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Halloween-themed snack “surprizes” going online?

It appears as though more and more snack companies are providing online games for us to play, rather than including extra toys or stickers with their products come Halloween each year. While I can appreciate the work that goes into some of these games, I still think they're doing it so they don't have to include a tangible spooky surprise with their products. Two examples of this are with the Halloween M&M's and Go-Gurt.

The M&M's Halloween Game. Scary :o

M&M's have recently put up a flash game site that ties in with their dark chocolate candies. The object of the game is to go through the painting and find the 50 horror movies that are referenced in it. Some of them are pretty easy right off the bat, others are fairly tricky. Then there's ones that will make you shout out, "SON OF A BITCH! HOW DID I NOT GET THAT ONE!?" Keep in mind, not all the movies are ones that you and I would consider "horror" movies. All in all, it's actually a really nicely done game and I like the artwork a lot. I wish they credited the artist somewhere on the site because I'd like to know who did it. Anybody know? Some of the I-Mockery forum members were scratching their heads over the answers, so if you get stuck while playing, maybe they can help ya out. And yes, the game does let you save your progress so you can come back to answer the rest later if you don't feel like doing all 50 at once. Lemme know how many answers have you been able to figure out!

The GoGurt Monster Tracker Game. Frightening :o

The Go-Gurt Monster Tracker game appears to be more in-depth, and buying the product can actually help you advance in it. Nice way to promote sales, no doubt. With specially marked packages of Go-Gurt, once you're done slurping down the 'gurt, you'll see that inside the tube is a Monster Tracker hint. You can then use that "tube tip" to help locate the monsters in the flash game so you can capture them all. Again, I just started messing around with the game so I can't say what kind of pay-off (if any) there is for capturing all the monsters. So far, the game seems like a more basic version of an adventure / role-playing game.

So what do you guys think, would you rather have free toy surprises 'n what not included with your Halloween-themed snacks or do you prefer the online games like this? Obviously having "both" would be best, but let's assume that's not gonna happen. If you could have one or the other, what would you choose?

Also, if you've seen any other online Halloween snack product game tie-ins like this lemme know!

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fear-factor-pop-ups

Fear Factor Pop-Ups!

So I was at the grocery store earlier today and about to grab a box of the always delicious Firecracker popsicles when I noticed something new on the next shelf over. Something Halloweeny...

There's no fear to factor here.

Why do the designs on the Popsicle brand boxes always make the treats so ridiculously shiny and tasty? Oh yeah, because it gets people to buy them. People like me. A push-up pop with blood on it and a push-up pop with a bloody eyeball on it? How could I not try these bad boys out? You would've done the same thing... and even after you see how the popsicles actually look, I'm sure you'll still buy them just because the box makes them appear so good.

Wait, is this what I bought?

They kinda lose their luster, eh? Yeah, well I guess it shouldn't be that big of a surprise. Still, it would've been nice if they were at least close to what they looked like on the box. The watermelon one that was supposed to be covered in blood just had a tiny red streak running down the side. The eyeball in the sour cherry one was buried halfway inside the pop, and it looked like a white gumball with no eye-ish traits whatsoever at first glance.

Looks aside, I can say that these popsicles were far tastier than the Fear Factor candies. They're really not all that sour, and the cherry one was pretty damned good even though the gumball didn't fair too well.

In other news, I've got another week filled with more Halloweenish goodies in store for you guys, the first of which is already up. It involves a different kind of treat - a Halloween Cookie House to be exact. Take a look to see how it turned out and lemme know what ya think!

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the-ultimate-guide-to-the-hallloween-candies-of-2006

The Ultimate Guide to the Hallloween Candies of 2006!

It's finally up! I told you guys last Saturday that I had a big article coming up this week and it's now up. I-Mockery's Ultimate Guide to the Halloween Candies of 2006! For the past several weeks, I've been going to all sorts of Halloween shops and general stores in search of as many different Halloween candies as I could find. The end result? I've reviewed over 30 different candy varieties for the 2006 Halloween season! I'm really excited about this piece because 1) it's fun to finally show it to all of you and 2) I'm still on a sugar high from eating all that candy which will most likely keep me hyper until Halloween '07. Lemme know what you think. Hope you all enjoy it!

In other news, does anybody have a million dollars I can borrow? As you know, I recently moved to Los Angeles, and while I did just get a new place... I would gladly trade it for this house that just went up on the market:

Do you see any girls playing jump rope and singing nursery rhymes in the yard?

Sure, it might look like an ordinary house at first, but if you look a bit closer, you'll realize it's the house from A Nightmare on Elm Street. Freddy Krueger's home! I can't even begin to imagine how much fun Halloween would be each year if I lived there. So yeah, I know there's a sugar daddy out there somewhere wanting to give me a million bux to buy that place. I'll be waiting by the phone for your call.

Speaking of stuff related to horror movies, as you may or may not know, I consider the Phantasm series to be in the upper echelon of great horror movies. The Tall Man, played by Angus Scrimm, is easily one of the scariest and most entertaining horror icons you'll ever come across in a film. Other characters such as Reggie will always give you some good chuckles. And who can forget the sentinel spheres - those killer silver balls that keep on attacking until you're dead. Well, something that's bothered me for a while now is that there has never been a box set released here in the states for the series. Even worse, my favorite movie from the series (part 2) has been out of print for quite some time. And then I see that people in the UK get this:

Best. DVD. Packaging. EVER.

A DVD set of the entire series that comes in a big killer Sentinel Sphere? You have got to be shitting me. That's pretty much the greatest novelty DVD set design I've ever seen. Believe me, I LOVE my two squishy Evil Dead "Book of the Dead" DVD cases (especially the one that screams when you poke it in the eye) but they don't hold a candle to this set. If this set doesn't get released this set in the United States, I might have to talk to Angus to see if he'll lend me a few of his killer spheres to take with me to Anchor Bay Entertainment's headquarters.

You can help show your support for getting the Phantasm Sentinel Sphere DVD set released in the States: Email Anchor Bay about it!

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boo-berry-is-back

Boo Berry is back!

update: a bit late notice, but someone just informed me that they're re-airing that episode with me on the Food Network's "Unwrapped" show tonight (9/19) at 7:30ET/6:30CT. It's a piece from a while ago and it's all about Berry Treats and I'm in the segment about Boo Berry later in the show.

If there's one thing we can always look forward to come Halloween each year, it's the fact that Boo Berry becomes much easier to find in stores. Normally, the only places I've been able to find the cereal during the rest of the year is at some "super" Wal-Marts and on eBay. Be careful if you do buy it on eBay though, because a lot of sellers won't even check to see if the boxes they're selling are expired.

Well, come Halloween a lot of stores sell Boo Berry (and the other monster cereals) including Target and Sam's Club. Behold the new Boo Berry box design!

The old Boo Berry is back!

YES. Now this is something I'm really happy with. I've always been a fan of the original Boo Berry with the lazy/stoned looking eyes. Starting in the late 80's/early 90's they progressively made Boo Berry look happier and happier. He was the cereal mascot on Prozac. By the end of the 90's he looked happier than Casper the Friendly Ghost - not that this stopped me from buying the cereal, but he definitely didn't look as cool.

Well General Mills finally realized that most people who buy Boo Berry are the ones who grew up eating it back in the day, so their best bet was to keep the old design. It's great to see the classic Boo Berry back in action. I do wish they included some actual prizes with the cereal though. They're too much into the whole "the box itself is a prize!" bullshit. A couple years ago you could cut out the front of the box to make a mask. This year, you cut the back of the box off so you have a poster. Come on General Mills, what happened to the good old days of plastic cereal toys? Give us a Boo Berry pencil topper. Give us a Boo Berry ring. Give us a mail-away offer for a Boo Berry cereal bowl shaped like his head. Anything!

For those of you who are into the other monster cereals (*cough*traitors*cough*) or simply want to try one of each, there is a new "Monster Cereal Triple Pack" out this year that you can buy.

Monsters Triple Pack!

This one contains all the monsters; Boo Berry, Frankenberry and Count Chocula. Yeah, yeah, I know Fruit Brute and Fruity Yummy Mummy aren't there... but those cereals just aren't coming back. I had them when I was a kid and I always thought Fruity Pebbles were better... and that says a LOT since Fruit Brute and Fruity Yummy Mummy came with marshmallows. That's the kind of shit that usually gets a kid's vote, ya know? Anyway, I think Target might be getting the triple packs, but if not, Sam's Club usually carries them.

On one last Boo Berry note, while the cereal boxes aren't coming with cool prizes these days, there is a new Boo Berry item on the market! Remember how I was pissed off at the San Diego Comic-Con when they had the new Count Chocula and Frankenberry Bobble Cars, but no Boo Berry ones? Well, I'm happy to report that the Boo Berry Bobble-Cars have finally arrived!

Bobble bobble, wobble wobble, Funko Boo Berry!!

Tell me that doesn't look great? Now I can act out scenes where Chocula and Frankenberry are jaywalking and Boo Berry mows 'em down with his spooky sports car. Yes, life is good.

Alrighty, that's all the Boo Berry updates for now. Hope you guys have been enjoying all the Halloween madness so far. 2 weeks down and we're already off to a great start. And I've got a BIG piece coming up early this week that you guys will not want to miss. I'm really excited about it, mainly because when you work really hard on a big article, it's always a blast to finally unveil it to everybody. Keep an eye out for it... it might even go up late, late tomorrow night!

I now leave you with this example of just one of the prizes that came with Monster Cereals back in the day so you can see how they're screwing us in modern times:

Bobble bobble, wobble wobble, Funko Boo Berry!!
Real Monster Disguise Stickers? BADASS.

54 Comments

agtyasasdgageehak-thats-the-sound-of-my-mind-being-blown-away

AGTYASASDGAGEEHAK! (that’s the sound of my mind being blown away)

So we just got our refrigerator. For those of you who don't know, for some bizarre (stupid) reason, refrigerators are considered "luxury" items in California. As a result, at least 50% of the places out here don't come with one, so we had to buy one online. Well, I don't mind that much since the delivery was free and we got to buy a black one. It really should come with a t-shirt that says "my fridge could beat up your fridge" or something. Black refrigerators just look tough. You won't find a soccer mom with a black fridge, no siree! Black refrigerators are owned by Vikings who dive cannonball-style into volcanoes and then rinse the lava off with the blood of their fallen enemies! Yep, that pretty much sounds like me in a nutshell.

Well, one of the things that goes with buying a new fridge is of course buying all new groceries. After the fridge was dropped off, we headed to the grocery store to buy all the goodies we've been missing out on for so long. Re stocked up on her favorite Mrs. T's Pierogies and I bought some ice cream and a block of cheese; two great tastes that probably don't go great together. But nothing could prepare me for what I was about to stumble onto while I was there:

BAGEL SQUARES!!!!!

That's right, square bagels. SQUARE BAGELS! It goes without saying that I bought a pack instantly, knowing full well that they wouldn't taste any different. I just wanted to be able to say that I've had a square bagel and that it was tasty as can be. In all honesty, I really think they should call 'em something more catchy. Something like "Thomas' Squagels!" (a 'la David Cross, thank you Jill). Doesn't that sound a bajillion times better than Squares Bagelbread? You're damned right it does! But wait, it's Halloween season on I-Mockery. How can I be talking about square bagels or Squagels or anything like that when I should be talking about Halloween stuff?

Jack-O-Bagel LIVES!
BEHOLD THE JACK-O-BAGEL!
Are you satisfied now?

By the way, sorry about the lack of updates to the blog this week... just been too busy busting my ass on all these Halloween articles as I feel they're more important than trying to update this blog every single day. I'm literally working on about 5 different pieces at the same time while also trying to put up the articles from the other guys and finish unpacking the boxes at our new place. Oh yeah, and also going to DMV... that's always a treat. DMV is where nightmares and stillborn infants come from. Share your worst horror stories from a trip to the DMV. This is as close to telling a story around a campfire can get on the internet, so make it a good one!

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Forget about Miss Cleo…

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2353742,00.html

Did I call it or what? Thanks Re.

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