Canadian Pebbles

[Gloves | 11,790]

No, not rocks, the cereal!

It's been brought up again and it's something I'm really passionate about (what a weirdo), so I thought I'd make a thread about it to share.

In the 90's, in certain provinces in Canada, we had Cocoa and Fruity Pebbles, and they were amazing. Today in the States you can easily obtain Pebbles cereal without issue and be brought back to your childhood in an instant. This is, unfortunately, a trap. You've been tricked your entire life into thinking you have the best cereal ever.

I'm sorry to tell you that you are dead wrong. 

THIS? 

These flaky, Rice Krispies wannabe, color vomit FAKES(!) are a depressing abomination compared to the REAL DEAL.

ACTUAL, GOOD Fruity/Cocoa Pebbles are not FLAKES at all (ew!). THESE... are Pebbles cereal:

 

I would pay an exorbitant amount of money to be able to eat a fresh box of these. None of that "Crispy Rice" crap, gimme those delicious Wheat, Corn and Oats!

I've petitioned Post multiple times to bring them back as they were, but they won't respond to me. They won't answer my calls, and I'm surely on some manner of list at this point.

That is all. Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.

[the_wizard_666 | 1,325]

While I remember them being on the shelf, I never got to try them.  My parents kept the sugar away from my sister and I for the most part, so any kind of cereal that wasn't at least moderately healthy was off the table.  It's kind of a sore point for me now when I watch my mom give my nieces all sorts of sweets, but I suppose that was the same feeling she had watching my grandma do the same with us

[twiztor | 851]

weren't they always flakes? when did that change?

anyway, when i want to relive glorious saturday mornings, Lucky Charms (or the cheap version, Marshmallow Mateys) are what i reach for.

Edited August 27, 2021 by twiztor

[DoctorEncore | 3,691]

I will concede that American Pebbles are terrible if you don't consume them immediately after first contact with milk. However, if you're quick on the draw and manage to grab a heaping helping of freshly coated Cocoa Pebbles using the big spoon, you're in for a crunchy treat. Sadly, even a 10% loss in crunch factor results in a soggy, sad mess and requires immediate disposal.

But really it's a moot point. The only cereals that should be in your pantry are Peanut Butter Cap'N Crunch and Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Everything else is second class cereal.

 

[Kguillemette | 1,544]

They just look like Cocoa Puffs to me.

[darkchylde28 | 1,546]

So, what you're saying, is that "Canadian" Pebbles were really just Rice Crispies (apparently made with different grains) that they did fruit and/or chocolate flavoring to?  Neat concept, definitely not something I ever saw in the states, but really just a mashup of two things that we in the US had (and those in Canada likely had as well). 

[Gloves | 11,790]

19 minutes ago, darkchylde28 said:

So, what you're saying, is that "Canadian" Pebbles were really just Rice Crispies (apparently made with different grains) that they did fruit and/or chocolate flavoring to?  Neat concept, definitely not something I ever saw in the states, but really just a mashup of two things that we in the US had (and those in Canada likely had as well). 

No they weren't like Rice Crispies at all! They were closer to Corn Pops if anything.

[darkchylde28 | 1,546]

1 minute ago, Gloves said:

No they weren't like Rice Crispies at all! They were closer to Corn Pops if anything.

Well, at a glance, in size they appear to be like Rice Crispies, but based on the other-grain content, I'd imagine the texture would have been more like corn pops or a different "puffed" grain type cereal.  If I had to guess, you guys were probably (un)lucky enough to live in a test market where they were trying something new, which ultimately didn't fly, then which got discontinued in favor of the status quo.  Sadly, it happens to all cereals over time, save the absolutely top dogs.  I'd absolutely love to lay my hands on a fresh, edible box of the Nintendo Cereal System or C-3PO's, but alas, it is not to be.

[Gloves | 11,790]

1 minute ago, darkchylde28 said:

Well, at a glance, in size they appear to be like Rice Crispies, but based on the other-grain content, I'd imagine the texture would have been more like corn pops or a different "puffed" grain type cereal.  If I had to guess, you guys were probably (un)lucky enough to live in a test market where they were trying something new, which ultimately didn't fly, then which got discontinued in favor of the status quo.  Sadly, it happens to all cereals over time, save the absolutely top dogs.  I'd absolutely love to lay my hands on a fresh, edible box of the Nintendo Cereal System or C-3PO's, but alas, it is not to be.

That could easily be the case. I recall reading somewhere that this specific version of the cereal may have only been in Ontario and one or two other provinces.

I don't get why - they were far superior to the version that exists today and/or elsewhere.

[darkchylde28 | 1,546]

4 minutes ago, Gloves said:

That could easily be the case. I recall reading somewhere that this specific version of the cereal may have only been in Ontario and one or two other provinces.

I don't get why - they were far superior to the version that exists today and/or elsewhere.

You probably ran into what people do nowadays, even in our particular hobby--while folks newly exposed to them (you) loved the idea, folks who had been deeply entrenched for years probably had nostalgia telling them there was something "wrong," and thus voting with their wallets and/or providing negative feedback.  Could also have been something as simple as them looking at a way to save costs and it not panning out, like the raw materials were cheaper, but the process in which to convert them to the finished product (different machinery, stuff required to keep it running, etc.) amounted to more than just doing it the old way.

If you've never done so before, as passionate as you are about these, you really ought to write to someone at Post (or whoever owns them these days) and see what you can find out.  I've seen lots of neat YouTube videos that started out with just such a proposition, where somebody wanted to know about something from their childhood, they wrote the company and either got the direct reason or got sent down the rabbit hole of who to reach out to that worked there at the time, etc.  Hopefully you'd get some answers at the very least, and at the best, you might find out that they actually do still make them for some ultra-obscure market and you could get your hands on a fresh, recently produced box.  Bonus nostalgia for you and benefit for everybody on the outside if you record the whole process and put it together and share it later online, especially if you can end it with you hugging a brand new box.

[Beam | 6]

1 hour ago, Gloves said:

Those look absolutely disgusting lmao.

[Gloves | 11,790]

Just now, Beam said:

Those look absolutely disgusting lmao.

REEEEEEEEEE!

[the_wizard_666 | 1,325]

I doubt it was a test market, because I remember seeing them late 80s/early 90s here in Calgary.  We weren't yet in oil boom times yet, maybe only 1/2 to 3/4 of a million residents, so I highly doubt they'd use Calgary as a test market.  I also remember seeing them when I was at my grandma's (could've tried them, but I opted for Pac-Man cereal instead...was like Lucky Charms but just the marshmallows).  That's Prince George, BC, which is hardly a test market area.  So yeah, it was Canada-wide 100%.

[Gloves | 11,790]

Just now, the_wizard_666 said:

I doubt it was a test market, because I remember seeing them late 80s/early 90s here in Calgary.  We weren't yet in oil boom times yet, maybe only 1/2 to 3/4 of a million residents, so I highly doubt they'd use Calgary as a test market.  I also remember seeing them when I was at my grandma's (could've tried them, but I opted for Pac-Man cereal instead...was like Lucky Charms but just the marshmallows).  That's Prince George, BC, which is hardly a test market area.  So yeah, it was Canada-wide 100%.

Good info, thanks!

[FireHazard51 | 2,044]

3 hours ago, Gloves said:

No, not rocks, the cereal!

It's been brought up again and it's something I'm really passionate about (what a weirdo), so I thought I'd make a thread about it to share.

In the 90's, in certain provinces in Canada, we had Cocoa and Fruity Pebbles, and they were amazing. Today in the States you can easily obtain Pebbles cereal without issue and be brought back to your childhood in an instant. This is, unfortunately, a trap. You've been tricked your entire life into thinking you have the best cereal ever.

I'm sorry to tell you that you are dead wrong. 

THIS? 

These flaky, Rice Krispies wannabe, color vomit FAKES(!) are a depressing abomination compared to the REAL DEAL.

ACTUAL, GOOD Fruity/Cocoa Pebbles are not FLAKES at all (ew!). THESE... are Pebbles cereal:

 

I would pay an exorbitant amount of money to be able to eat a fresh box of these. None of that "Crispy Rice" crap, gimme those delicious Wheat, Corn and Oats!

I've petitioned Post multiple times to bring them back as they were, but they won't respond to me. They won't answer my calls, and I'm surely on some manner of list at this point.

That is all. Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.

Looks like rat turds thrown into a cereal box and ship to Canada.

[FireHazard51 | 2,044]

Sorry, monkey turds....

[MrWunderful | 2,927]

I feel triggered by this thread. 

[drxandy | 3,235]

I think they look delicious and feel bummed that they got discontinued so long ago. Canada snacks make us snacks look like crap, theyre like always made with better ingredients.

[FireHazard51 | 2,044]

 

[Gloves | 11,790]

11 minutes ago, FireHazard51 said:

 

Those sweet few frames are bliss. I remember studying that video a while back.

[MrWunderful | 2,927]

27 minutes ago, drxandy said:

I think they look delicious and feel bummed that they got discontinued so long ago. Canada snacks make us snacks look like crap, theyre like always made with better ingredients.

You shut your mouth!  What is better ingredients  than 100% sugar and saturated fat?

[darkchylde28 | 1,546]

53 minutes ago, FireHazard51 said:

 

I intellectually understand that this is for the Canadian version of the stuff, but holy sheeeeeit do those boxes at the end of the ad look fake, lol!

[ThePhleo | 2,185]

Try buying flavoring and adding it to corn POPS.

My brother used to make a e-cigarette juice that smelled and tasted like fruit loops. He used Vegetable Glycerin, Propylene Glycol, Nicotene, and ordinary food flavoring.

 Bet you could take some of that same food flavoring and turn Corn Pops into your nasty Canadian pebbles

[drxandy | 3,235]

11 hours ago, MrWunderful said:

You shut your mouth!  What is better ingredients  than 100% sugar and saturated fat?

Hey those are classic American ingredients! I'm cool with those but that hfsc gotta go.

[darkchylde28 | 1,546]

1 hour ago, ThePhleo said:

Try buying flavoring and adding it to corn POPS.

My brother used to make a e-cigarette juice that smelled and tasted like fruit loops. He used Vegetable Glycerin, Propylene Glycol, Nicotene, and ordinary food flavoring.

 Bet you could take some of that same food flavoring and turn Corn Pops into your nasty Canadian pebbles

Just gotta be careful not to add everything on that provided ingredients list, unless you're into that sort of thing, lol.