There's a battle raging. To some, it may be considered childish, but it has people picking up spoons against each other all over America. This feud is splitting up the breakfast tables of families at an alarming rate, making this something that must be addressed by the world community: Cocoa Krispies or Cocoa Pebbles?
Is that milk, or the tears of people with houses broken by this chocolate-fueled war?
These aren't like any other two cereals, my dear reader. No other two cereals are as comparable, and therefore capable of forming rigid camps, as these two cereals. There are cereals out there that can be fought over when it comes to superior taste or however else people choose to compare their objective opinions. However, these two types of cereal create a very particular type of situation because they are essentially trying to both occupy the same exact niche within the role of the easily edible "cocoa" cereals of the breakfast world. It's not like one is the knock-off brand of the other, either. These are both professional cereals, both attempting to be the dominant cocoa cereal on the market. What else could be the outcome but conflict?
And, no, cocoa puffs aren't involved in this. They're puffs, not nearly as comparable to the others and hardly as delicious.
When it comes down to actually comparing the two, both camps assert that their cereal has the appropriate amount of chocolate. This can't be disputed, sadly, because the appropriate level of chocolatiness is a matter of opinion. However, the physical characteristics of the two cereals can be compared. For instance, the sustained crunchy nature of Cocoa Pebbles makes them a perfectly crunchy option for the entirety of breakfast whereas the puffy, porous nature of Cocoa Krispies makes the pieces more susceptible to milk, causing them to become soggier more quickly. This quality of the krispies, therefore, creates an even heavier time restriction than there normally would be on breakfast, the most important meal of the day.
Additionally, when it comes to breakfast foods as a whole, nothing is worse than soggy cereal. Allowing your cereal to become soggy is like watching your dreams fall apart. It doesn't taste the same and you're left with wasted cereal. What is one left to do but to pour more pieces from the box of the aforementioned cereal into the bowl so that the consumer can simply consume the same amount of cereal. The weaker cereal of the two cocoa brands would, therefore, cause waste of time and money, whereas the stronger brand remains satisfyingly crunchy to the end of the meal.
If you like a side of savings with your breakfast, there's an easy choice.
If you choose not to recognize the feud laid out in front of you, feel free to pick up whichever cereal you would like as you parade the aisles. Just know that, by choosing one over the other, you will be taking a side. Be prepared -- "It was on sale" isn't good enough anymore. This is war.