Dive Brief:

• General Mills is celebrating the 50th anniversary of its Monster Cereal brands, per details emailed to Marketing Dive. Along with the seasonal returns of Count Chocula, Boo Berry and Franken Berry in retro-style packaging, Frute Brute and Yummy Mummy will be included in a new Monster Mash cereal that combines all five brands.
• To mark the launch, the brand commissioned a remake of the song "Monster Mash," which is available on Spotify, and a mockumentary about the making of the song. In addition, General Mills has teamed with pop culture product manufacturer Funko for a series of collectibles, per a company blog post.
• The Monster Mash launch campaign taps into nostalgia for brands that first launched in the 1970s and utilizes a variety of tactics that could appeal to Gen X and millennial parents who now purchase cereal for their children.

Dive Insight:

General Mills is getting an early start on marketing a handful of cereals that will be available around Halloween with a campaign that utilizes nostalgia for its seasonal brands in a handful of ways. Along with the retro packaging of its Count Chocula, Boo Berry and Franken Berry brands, General Mills will revive Frute Brute and Yummy Mummy — brands that haven't been available for nearly a decade — as part of the Monster Mash cereal, tapping into positive memories of the discontinued brands.

The centerpiece of the campaign — the remake of the 1962 novelty hit "Monster Mash," as "performed by" the brand mascots — doubles down on nostalgia with an original song. Instead of utilizing contemporary styles like hip-hop — a trend brands continue to experiment with — the remake adheres close to the original tune. 

In addition, a mockumentary video could remind Gen X and millennial parents of music documentaries like "Behind the Music," which originally aired on VH1 from 1997 to 2014. The parodic tone of the video — which features other General Mills cereal mascots like the Trix bunny and Lucky Charms leprechaun, along with superstar drummer Travis Barker — could help it cut through the clutter of traditional advertising.

Rounding out the campaign is a collaboration with Funko on a series of collectibles, including limited-edition figures in the company's Vinyl Soda packaging, Vinyl Foodies characters and Funko's first Halloween watches. Funko Pop figures are extremely popular with collectors of various fandoms, and have been utilized by brands including KFC, Dunkin' and Baskin-Robbins, among others.

The Monster Mash campaign is General Mills' latest effort to tap into nostalgia for its classic cereal brands as the CPG company attempts to hold onto gains it made early during the pandemic when consumers stocked up on familiar comfort foods. Last fall, General Mills rebooted cereal flavors popular in the 1980s with a livestreamed event themed around Saturday morning cartoons. Earlier this year, the company released boxes featuring its mascots with the famous "got milk?" mustache, in partnership with the Milk Processor Education Program.

For back-to-school this year, General Mills is also banking on a mobile sweepstakes to drive online orders for retailers that sell its products.