever else is in the no-prizes-ever cereal category.
I buy Grape Nuts. I follow Grape Nuts. I know that Grape Nuts go on sale maybe once a year. I chafe at paying $5.50 for a box of Grape Nuts. I chafe when I can't pay $5.50 for a box of Grape Nuts because the store doesn't carry the big boxes anymore, only the small ones, which don't take long for me to go through and besides that screw the store for taking up all my cereal storage with their portion-controlled merchandising. I guess the granola bar lobby is strong, because they keep encroaching on the shelf space normally used for cereal. Like how we have like 15 flavors of Triscuit now.
Nowadays, I just buy store brand Bran Flakes. $1.50/box and they're good enough. They're terrible with the milk, though, and I have to eat them instantly. By that criteria I have to say I'm sorry I have never had Product 19, but maybe I'll check the bodegas around here and see if I can get in on the action for less than $300.
posted by rhizome at 6:24 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
I am either an old or on the cusp, and I'm a cereal hound who several times a week can be found drinking a big, cold glass of milk. I am a minority in this way.
I usually have cereal around. I don't eat it every morning, but I know it's there and sometimes I'll eat it multiple times per day. When Target was establishing their grocery sections 5 or so years ago, I would go and stock up on the loss leaders they used to attract shoppers to the aisle: 24oz box of Crunch Berries (the best flavor) for $1.73? ON IT. Frosted Mini Wheats? I only have enough bags for three boxes. This is how I found out two things about Crunch Berries: my mouth skin was thicker as a child, and that they almost certainly have toned down the berry flavor. Frosted Mini Wheats are still good, though.
Here's a little factoid: the healthy cereal "Smart Start" has almost the exact same nutritional value (macros) as Frosted Mini Wheats. It was then that I stopped hunting among the neo-healthy cereals, King Vitamin having long since shuffled off this mortal spoon. I decided I can ignore Total, Product 19, Special K, Wheaties, and whatever else is in the no-prizes-ever cereal category.
I buy Grape Nuts. I follow Grape Nuts. I know that Grape Nuts go on sale maybe once a year. I chafe at paying $5.50 for a box of Grape Nuts. I chafe when I can't pay $5.50 for a box of Grape Nuts because the store doesn't carry the big boxes anymore, only the small ones, which don't take long for me to go through and besides that screw the store for taking up all my cereal storage with their portion-controlled merchandising. I guess the granola bar lobby is strong, because they keep encroaching on the shelf space normally used for cereal. Like how we have like 15 flavors of Triscuit now.
Nowadays, I just buy store brand Bran Flakes. $1.50/box and they're good enough. They're terrible with the milk, though, and I have to eat them instantly. By that criteria I have to say I'm sorry I have never had Product 19, but maybe I'll check the bodegas around here and see if I can get in on the action for less than $300.
posted by rhizome at 6:24 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
best of all, that it never got soggy
Sorry to be the buzz kill on this thread but you gotta ask yourself - what are they putting in the food that makes it not go soggy when it gets wet?
Blech.
posted by vignettist at 8:11 AM on November 10, 2016
Sorry to be the buzz kill on this thread but you gotta ask yourself - what are they putting in the food that makes it not go soggy when it gets wet?
Blech.
posted by vignettist at 8:11 AM on November 10, 2016
I think most of the time it's a version of honey that dries, which i suppose means some variant of corn syrup.
posted by rhizome at 1:47 PM on November 10, 2016
posted by rhizome at 1:47 PM on November 10, 2016
Product 19, Vicks Formula 44, WD-40. And there's one with a 12 in it, too, isn't there? If I ever release a product I'm going for this kind of name.
Wow, they're still making S.T.37.
posted by Songdog at 5:31 PM on November 10, 2016
Wow, they're still making S.T.37.
posted by Songdog at 5:31 PM on November 10, 2016
Allegedly Post Toasties still exist as one of the constituents of Honey Bunches of Oats.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 10:14 AM on November 11, 2016
posted by Huffy Puffy at 10:14 AM on November 11, 2016
It's right up there with Special K near the top of the Least Likely To Succeed Product Names list.
But just under "soylent", right?
posted by she's not there at 9:55 PM on November 11, 2016
But just under "soylent", right?
posted by she's not there at 9:55 PM on November 11, 2016
If Special K is the Least Likely To Succeed of Product Names, it's the cereal arch-enemy of Cookie Crisp.
posted by rhizome at 12:59 PM on November 12, 2016
posted by rhizome at 12:59 PM on November 12, 2016
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posted by computech_apolloniajames at 7:01 PM on November 7, 2016