This Lucky Charms Cotton Candy Cereal is the unluckiest Lucky Charms cereal. I mean, come on, cotton candy flavor would’ve been a significant sidekick to the marshmallows. It had the potential to be one of the most magically delicious varieties of the oat and marshmallow cereal. Instead, it ended up being the most magnificently deficient.

What makes this cereal so disappointing is its whisper of cotton candy flavor, which is wispier than the texture of actual cotton candy. The aroma doesn’t even bring the carnival treat to mind. I can’t even say it’s a slight upgrade over the lightly sweetened coating on regular Lucky Charms oat pieces. This cereal is more cOATton candy-flavored than cotton candy-flavored. It’s so unfortunate.

Its wispy cotton candy flavor probably should’ve been expected since the cereal’s dark purple color doesn’t scream cotton candy either. If the pieces were as blue as the blue moon marshmallows or as red as the red balloon marshmallow, they would’ve looked more convincing. Heck, if they were as purple as the purple horseshoes, they might’ve also looked the part. But that dark purple color on the box looks brown at a quick glance. Only at a closer examination do I notice the dark purple.

That coating is more color than flavor, though it does turn the milk a shade that looks like Grimace was used to clean up a spill and wrung out over my cereal bowl. The purple milk, unfortunately, is just as light on cotton candy flavor as the cereal itself.

Not even the three new unicorn marshmallows in the cereal make this worth buying. And they’re not even three different unicorn shapes, just three different unicorn colors. The only way those marshmallows could’ve improved this cereal is if the box was half or fully filled with them, since they do a better job of suggesting cotton candy flavor than the purple oat pieces do.

Lucky Charms Cotton Candy Cereal is less pleasing than the original. It’s magnificently dismissible.

Purchased Price: $5.69
Size: 18.6 oz box
Purchased at: Target
Rating: 4 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1 cup – no milk) 140 calories, 1.5 grams of fat, 0 grams of saturated fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 230 milligrams of sodium, 30 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of fiber, 11 grams of sugar (including 11 grams of added sugar), and 3 grams of protein.