Fingos facts for kids

Fingos was a unique breakfast cereal snack made by General Mills. It was sold for a short time, from 1993 to 1994. This cereal was special because it was advertised as a snack you could eat with your fingers, not just for breakfast. Many people found this idea a bit confusing. The voice of the cereal box in TV commercials was done by comedian Steve Mackall.

About Fingos

Fingos was developed for several years before it was released in 1993. The main idea was to create a cereal that people could eat as a snack, without needing milk or a bowl. The cereal pieces were shaped like hexagons. They were promoted as a food you could enjoy at any time of the day.

An expert named John McMillin said the goal was to make cereal into a healthy snack. He compared it to soda companies trying to get people to drink their sodas in the morning. Fingos were "lightly sweetened." They came in single-serving bags or in boxes. The two main flavors were honey toasted oat and cinnamon. Each piece was "bigger than corn flakes but smaller than potato chips."

When Fingos came out, many shoppers were confused. It was sold in the cereal aisle but advertised as a snack. This mixed message made it hard for people to understand what Fingos was supposed to be. Because of this confusion, Fingos was not very successful. It was stopped being sold in 1994.

Fingos Advertising

The packaging for Fingos clearly stated it was a cereal. It also showed that it had a similar number of calories to other breakfast cereals. The box featured a big, happy grin, showing someone about to eat Fingos.

General Mills held special meetings called focus groups to learn what people thought. In these groups, only 1% of people actually ate Fingos with milk. This showed that most people saw it as a snack. The company spent a lot of money, $34 million, to advertise Fingos in 1993. This was a similar amount to what they spent on Multi-Grain Cheerios in 1992.

Posters for Fingos were put up in 32 big cities. To keep the new cereal a secret from other companies, General Mills did their research in people's homes. They did not release Fingos in special test markets first.

Comedian Steve Mackall provided the voice for the cereal box in the TV commercials. He based the voice on Robin Williams' character, the Genie, from the 1992 movie Aladdin. The commercials were either 15 or 30 seconds long. They were animated by a company called Kurtz & Friends. In the commercials, the cereal box would say things like, "How wholesome am I?" and "Read my hips." While saying "Read my hips," the box would show the cereal's nutrition facts.