Snap, crackle and Funko Pop

Funko is launching a new range of breakfast cereals, with an exclusive retail strategy that will see each cereal brand hit the shelves of a specific retailer.
August 8, 2018

Funko is dishing out a new range of cereals, with an exclusive figurine in each box. Best known for the vinyl figures in its Funko Pop! collection, the company is now setting the table in anticipation of a consumables takeover.

Launching with select retail partners across the US this summer, each FunkO’s cereal brand will include a property-specific figure. For example, boxes of FunkO’s Mega Man cereal will include Mega Man figures.

“We’re bringing the fun back to breakfast,” says Funko president Andrew Perlmutter. “We all grew up with these iconic breakfast cereals being a part of the morning routine. We’re all big kids, so we wanted to replicate that moment of surprise when you reach into the cereal box and pull out that prize.”

Each cereal brand is launching with an exclusive retail partner. FunkO’s Mega Man cereal will be available at GameStop in July, while FunkO’s Batman will launch at Entertainment Earth in August. Additional properties—including Cuphead, Huckleberry Hound and Lord of the Rings—are going to market through retail partners like Hot Topic, BoxLunch, FYE and Books-A-Million.

The strategy is one born out of the toyco’s close relationships with its specialty retail partners. Funko just last year moved its vinyl figures beyond specialty stores and into mass-market retailers including Walmart and Toys “R” Us. As a result, Perlmutter says, the toyco has an intimate understanding of where its various brands sell best. He believes this specific retail strategy will provide Funko with even more data relating to how fans engage with its products in stores and online.

Funko is also launching a cereal with its own character brand; Freddy FunkO’s will be available exclusively on its website soon, and eventually, the company plans to expand the cereal range to include 40 different brands.

“Everyone is a fan of something, and we want to provide an option for everyone,” Perlmutter says. “Having a really specific retail strategy with these first launches gives us all this data to work with moving forward. And in typically Funko fashion, there’s also a feeling of exclusivity.”

Beyond the new FunkO’s cereal range, Funko partnered with PEZ in December to create a line of candy dispensers featuring the toyco’s Pop! aesthetic. In keeping with the collectible nature of Funko’s products, the dispensers are packaged in a collector window box meant for display.

Just like the toyco’s famous figures, Perlmutter believes the company’s attention to detail will have fans hungry for more of its new consumables—this time, literally.

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