But for the first time in 10 years, General Mills changed up the marshmallows in to include a blue- and purple-maned unicorn via USA Today. The shape that got the boot was an hourglass. So no matter what your favorite marshmallow shape is and hopefully it's still one of the eight in the boxes today , you'll likely never be able to just call them marshmallows again. Besides, it's more fun to call them marbits. One day, he had a crazy-yet-brilliant idea: Holahan chopped up some Circus Peanuts and sprinkled the marshmallow bits into a bowl of Cheerios.
He loved what he tasted, immediately realizing that if he enjoyed the combination of crunchy cereal and soft marshmallows, so would consumers. Once the cereal was developed, noted a General Mills product timeline , Lucky Charms made its first appearance on supermarket shelves back in And while the cereal's formulation has been constantly reinvented over the years, General Mills representative Jim Geoffrion pointed to three key factors that explain why Lucky Charms continues to be an enduring favorite.
Once the product was placed in development, the key element was perfecting the tiny marshmallow bits that would be mixed with the toasted oat cereal. The miniscule marshmallow pieces, BNet Business Network reported, initially came in just four distinct types: pink hearts, orange stars, yellow moons, and green clovers.
The unique formulation of Lucky Charms' marshmallows, noted Smithsonian Magazine , was initially created by a team of General Mills food scientists led by Philip Zietlow, and behind many of those delicious little marshmallow shapes lies a patent.
These marshmallow bits came to be called marbits, a moniker that has stuck and continues to be used all these years later. Lucky Charms remained unchanged for a full decade, with the cereal's marbit "gang of four" intact until It was then, reported HuffPost , that a blue diamond was added to the mix. According to a General Mills spokesperson, the addition of the blue diamond caused sales to spike by 30 percent. Since then there have been an array of different marbits introduced, including horseshoes, whales, snowmen, pots of gold, and even one shaped like the Eiffel Tower.
Lucky the Leprechaun has been the Lucky Charms mascot since the product's introduction. Given that there have been countless commercials produced over the course of the product's year history, there have been numerous actors providing the voice of Lucky over the years. According to the Behind the Voice Actors site, seven different actors have given voice to the character. The actor most associated with Lucky, however, was Arthur Anderson.
The same advertising agency that came up with Lucky the Leprechaun nearly killed the little guy off in order to make room for his replacement. According to the Taste of General Mills blog , in the mids Dancer Fitzgerald Sample's Alan Snedeker was tasked with developing a new Lucky Charms mascot, and created a scatterbrained sorcerer dubbed Waldo the Wizard.
Lucky Charms' also floated a new slogan; while Lucky declared, "They're magically delicious! When Waldo was market tested in New England, the new character proved to be more popular than the leprechaun.
During that period, both characters were used simultaneously in Lucky Charms advertising campaigns, with Waldo featured in New England and Lucky in the rest of America. At the same time, Snedeker rejigged Lucky to appear "more friendly" in TV commercials.
Consumers responded to the leprechaun's increased likability, which ultimately sealed the wizard's fate. The cereal's fans had been crying out for a version of Lucky Charms that ditched the cereal completely; what they wanted was a box of nothing but colorful marshmallow marbits.
In , General Mills answered those pleas with Marshmallow Only Lucky Charms — but there was a catch: only 10 boxes were produced, and they could only be won through a contest. To promote the contest, an out-there promo featured rapper Biz Markie singing a cereal-themed version of his hit "Just a Friend. The following year, the company once again offered a marshmallow-only version of Lucky Charms. This time, reported NBC News , General Mills was planning to give away 10, boxes in a Willy Wonka -style contest, with select boxes of Lucky Charms containing a special code that, when entered on a website, would provide one box of sans-cereal Lucky Charms.
As General Mills' Priscilla Zee said in a blog post , response to the previous contest had been overwhelming. The massive response to General Mills' marbit-only Lucky Charms led to the realization there was money to be made in marshmallows; instead of giving away the sans-cereal marbits in contests, why not just sell them and make a couple bucks?
In August , the company did just that, announcing on Facebook that consumers could purchase bags of Lucky Charms Magically Delicious Marshmallows. According to People , General Mills' Jet-Puffed marshmallow brand began producing special Lucky Charms-themed marshmallows that were larger and more fluffy than the ones found in cereal boxes. Now fans don't have to wait until breakfast to enjoy these iconic, magically delicious vanilla-flavored marshmallows they know and love in their snacks and desserts.
The announcement revealed that each bag would contain the four Lucky Charms standbys — green clovers, pink hearts, blue moons and yellow stars — and would hit supermarket shelves in September of that year.
For decades, Saturday-morning TV commercials crowed about Lucky Charms' yellow moons, green four-leafed clovers, orange stars and pink hearts. Did you know, however, that pennies aren't the only lucky coins? For example, Chinese I-Ching coins are also considered lucky and are often given as gifts of luck on Chinese New Year and at weddings. Pennies and I-Ching coins can make pretty decorations for your office while bringing a little extra luck to your sweepstakes entries.
Lucky bamboo is technically not bamboo at all, but a close relative called Dracaena. It's a hardy, long-lived plant, which might account for its lucky properties. The more stalks a lucky bamboo plant has, the more luck it brings. A plant with three stalks is said to bring happiness, wealth and longevity to the owners. What benefits would more stalks bring you? Of course, any green plant is a good lucky charm in your home or office.
According to The Sill , studies show they improve your mood and clean the air indoors. Dreamcatchers come from Native American lore. Looking like a web or net stretched over a loop and decorated with bright beads and feathers, they are said to catch bad dreams as they enter a household. By capturing the disturbing dreams, they make the owner happier, more balanced, and luckier. Plus, they look pretty cool, too.
Hang a dream catcher inside your office window to keep bad luck away. Or buy a pair of dreamcatcher earrings or a dreamcatcher necklace to bring luck with you wherever you go. While you may give someone the evil eye when they annoy you, people used to take malevolent looks much more seriously. Usually triggered by jealousy, giving someone an evil eye was supposed to cause all manner of suffering from mental illness to physical maladies.
For thousands of years, people have been using evil eye talismans, or nazur , to ward off the bad luck caused by these curses. The evil eye lucky charm takes several different forms. Some cultures use a hand with an eye in its center for protection. Others use simple blue or green beads. But some of the most popular and beautiful evil eye talismans come from Turkey.
They use glass beads with alternating blue and white circles to bring themselves more luck. To create your own evil eye charm, you can either buy jewelry containing the evil eye pattern or DIY your own nazur by painting rocks or creating an evil eye amulet out of clay. Because of its association with the Norse god Odin, the lowly acorn is also considered a symbol of luck.
Odin hung himself from an oak tree to gain knowledge, so the acorn has come to symbolize wisdom. The Norse also believed that acorns could bring divine protection and placed them in the windows of their homes to ward off lightning.
During the Norse Invasion, Englishmen would carry acorns in their pockets, perhaps hoping that they'd make their conquerers more sympathetic. As the saying, "great oaks from little acorns grow " indicates, acorns also signify fertility, youth, and prosperity. Acorns make fun lucky symbols to keep with you because they are so common in the fall. They are fun to gather and decorate. Spray paint them gold and silver, or simply use acrylic paints to give them a gorgeous color.
If you'd like some more ways to bring good luck into your life, check out this playlist of lucky songs , or these inspirational quotes about luck and winning. If you have some extra time, you can read a great book about luck or try out these 8 proven methods to be luckier. Most of all, don't put all of your faith in luck. Be smart, patient, and persistent and your luck is sure to turn around. Actively scan device characteristics for identification.
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