At left, the fantasy Cheesy Poofs, at right the real thing.

The dream of an artificially flavored, mass-produced junk food will become a reality for millions of South Park fans at the beginning of next month, when Frito-Lay unleashes 1.5 million packages of Cheesy Poofs to be sold in Wal-Mart stores. Tragically, there are no Wal-Mart stores in New York (thanks a lot, union agitators!) but if you've got wheels you can make a pilgrimage to the suburbs and pick up a bag for just $2.99! The limited-edition Poofs are being marketed as part of a celebration of 15 years of South Park, the wickedly satirical series from Trey Parker and Matt Stone, who are also enjoying the boffo success of their unlikely Broadway musical triumph, The Book of Mormon. Below, Eric Cartman's inimitable Cheesy Poofs audition:

Of course, the promotion calls to mind the marriage of animated comedy with product placement that we say in 2007 when The Simpsons Movie came out, and the Empire State Building went yellow for the premiere, and a dozen 7-Elevens nationwide were transformed into Springfield's favorite convenience store, the Kwik-E-Mart. Sure, it's all the same crap they're shoving down America's gluttonous throat 24/7/, but if it's repackaged with references to our favorite TV shows, well, they know we'll eat it up!