Watch Out, Corn Flakes--Barbie Takes On Breakfast : ‘Breakfast With Barbie’ cereal will join the shelves of licensed products.

After reigning over toy stores for 30 years, Barbie will battle the likes of Cap’n Crunch and the Trix rabbit as the nation’s biggest-selling fashion doll takes on the supermarket cereal section.

Barbie’s owner, Hawthorne-based Mattel Inc., and foods company Ralston Purina have teamed up to make “Breakfast With Barbie,” a cereal aimed at the young girls who last year bought nearly $450 million worth of Barbie dolls and accessories.

Barbie, whose cereal goes on sale in September in hot-pink boxes, joins the parade of toy characters that have marched down the cereal aisle with mixed results. Hasbro’s GI Joe used to have his own cereal, and now Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Cereal and Nintendo Cereal System--both made by Ralston Purina under contract--share space on supermarket shelves.

“You are looking for something that has a strong name recognition and appeal to children,” said Patrick Farrell, spokesman for Ralston Purina, which is the leader in licensing toy figures for cereal products.

Watching Cartoons

Besides toys, characters from television and movie shows, such as the “Flintstones” and “Ghostbusters,” have also made their way to the cereal box.

“I don’t think anyone in the industry watches Saturday cartoons closer than Ralston does,” said John McMillin, who watches the food industry at Prudential-Bache Securities. “These licensed products are how Ralston survives in the industry,” said McMillin, who points out that the company, claims only 5% of the $6 billion in annual cereal sales. Ralston also makes the Chex brand of cereals.

For toy makers, licensing their products to cereal companies and other firms is a relatively new strategy that has raised licensing income and consumer awareness, say analysts.

“The toy companies have always been very adept at creating products based on personalities and characters,” said toy industry analyst David Leibowitz at American Securities. But within the past decade, he said, “the toy companies have gone the other way and created products that they have been able to license,” like Masters of the Universe.

Toy makers such as Mattel are very cautious about licensing top-selling products like Barbie, whose name and likeness have been emblazoned on lunch boxes and toiletries, to protect the toys’ reputation and image. “You don’t want to give Barbie a black eye,” said Leibowitz.

Mattel reviewed Ralston’s $10-million advertising campaign for Breakfast With Barbie as well as the package design, which includes a cut-out vanity table. Executives also taste-tested the fruit-flavored cereal, which comes shaped in hearts, bows, cars and the initial B.

“We are always looking for ways to expand the franchise of our product,” said Mattel spokeswoman Candace Irving. But “every time you license the Barbie name . . . you have to judge if it fits in with Barbie.”

But the success of cereals similar to Breakfast With Barbie has been limited. Licensed cereal products normally have a life of only 12 to 18 months.

“They are so faddy,” said Kathryn Newton, a spokeswoman for General Mills, which makes Cheerios and has in the past used licensed characters like Strawberry Shortcake and Pac Man.

“We have moved away from that,” said Newton. “What we have done in the past is try to develop the cereal (character) that has its own equity, like the Trix rabbit.”

McMillin also says he wonders how pre-sweetened cereals such as Breakfast With Barbie will fare with increasingly health-conscious parents. Buying cereals has recently “become more of a health-oriented purchase, even for kids,” he said.

“It’s a good product and has healthy attributes,” said Ralston’s Farrell of the vitamins and minerals that have been added to Breakfast With Barbie.

Despite the potential drawbacks, Mattel is looking at licensing other toy products to food makers, says Irving. What about a cereal for Ken, Barbie’s longstanding boyfriend?

“He has Breakfast With Barbie every morning,” Irving said.

CRACKLE AND CRUNCH: THE CEREAL MARKET

Estimated market share of the $6 billion cold cereal market. Percentages are based on 1987 figures.

Nabisco: 3.4%

Ralston Purina: 6.1%

Quaker Oats: 7.9%

General Foods: 12.1%

General Mills: 23.6%

Kellogg: 42.0%

Other: 4.9%