Crazy Cow
There was no shortage of sweet breakfast cereals from which to choose in the 1970s, with each vying for any gimmick that might help them stand above the competition. One of the memorable was Crazy Cow – with two varieties sure to bring fun to any breakfast table.
General Mills introduced Crazy Cow in 1976. Each box contained multi-grained pellets, similar in size and shape to a Cocoa Puff. That’s where the similarity ended, as each of those pellets was coated with a special powder that would dissolve in milk, thereby flavoring it.
Both chocolate and strawberry versions of the cereal were available, and by the time you were finished eating, you had a colorful bowl of either chocolate or strawberry milk, similar in flavor to Nestle’s Quik. Of course, there were no actual strawberries or chocolate to be found in a box of Crazy Cow, just good old fashioned artificial flavoring.
https://youtu.be/v5HouTGVmFk
Initially, Crazy Cow sold very well, so much so that General Mills had problems keeping up with the demand and had to issue a public apology to all those little kids (and their parents) for the lack of availability. General Mills finally got up to speed, but as the decade wound down, so did interest in this cereal.
By the 80s, our unbalanced bovine friend was sent to the animal sanitarium and kids were back to drinking regular milk with their cereal. Such is the fleeting way of fads.
There is one other memorable aspect of Crazy Cow, concerning a collectable set of six Star Wars cards, one of which was included in each box. If you happened to keep any of those prizes in good condition, you might be surprised at the prices those rare cards fetch today. It’s enough to make you crazy, just like our cow friend from yesteryear.
Was Crazy Cow one of the breakfast cereals that you begged your parents to buy? Were you happy with its milk-morphing results or did the flavor leave you less than satisfied. I hope you’ll round up all your Crazy Cow memories and share them with all of us in our comments section below.
YES, I LOVED the Strawberry flavored Crazy Cow Cereal! My friends, and family have been talking about this for years! We always felt special/blessed that my mother treated us (sisters) with them every month! Any chance of you making them again!?! My cabinets would be fully stocked with them every week! PLEASE consider putting them back on the Market!
Wow. Talk about a blast from the past. No, my parents pretty much thought “sweet” cereals were evil so I never tried them – but I must’ve seen the commercials hundreds of times. That was a crazy cow!