Meditation on Frosted Flakes

A recent $2 billion lawsuit brought against the Kellogg company for marketing sugar-laden products to children is reminiscent of successful suits against alcohol and cigarette companies, but may not pack the same punch due to the lack of scientific evidence of addiction.  The addictive quality of sugar is a topic not adequately explored in medical studies and popular culture, despite much research of alcoholism which must be similar in nature. 

According to a story in AdAge, Kellogg's cereal was invented without sugar, and then modified to include it, which appears to have greatly boosted its popularity.  As with the addition of nicotine to cigarettes (or caffeine to soda) the manufacturer presumably acted on clear signs that adding sugar to cereal would make it sell better.  Unsurprisingly, Kellogg's lower-sugar versions of Frosted Flakes and Froot Loops have languished on supermarket shelves (especially since they have nearly the same total calories and carb content).

It's difficult to reasonably blame companies for selling popular products when everyone knows they're unhealthy.  Suing Kellogg for making parents buy Frosted Flakes for their kids doesn't make much more sense than suing parents for giving Frosted Flakes to their kids.  Kellogg does offer healthier alternatives, so if you simply chose the right selection of Kellogg products and ate in moderation, you'd be fine.  So why do we have a lawsuit (aside from the standard fiscal motivations)?

Perhaps it's the duplicitous nature of Kellogg's advertising and the attitude some folks in the marketing, advertising and PR industry maintain.  A recent Kellogg press release trumpets, "Kellogg's Frosted Flakes Supports U.S. Olympic Hopefuls".  The marketing campaign features Olympic athletes (snowboarders, skiers and speedskaters) on cereal boxes and includes incentives to entice youths to visit the website.  The Frosted Flakes marketing campaign, we're told, aims to "raise kids' awareness about the importance of keeping fit". 

Who could argue that keeping fit is important?  Except... eating Frosted Flakes doesn't lead to fitness.  And that's not what the campaign is really for. It's to get people to buy and eat more Frosted Flakes. Sugar cereals are frequently advertised as being "part of" a "healthy" breakfast when eaten in conjuction with a number of other food items (of course the breakfast would be healthier if you skipped the cereal and just ate the other items).

Let's detour momentarily to explore the nutritional value of Frosted Flakes.  To eat one serving of Frosted Flakes, fill a teacup 3/4 full of Flakes.  Wait a minute... we all know we eat cereal in cereal bowls, not teacups.  Let's more realistically assume we use a teacup as a scoop and put two heaping scoops of Frosted Flakes in our cereal bowl.  That bowl now holds three servings of Frosted Flakes, which is 36 grams (9 teaspoons) of sugar.  That's how much sugar you'd get eating 1.25 Snickers bars.  (This doesn't even count the second bowl you might crave when the sugar letdown from finishing the first kicks in.)  Even if you did just have 3/4 of the teacup, it would hold double the sugar of what nutritionists recommend.

Purchasers are now less willing to tolerate the manipulation that has been common in the advertising industry for years. As mentioned often by Jerry Michalski et al, the very label "consumer" exemplifies companies' urge to use as opposed to cooperate with their customers.  The power of the customer is rising; we have begun to organize to reject "messages" that aren't presented in good faith.

If you ask me, advertising Frosted Flakes with a fitness campaign is more likely to drive negative consumer sentiment than defuse it. To their credit, Kellogg has started a potentially impressive "Earn Your Stripes" initiative to encourage youth fitness; but linking it with Frosted Flakes detracts from the integrity of the program and makes the whole thing look like a con.

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