This is one of those Pings I’ve been meaning to write for a long, long time.
If there’s one cereal in this world that I’d like to try, it’s Oaties. No, not the oatmeal/smoothie combination at The Cereal Bowl. Rather, I’m talking about the one cereal that appeared on every 1980s sitcom and even the occasional 1990s sitcom, well before product placement was the norm.
Sure, Oaties wasn’t a real cereal and was probably meant to be a stand-in for Cheerios, but with how many fictional characters ate it for breakfast, it had to be good. I mean, would Danny Tanner lead DJ, Stephanie, Michelle, Joey, and Jessie down the wrong path so early in the morning?
Sadly, there’s not much information out there about Oaties. The only mention I could find is as part of this list of fictional foods on Wikipedia. I’d like to shake the hand of the marketing genius behind Oaties, because even 15 years past its last appearance on TV, I’m still talking about it.
That’s product placement, folks.
Posted in Food and Beverage, Television, Movies, and Music
Maria October 3, 2006, 3:16 pm
Ryan, I believe the Cheerios rip-off on Full House was Oat Boats.
Ryan October 3, 2006, 3:33 pm
Good call, Maria — I remember that episode (frighteningly) where Stephanie swiped the commercial deal out from under DJ. However, I’m pretty sure that at some point, they also had Oaties (in a non-featured role) on their kitchen table. Wish I had some sort of visual confirmation on that.
Joseph October 4, 2006, 4:09 pm
Hey Ryan,
Congrats on your new daughter! How times change. Soon, she’ll be at the helm of the Ping, sharing responsibilities with you and Paul. I predict that the Ping will last that long.
Maria October 4, 2006, 8:50 pm
Ryan, that is a possibility. The other day when I was home at lunch time I caught the episode where Jesse broke his arms (when he crashed his motorcycle after “Mr. Stephanie” chopped off a chunk of his precious mullet). He went in the kitchen afterwards to make himself a nice bowl of Oat Boats, which he then couldn’t eat because he couldn’t reach his mouth with his two broken arms.
That brings up another question…they had a montage of the characters helping him dress, tucking him into bed, etc. I wonder which Tanner had the unpleasant task of helping him in the bathroom.
Ryan October 5, 2006, 11:35 am
My money’s on Comet.
Toby O'B July 31, 2009, 9:26 pm
Didn’t know about the ‘Full House’ connection for Oaties. Thanks for that! I’m googling around now for just that type of mention after seeing so much of it in one of the last episodes of ‘Reaper’.
larry January 14, 2024, 10:22 pm
oaties seinfd s3e10 “the stranded”