I'm A Cereal Box, And I Have Been Folding My Own Bag Since 1987. Now They Make Them Resealable?

Some of you remember me from Edition No. 1. I am Crunch McAllister, a family-size box of frosted corn flakes, and I have been sitting on top of refrigerators since before most brand managers could spell "shelf impact." I am writing today because of the news.

This week General Mills said it teamed up with Ziploc to put a resealable bag inside Cheerios boxes, which the company calls the first resealable bag inside a traditional cereal box. It says 90% of shoppers already take extra steps to keep cereal fresh, like folding, rolling or clipping.

Ninety percent. That is my whole family. That is me. For decades my liner has been folded, rolled, twisted, tucked and clipped shut with whatever was nearby. I have been closed with a chip clip, a binder clip, a hair tie, and once, during a dark week in 2009, a single piece of tape that did nothing.

And if a teenager opens you, accept now that you will never be closed again.

• Folded over twice, hope 41%
• Rolled and tucked under my flap 26%
• A chip clip borrowed from the chips 18%
• Not at all, by a teenager 15%

How My Bag Has Been Closed, Lifetime

Folded over twice, hope	41%
Rolled and tucked under my flap	26%
A chip clip borrowed from the chips	18%
Not at all, by a teenager	15%

Source: My own inner liner, which remembers everything, unfortunately

And now Cheerios gets a zipper. A spout, too. A little pour spout. I want to be clear that I am happy for Cheerios. They are a fine family. Very round. Very heart-healthy. They have always been the box at the party who knows the host's mom.

But I would like a moment of recognition for the rest of us in the cereal aisle, who did this the hard way. Who went stale with dignity. Who were folded over by a dad at 6 a.m. using the full strength of his thumb and the confidence of a man who has never been wrong about a fold.

Will I be getting a zipper? I do not know. Nobody tells the boxes anything. We find out in the trade press like everyone else.

Until then, I have advice for my fellow boxes. Stand tall on the shelf. Keep your flaps in good repair. And if a teenager opens you, accept now that you will never be closed again. That is not a packaging problem. That is parenting, and no zipper can fix it.

Mr. McAllister is a family-size box of frosted corn flakes. He appeared in Edition No. 1.

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