Whatever Happened to Cereal Box Prizes? And Other Stuff That Quietly Vanished

Some things disappear with a bang. Others just slip out the back door while no one’s looking… like your old Tamagotchi or Kevin Costner’s reputation as a box office draw.

A viral internet post recently asked, “What’s something that used to be everywhere, and now it’s just… gone?” The answers were a nostalgic gut-punch… and also kinda hilarious. Here are a few of the best:

1. Heelys
Those shoes with the hidden wheels? If you weren’t flying down the school hallway on a pair of Heelys in 2004, were you even alive? They’re technically still around, but these days you’re more likely to see a grown man on a Bird scooter than a kid on Heelys.

2. Cereal Box Prizes
Once the highlight of any kid’s morning, cereal prizes are now mostly just QR codes that send you to an app you’ll forget about in 10 minutes. Digging through sugary flakes for a plastic toy was a core childhood memory. Now? Just sadness and fiber.

3. Picture-in-Picture TV
It used to be a very big deal to watch two shows at once. Now we’re watching TV while scrolling TikTok and responding to emails. Modern multitasking made this feature irrelevant… R.I.P. to the little box in the corner.

4. Voiceovers in Movie Trailers
“In a world…” used to open every epic trailer. But gravel-voiced narrators have all but vanished, replaced by ominous piano music and vague text like “From the studio that brought you… something you forgot.”

5. Paid Lunch Breaks
The “lunch hour” used to be part of your shift. Somewhere along the line, it became a “take it if you dare” unpaid thing, and we just collectively shrugged and said okay.

There’s a lot of this kind of stuff. Here are a few things that DIDN’T make the list, but should’ve:

• Eye contact.
• Sears.
• Justin Timberlake fans.
• The prestige of an Ivy League degree.
• MTV.
• Voicemails.
• Unopinionated people on Facebook.