A while back I noticed something that I completely forgot about until right now:

There are no female cereal mascots. Not one.

In the cold variety of cereal there’s sea-captains, leprechauns, rabbits, crooks, funky birds, 3 tiny gay men, overly masculine tigers, strange aliens, various bears, a bee, a vampire, a frog, etc, but no females.

In the hot variety theres an old grandfatherly guy with a gigantic moustache, a skinny black cook, an old puritan looking guy with a funny hat, but no females.

You have to go all the way to syrup – which is still a breakfast food, but quite a stretch – before you get to Aunt Jemima and Mrs. Butterworth.

I decided to do a little research, and discovered that there have been female mascots in the past, as far back as the 1940’s. There has been the occasional licensed property like Strawberry Shortcake or Barbie used to sell cereal over the years, but I really don’t think those count.

I wonder why this is? Any ideas?

If you feel like taking a little walk down memory lane, Tophers Breakfast Cereal Character Guide has lots and lots of pictures and information broken down by brand. I wish it were browsable in a chronological order, but its still a great site.