For Cereal

Writ 1133: Eric Leake

Second Essay: Advertisement Analysis

      Zach Quinn

Comparison of Cereal Boxes 

In considering categories of food that are influenced greatly by advertisements, I landed on brands of cereal.  Inside this category there is much variation between what one might classify as expensive cereal or inexpensive cereal.  In addition, there is differentiation between organic cereals and those that use artificial flavors.  The biggest difference lies in whether the cereal is brand name or an off brand generic.  The way cereals are advertised; their prices and who buys them all vary according to these major variables.

The cereals among our comparison will be Cheerios, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, and Cinnamon Toasters.  To begin lets take one of the most popular cereal brands out there, Cheerios.  The bright yellow box is an iconic image on the shelves of supermarkets around the country.  Advertising has been a great part of what makes Cheerios such a well-known brand.  Cheerios aren’t inherently people’s favorite breakfast.  The reason they are bought so often is because of General Mills marketing strategies.  If we take a closer look at the box that the cereal is housed in, important information for our comparison will come up.  The largest letters other than Cheerios are ‘Whole Grain.’  The emphasis placed on this shows the importance that the makers of Cheerios place on seeming natural and healthy.  The next thing that catches your eye is either the ‘Cheerios may reduce your cholesterol!’ or ‘Box tops for education.’  These lines, that made it in bold to the front of the box convey that Cheerios is serious about being healthy as well as donating to your child’s school.  The latter only being true if you buy a general mills product, cut off the box top and turn it in for the 5 or 10 cents they will donate.

Cinnamon Toast Crunch is another popular breakfast cereal.  Given the amount of sugar and the design scheme of the box, it’s made for kids.  The biggest letters that a shopper sees first are ‘More whole grain than any other ingredient.’  Though this product is for children, their parents are the ones buying it and thus this key fact is advertised.  At first glance it seems great, why not have more whole grain?  However, in thinking about what cereal is, it is impossible for that to not be true.  Unless Lucky Charms started making cereal with only the marshmallows, there isn’t really a chance for whole grain not to be the primary ingredient.  In addition, on the front of this box, we see the part to clip out for box tops and it says ‘real cinnamon and sugar in every bite.’  This again portrays the emphasis on natural ingredients.  The other interesting thing that the front of this box has is the calorie count.  For dieters and calorie counters out there, it’s displayed as 130 calories per ¾ cup of cereal.  This, however, doesn’t include the calories from milk and very few people only eat ¾ of a cup of breakfast cereal.

In an important comparison, we will consider the off brand version of Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Cinnamon Toasters.  The first thing to notice is that it comes in a bag rather than a box.  This itself could be a marketing decision or simply to save on production costs.  If it was a marketing decision to make customers think they’re getting more, it’s a false representation.  The bag actually has fewer ounces of cereal than most boxes do.  In addition to the claims of being whole grain, having 12 vitamins and minerals and 0 trans fats, the biggest statement this brand makes is that its ‘Only $2.29.’  Most cereal companies don’t advertise the price but rather leave it up to the grocery store to do so.  This one, however, has to compete with the original brand and advertises how cheap it is to attract customers.  Lastly there is a badge on it that says ‘taste guarantee.’  This guarantee to refund your $2.29 if you don’t like it emphasizes that you should try something rather than the original.  It attempts to eliminate the feeling of buyer’s remorse that its customers might feel.  Given the emphasis placed on the price and the guarantee, this brand is catering towards money conscious customers.  This off brand is marketed towards those with lower incomes that have to worry about making ends meet.

The three brands that we have looked at all have different marketing strategies but we see certain similarities between all of them.  It’s interesting how much importance is placed on whole grains and health.  Marketers and business executives at cereal companies like Malt-O-Meal and General Mills, spend hours on end thinking about how to sell more of their product.  Though sometimes ridiculous, the ideas they come up with to push their products tend to work for the audiences they’re targeting.