How does one continue to keep the legacy alive of the late, great Bob Ross? You create a cereal in his honor, of course. New York-based FYE, maker of various pop culture-themed cereals paid homage to the late painter and television host with its exclusive Bob Ross: The Joy of Cereal. So pick out that afro, grab a brush (or spoon in this case) and let’s get to work making happy accidents and trees.

Aesthetics

Like most of these novelty cereals, the packaging is typically the star. After all, it plays a key role in grabbing your eye and making you spend $9.99 on a box of Bob Ross cereal. (that and having a cereal review blog where you feel like you’d be doing readers a disservice if you didn’t buy it.) The box features the smiling face of good ol’ Bob situated with his weapon of choice in hand and in front of a mountainous landscape.The cereal itself isn’t anything to write home about. It’s basically Lucky Charms, but instead of magically delicious, it’s more happily delicious, The marshmallows themes are more fun than those found in Lucky Charms. For instance, you have your classic “happy little trees,” “lovely little bushes” and “happy little accidents”  that resemble a pink silhouette of Yoda’s noggin.In addition to showing you what the cereal looks like, it offers a positivity paint palette on the back of the box for that extra pick-me-up that we all need.

Snackability

I give Bob Ross cereal two spoons for snackability, mainly low marshmallow to toasted oats ratio. I suppose, if you enjoy eating regular Cheerios and with a hint of sugary goodness then this is right up your alley. However, for once, I think this cereal could use more marshmallows. 

Structural Integrity

With any cereal based off toasted oats, structural integrity is going to be a non-factor. The oats soak up milk like a ShamWow. So, once in milk, you only have a few minutes before the crunch of the cereal begins to lessen and you’re left with a soggy bowl of happy little marshmallows. The only thing that saves this cereal is the fact that the toasted oats are small, perhaps reducing the amount of porous space it haves, unlike that Caticorn cereal I reviewed a while back.

Cereal Concept

I’m ranking the concept as four spoons only because the concept centers around Bob Ross, and if you can’t enjoy or appreciate Bob Ross than you may be unAmerican. He’s a national treasure. I never learned how to paint, watching him put his acrylic oils to canvas, but I learned you can make something good out of any mistakes or accidents.

Flavor

The taste of Bob Ross cereal (wow, that sentence could started to read a lot differently without the addition of the word “cereal”) is a familiar one. As mentioned earlier, it’s basically generic Lucky Charms, but with fun-themed marshmallows that tie into The Joy of Painting. However, more marshmallows would have been preferred, as I had to fish some out of the box to make my bowl of cereal look somewhat presentable. Is Bob Ross cereal magically delicious? No. Bob Ross cereal is a mouthful of positivity and nostalgia that helps you set forth on your day to make friends with trees and become one with nature.

Final Thoughts

Bob Ross cereal is everything you’d think it would and should be. It’s simplistic, yet tells a story of the inspiration behind it. The cereal isn’t groundbreaking. The recipe of oats and marshmallows is as old as that mystery bag of meat that is tucked deeply away in your freezer that you forgot about. I would say this cereal is for fans of Bob Ross who want this as a collector’s item, rather than your average consumer of breakfast cereals. So save yourself $7 or $8 and buy yourself a box of regular Lucky Charms or the generic Malt-o-Meal version, unless you are just wanting this cereal based on novelty alone. With all this being said, I will leave you with this great halloween costume from my friend/coworker’s dog.