Do you remember the times as kid when you couldn’t wait for breakfast since cereals came with a little surprise? A super realistic agent badge. A couple of stickers that glow in the dark. A plastic spoon that no one ever used. Guess what, the good old times are back. Except, the little something General Mills added to the box of their beloved cinnamon cereals was not the obvious gift choice. At least not for Jensen Karp who put his findings on Twitter. Look, what happened!
Ummmm @CTCSquares – why are there shrimp tails in my cereal? (This is not a bit) pic.twitter.com/tTjiAdrnVp
— Jensen Karp (@JensenKarp) March 22, 2021
The company’s response came quickly.
We’re sorry to see what you found! We would like to report this to our quality team and replace the box. Can you please send us a DM to collect more details? Thanks!
— Cinnamon Toast Crunch (@CTCSquares) March 22, 2021
Although the offer was nice it still didn’t answer the obvious question how a piece of shellfish made it into a box of cereals.
Ok, I have sent you a DM. Fair warning, I look different since eating your cereal today. https://t.co/s9tUn2EOD3 pic.twitter.com/6otUwUmrYo
— Jensen Karp (@JensenKarp) March 22, 2021
Again, the Company tried to do some damage control and released this statement which maybe wasn’t perfectly thought through. The plot thickens …
After further investigation with our team that closely examined the image, it appears to be an accumulation of the cinnamon sugar that sometimes can occur when ingredients aren’t thoroughly blended. We assure you that there’s no possibility of cross contamination with shrimp.
— Cinnamon Toast Crunch (@CTCSquares) March 22, 2021
Ok, we’ll after further investigation with my eyes, these are cinnamon coated SHRIMP TAILS, you weirdos. I wasn’t all that mad until you now tried to gaslight me? https://t.co/7DmADmoqUt pic.twitter.com/rSLE60pvoy
— Jensen Karp (@JensenKarp) March 22, 2021
Karp and the company then moved the debacle to direct messages. Luckily, Karp didn’t miss to update his Twitter followers.
Okay. So they want me to send them the shrimp tails for a “closer look.” These are obviously shrimp tails, so I will be keeping one as evidence, as I now feel like Sandra Bullock in The Net.
— Jensen Karp (@JensenKarp) March 22, 2021
I can’t believe this in a real life, publicly traded company. pic.twitter.com/v5fAz2SSyM
— Jensen Karp (@JensenKarp) March 23, 2021
I was convinced to go back through the bag, since when I first noticed the shrimp tails, I freaked out and closed the box. Here’s all my findings, which also now includes a weird little string? pic.twitter.com/mRDUhqG3I8
— Jensen Karp (@JensenKarp) March 22, 2021
Also, many of the squares have black marks, and some are dyed red? And yes, I ate a bowl before noticing all this. pic.twitter.com/Y9WWmsTznP
— Jensen Karp (@JensenKarp) March 22, 2021
I think it’s also important to state that the black things – are cooked (?) INTO the square? pic.twitter.com/bAySDbDLyw
— Jensen Karp (@JensenKarp) March 22, 2021
For real – someone tell me they aren’t like maggots or bugs. Is it shrimp adjacent? (also just found this weird cinnamon covered pea thing?)
I wish this was a joke. pic.twitter.com/7pCs0TJCpv— Jensen Karp (@JensenKarp) March 22, 2021
Also, reminder – they told me this was all just “accumulations of sugar.”
— Jensen Karp (@JensenKarp) March 22, 2021
— Cinnamon Toast Crunch (@CTCSquares) March 23, 2021
We’re going to a lab pic.twitter.com/utlWpU1k4I
— Jensen Karp (@JensenKarp) March 23, 2021
I have been sent to…pest control.
— Jensen Karp (@JensenKarp) March 23, 2021
Unfortunately, to date the mystery of the sugary shrimp tails has not been solved. But we all should take two things out of this thread: First, if you run a company please be smart about public statements as they the internet is a powerful thing. And second, if you want a healthy breakfast try a banana.
(If you want to read the full conversation as published on Twitter please feel free to klick on the Tweets.)
