Having had a sponsored partnership with American cereal manufacturer General Mills since May of 2003, on January 19th, 2006, Neopets announced the debut of a new product: Islandberry Crunch Cereal!
If your Neopet is tired of eating free omelettes every day, check out our Cereal Adventure Kitchen and feed them a bowl of Neopets' own Neopets® Islandberry Crunch™ Cereal. Check your local grocers for the "real" thing... It's being shipped now!!
From New Features, January 19, 2006
Despite initial popularity, the cereal was short-lived and was discontinued by fall 2006.
The cereal itself was based on the Islandberry, a fruit native to Mystery Island that had been released four months earlier on September 2nd, 2005. The cereal's appearance was meant to mimic the in-game item. In essence, you could enjoy Islandberries alongside your Neopet.
In 2017, cereal review site Cerealously ordered a box of Islandberry Crunch and reviewed the cereal:
A picture of the cereal in 2017, via cereal blog Cerealously
The cereal's flavor was described by the blog as:
Tropical and puckering, a complex mixed berry smoothie that tasted like the crunchy lovechild of Mountain Dew Pitch Black and Ghoul-Aid that went on to be adopted by some Swedish Fish."
From Cerealously blog, July 5th, 2017
YouTube Channel Cereal Time TV released a video going into detail on the cereal and its box in April 2022. You can watch the full video below, and we've reproduced some screenshots of their footage here with their permission!
The box featured Jake, an adventurous Blue Kougra searching for treasure in Mystery Island.
The front of the Islandberry Crunch box, courtesy of Cereal Time TV
The back of the box featured more info about Jake and some fun facts both about Neopia and the real world!
The back of the Islandberry Crunch box, courtesy of Cereal Time TV
One side of the box had the nutrition facts (see the next section), while the other side had some details about the Neopets site.
The side of the Islandberry Crunch box, courtesy of Cereal Time TV
The box claimed the cereal was a good source of both fiber and calcium, and was 120kcal a serving. The full nutritional info is as follows:
Inside each box was one of three Neopets Trading Cards:
The General Mills Cereal Adventure in Neopia Central also offered a special interface to learn about these promotional cards.
The "8 TO COLLECT!!" includes five other TCG cards included in some non-Neopets brands of General Mills cereals.
Each box also included a promotional code to get a free in-game item. These codes could be redeemed at the General Mills Cereal Adventure in Neopia Central. Each code would offer you a choice among three chests as shown in the video below; it is unknown what prizes these chests offered or if the choice of chest actually mattered for what prize you received.
As part of its broader sponsorship deal with General Mills, Neopia Central housed the General Mills Cereal Adventure, which offered all sorts of brand activations for General Mills cereals.
Upon entering Cereal Adventure's landing page for Islandberry Crunch, players would be greeted by Jake, the Kougra from the cereal's box. Players would get to read his story about his adventures in Mystery Island and how his discovery of Islandberries helped him find a long-lost amulet:
Meet Jake, a Kougra whose knowledge and skill have made him Mystery Island's greatest explorer. Whether studying ruins or searching for treasure, there's no challenge too great for Jake! Once when he was still young, Jake overheard some Elders discussing a magical amulet buried deep in the jungle which could lift an ancient spell that had cursed their village. However, the risk of going after the amulet was far too great. What would happen to the village if the Elders failed to return? Such dangers meant nothing to Jake. Determined to find the amulet, he packed some supplies and headed for the jungle...With only the position of the rising and setting sun to guide him, Jake headed deeper and deeper into the jungle. After a few days, his body ached and his supply of food and water was starting to run out. As his mission entered its fourth evening, the young Kougra began to search for a place to settle in for the night. Upon his arrival at a clearing in the thick jungle brush, Jake unrolled a straw mat that he'd brought on his expedition and laid down to sleep.
The next morning, Jake was awoken by a loud rumbling sound. Looking around in a sleepy daze, Jake half-expected to find some ferocious monster towering above him. However, he soon realised that the roaring was coming from the pit of his belly. When he reached into his knapsack, though, the only thing Jake found was the handful of crumbs that a colony of Mootix had left behind. Cursing his miserable luck, Jake reluctantly admitted to himself that his search for the amulet would have to wait until he'd been able to round up some more food.
After hours of searching, the hungry young Kougra was still looking for a meal. Then, off in the distance, he gazed upon a sight that instantly made his mouth water with anticipation: an entire grove of Islandberry trees. Mmm, my favourite, Jake thought as he rushed toward his breakfast. However, just as he grasped an Islandberry bunch, Jake heard yet another loud rumble. This time it wasn't his belly, though: as he looked up, a towering shadow fell down upon him.
Armed with nothing but a sturdy walking stick, the young explorer had no choice but to give the mighty beast a crack to the shins. Having momentarily stunned the monster with his fearlessness, the Kougra began feverishly looking for a place to run and hide. As Jake dashed in the direction of a far-off cave, the wounded creature hobbled slowly after him. Thankfully, the cave's opening was large enough for the Kougra to enter, but not big enough for his pursuer to follow.
Sitting in the cave, gasping for breath, Jake frantically tried to plan an escape. It was then, in this most desperate of hours, that Jake witnessed an incredible sight. As the mid-day sun passed above a tiny hole in the cave's roof, a beam of light shone down into the cave. With his hideout now bathed in flowing light, the Kougra gazed upon the object of his quest: the mighty amulet that had drawn him so deep into the jungle.
As Jake grabbed the powerful artifact, he noticed a narrow corridor in the back of the cave, just beyond the pedestal where the amulet had rested for years. With the roars of the snarling predator at his back, the Kougra explorer had no choice but to follow the corridor's path. Thankfully, the path led to an exit far away from the monster, allowing Jake to make a safe escape.
Upon his return, Jake was given a hero's welcome and a magnificent feast was held in his honor. Thanks to his daring discovery of the long-lost amulet, the dreaded curse was lifted and his village once again enjoyed peace and prosperity.
From there, you could feed your Neopet a bowl of Islandberry Crunch cereal and read some fun facts:
An expedition led by Ferdinand Magellan (and completed after his death by eighteen of his crew members in 1522) was the first to circle the entire globe. If the Antarctic ice sheet were to melt, scientists estimate that the sea level would rise almost 220 feet! Some species of bamboo have been known to grow as much as three feet (91 cm) per DAY. Howard Carter searched the Valley of the Kings for seven years before finally discovering the tomb of King Tutankhamen
After viewing all the fun facts, players could claim a one-time prize of 300 NP.
Neopets also released a one-off comic book chapter surrounding Jake's adventures as a tie-in to the cereal. Although the content was made using Flash and is thus no longer available, we have preserved it in a Flash-free format over at our Book of Ages.
This page was last updated on December 8, 2024.
