Ghostbusters Afterlife Cereal Review

Sep 2, 2021

I was a big fan of the original Ghostbusters Cereal that Ralston made in the Eighties. Like most kids, I was quite taken with the original movie and was thrilled to spend my time and money on the various Ghostbuster offshoots.

So I was thrilled to hear that as a tie-in with the new Ghostbusters Afterlife film, General Mills was going to release a brand new cereal. Aptly called Ghostbusters Afterlife Cereal.

Now a lot of people have had difficulty locating this cereal. I have been very fortunate on that end. Several local supermarkets in my area received shipments. Thinking it would be rarer than it turned out to be, I stocked up only to continue to find it in various stores.

First, let’s take a look at the box.

I only found it in family size. Which is 18.6 ounces. I have seen online that they also sell it in smaller 10.2-ounce packages. Besides the size and the blue and yellow banner, I do not think there is a difference in box design between the two.

The box front has a big “no ghosts” logo hovering above a bowl of cereal ringed with what might be protonic energy bolts. Then they have the little mini-Stay Puft Marshmallow Men that look like they will be the breakout cutesy thing from the new film.

The sides of the box contain nutrition info (150 calories for 37 grams) and a panel of more little Stay Pufts.

The back is more interesting, featuring a quiz called “Do you have what it takes to be a Ghostbuster?” I will post the quiz below, but I wanted to get to the cereal itself. So I poured myself a big bowl.

The first thing that hits you when you open the box is a strong fruity berry smell. I love this smell.

On the cover of the box, they look like they are supposed to be orange but inside they are more flamingo-colored.

I am not sure what the round flamingo-colored cereal balls are supposed to be? Maybe just round flamingo-colored cereal balls? But the blue and white marshmallow bits are supposed to look like little ghosts. They sort of do?

Now a thing I noticed upon opening the box was that the cereal appeared to have a good amount of marshmallows. But when I poured them into the bowl?

All round flamingo-colored cereal balls.

I am sure using physics someone could explain this phenomenon but until they do I am going to blame it on the supernatural. I was able to overcome this spooky resistance to pouring evenly by just scooping out fistfuls with my hand.

One for the bowl. One for my mouth. Two for the bowl. One, two for my mouth.

It looks pretty good in the bowl. Brightly colored and crisp. A perfect accompaniment for cartoon watching. But what about the taste.

It tastes vaguely berry but mostly sugary. It is not unpleasant, mostly just generic. The more you eat it, the less flavor you get from each bite with the occasional marshmallow giving you a blast of extra sweetness. Some of the flavor is being transferred to the milk but not enough to make it a special post cereal treat.

Overall I like Ghostbusters Afterlife Cereal. It’s not going to win any cereal flavor awards but the berry marshmallow combo works both in the cereal bowl and as a dry snack.

Now for the back of the box and the quiz.

As you can see it asks series of multiple-choice questions and sprinkles mini Stay Pufts and classic Ghosbusters iconography around the questions. It includes:

The Stay Puft Marshammalow Man
Ghost Trap
Proton Pack
Ecto Goggles
Zuul

If you want to prove you have what it takes to be a Ghostbuster then you are going to want to choose option C on every question. Because the more Cs you have at the end, the higher your score, and only those who score between 15-18 get to be the “Ghostbusters new fearless leader!”

Sadly I scored a 6. Which results in an “Afraid you are too easily frightened to join the team.” That’s fine by me. While all you brave Ghostbusters are out doing what you do, I will be back at HQ watching TV, answering phones, and eating handful after handful of Ghostbusters Afterlife Cereal.

Before I end this I want to try your attention to this multi-armed ghost munching on the exclamation point sign in the lower-left corner. Who is this guy? Will he be the next Slimer? It’s the most intriguing mystery on the box and I guess I need to wait for the new film to get some answers.