Lucky Charms

Distributed by General Mills, Lucky Charms is composed of toasted oats and tiny chunks of marshmallow in cartoonish shapes. The cereal's mascot is Lucky the Leprechaun, created in 1963.

General Mills had decided to make a new cereal, but did not settle on the idea for Lucky Charms until their advertising team came up with the idea of basing the cereal on charm bracelets and inventing the character of Lucky.

The advertising team discovered that bright colors performed better than subdued colors, so Lucky Charms has frequently used and cycled a series of themed marshmallows into the cereal.

The current marshmallow lineup is blue moons, red balloons, purple horseshoes, pink hearts, green clovers, pots of gold, rainbows, and shooting stars. Several shapes have been introduced and retired over the years, including blue diamonds and leprechaun hats.

• Cereal.com: Lucky Charms Cereal History and Info