 Remember when cereal came with a prize? What happened to those guys? Sure, cartoons win kids over, but back in the day, one marketing tactic was king, the cereal box toy. In 1909, John Kellogg may have only needed a book to get kids to eat more cornflakes, but over the years, the toys got more elaborate, more coveted, and sometimes just plain weird. And for generations, kids would fight with their siblings for the special toy at the bottom of the box. Then it kind of disappeared, but why? Some blame the 1988 recall that said this toy was a choking hazard, but toys stayed just safely between the bag and box instead of mixed in. Huh, maybe corporations decided to stop grooming kids into lifelong unhealthy breakfast eaters. Nah, that doesn't appear to be the case. Those cereal companies won't fully tell us the reason, the answer appears to be that they've shifted to online games and rewards. Why? It's much cheaper and the kids are more interested in it. So it makes sense, less effort for them, more payoff with this new generation, but you may spot a toy from time to time.