Lucky the Leprechaun to Waldo the Wizard: The Evolution of Lucky Charms

Leprechauns are creepy, whether they're starring in a horror movie or plastered on the front of a cereal box. There's no telling if that's why General Mills briefly tried another mascot, called Waldo the Wizard, for its Lucky Charms cereal. Anyway, the marketer got it really wrong with a skeevy-looking middle-aged man in a bow tie and bedazzled robe. Buy your kid's breakfast from this guy? No thanks, consumers in 1975 said. So, the spokes-elf returned, and went through a few style and fitness makeovers in the past several decades—an evolution captured by the nostalgia blog Do You Remember? With some subtle tweaks and twists, Lucky the Leprechaun has been hawking the sugary cereal for much of its nearly 50-year life.