Wheaties - back in the game?

I've been questioning recently whether General Mills is serious about keeping Wheaties a strong, sports-oriented brand. Kellogg's recent coup with Michael Phelps seemed to confirm that Wheaties is no longer the box on which to be seen.

It appears that General Mills might be getting back into the game. They announced this week that two recent gold medal Olympians will appear on upcoming Wheaties boxes: Nastia Liukin (gymnastics) and Bryan Clay (decathlon). They have also updated their website with a new look.

The question is: Will this be enough for Wheaties to have a full come-back?

Technorati Tags: cereal, Wheaties, Nastia+Liukin, Bryan+Clay, breakfastbowl

Safeway goes Looney

Grocery giant Safeway has released a new line of children's food products as part of its private label "Eating Right" brand. To enhance the image of the new Eating Right Kids line they have entered into a licensing arrangement with Warner Bros. to utilize their Looney Tunes characters such as Bugs Bunny, Tweety, and Marvin the Martian. Eating Right is postioned as healthy foods, and over 100 items will be made available in this new children's line.This includes five cereals, all of which use natural flavors and meet certain nutrition guidelines.

This is not first time cereals have featured Looney Tune characters, but Safeway has found a way to unite popular culture with health. And, that makes it worth watching (and eating).

Technorati Tags: cereal, marketing, Looney+Tunes, Safeway, breakfastbowl

mymuesli heads to the U.K.

By far, the most innovative cereal company out there right now is mymuesli of Germany. The company allows customers to order custom-made muesli, choosing from 75 different ingredients.

mymuesli has announced that that they are now shipping to the United Kingdom, certainly a logical choice as Britain is the biggest cereal country in the European Union.

Now, if we could just get them to setup in the U.S.!

Technorati Tags: cereal, mymuesli, breakfastbowl

He's Gr-r-r-eight!

Summer has been a quiet time in cereal world, but things have really heated up this week with the announcement by Kellogg that they will be honoring U.S. Olympic medalist Michael Phelps. Phelps, winner of a record eight gold medals, will be featured on boxes of Corn Flakes and Frosted Flakes, beginning in September.

No one questions the accolades given to Phelps, but the blogosphere and media have already lit up, concerned that Frosted Flakes is not a healthy cereal for Phelps to be gracing. Perhaps it sends the wrong message to children?

This is a major coup for Kellogg, but not the first time they have featured a major athlete. But, for me, it raises the question again: Where's General Mills and Wheaties? Did they even try? Or is Wheaties now out of medal contention?

Technorati Tags: cereal, Phelps, Kellogg, breakfastbowl

Heavyweights

Later this week, the Food Network will be airing an episode of "Heavyweights" that focuses on the long-time competition between Kellogg's, General Mills and Post through the years. It will feature some interesting history and background to cereal manufacturing and marketing.

Of particular interest to me: A producer from the show contacted me several months back to discuss the idea and I provided some information and photos for them.

Technorati Tags: cereal, Food+Network, TV, breakfastbowl