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Cheerios, the first oat-based and ready-to-eat without cooking cereal, is a brand of breakfast cereal created in 1941 and marketed by the General Mills cereal company of Golden Valley, Minnesota.
History
The introduction of Cheerios on May 1, 1941 by the name of "CheeriOats" was marked by an aggressive production and marketing strategy that was an attempt to associate the American cold cereal breakfast with Cheerios. Its first mascot, Cheeri O'Leary, was introduced in 1942, though the mascot was short-lived and she was rarely seen after 1945. Successful marketing and association with The Lone Ranger led General Mills to sell approximately 1.8 million cases of the cereal in its first year alone, and in 1945, the name of the cereal was changed to Cheerios (to avoid confusion with a similarly named competitor brand), and its slogan was developed as "Cheerios: The First Ready-To-Eat Oat Cereal".
During the 1950s, continued association with television and radio allowed Cheerios to rank among the top breakfast cereals, and as General Mills' number one selling cereal product. It also underwent package changes, and for the first time in 1953 Cheerios was shown with a bowl of the oat cereal topped with strawberries, along with a singular Cheerio being used to dot the "i" on the Cheerios cereal box. New mascots named "The Cheerios Kid and Sue" were introduced in 1953 along with the package change, though again product association and in-box promotions generally kept the mascots of Cheerios from the limelight.
Health appeal Cheerios' health appeal stems from its lack of artificial flavoring and coloring, low sugar, fat, and cholesterol content, and being a source of fiber and folic acid. Beginning in 1996, Cheerios featured the American Heart Association's seal of heart and checkmark indicating it had met the AHA nutrition guidelines for its food certification program. This in part led to Cheerios being issued the first health-claim confirmation by the Food and Drug Administration that Cheerios, oatmeal, and oat products can lower the risk of heart disease in 1997, along with a medical journal study in 1998 indicating that Cheerios could in fact lower blood cholestorel levels when eaten as a part of a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol.
Recently, General Mills created an all-natural organic food version of Cheerios. While many companies such as Frito-Lay have created organic foods with the same brand name as the original, General Mills chose not to do this, to the dismay of organic food promoters, and used the Cascadian Farm brand in order to sell Purely O's. The corporate decision was made so that consumers would not view the original Cheerios as somehow inferior to the organic Purely O's.
Marketing, promotions, and cultural association Since its inception, strong marketing and association with cultural icons allowed Cheerios to achieve brand dominance through children. It has maintained a prominent position as a breakfast cereal since its creation, even in spite of higher priced cereal product than its name-brand competition and in the face of generic brand competition, largely due to its strategic association with American culture and its focus on advertising to youth.
Cheerios association with The Lone Ranger was the longest of the Cheerios brand promotions, on radio from 1941 until 1949, and continuing with The Lone Ranger on television programs into the early 1960s. Encouraging children watching and listening to request for Cheerios cereal by name, the association was one of the most profitable in brand history. Other icons that have been prominently featured in association with Cheerios include Rocky and Bullwinkle, Scooby Doo, Star Wars characters, and NASCAR drivers. Also, General Mills' attempts to characterize the brand as a healthy breakfast have led many diet and health-conscious consumers to the cereal.
In 2000 in association with the United States Mint, General Mills included approximately 10,000,000 coins in boxes of all varieties of Cheerios. Year 2000 dated pennies were the generally included promotion, though every 2000th box included the first public release of the Sacagawea dollar coin. In specially marked boxes were included over $100,000 of pennies, $5,000 of dollar coins, and $227,000 in authentication certificates. Though it was not the first time Cheerios had been associated with numismatics (in 1954 Cheerios gave away in-box Confederate play-money), it was certainly the most successful.
Slogans Throughout its history, Cheerios has changed slogans in response to market trends, and in recent years it has emphasized its health benefits. Most slogans were developed with the knowledge that product and corporate advertising would most likely overshadow the slogan itself, though they have played roles in most Cheerios advertisements. - "The Breakfast Food You’ve Always Wanted!" (1941)
- "Cheer up with Cheerioats" (1942)
- "Cheerioats: For Fighters on the Homefront" (1943)
- "Cheerioats: The New Flavor King of Cereals" (1944)
- "Look! An Oat Cereal All Ready to Eat” (1944)
- "Cheerios: The First Ready-To-Eat Oat Cereal” (1945)
- "The ‘Power’ Breakfast the Whole Family Loves” (1958)
- "The Big G stands for Goodness" (in reference to the General Mills' G) (1962)
- "Go with the Goodness of Cheerios" (1964)
- "Nutrition: That’s the Cheerios Tradition" (1971)
- "Oats, the Grain Highest in Protein" (1971)
- "Toasted Whole Grain Oat Cereal" (Current)
Related cereals In the late 1970s until the present, General Mills has introduced a succession of cereals that are spin-offs of the original Cheerios. These include along with their introduction date: - Honey Nut Cheerios (1979)
- Apple Cinnamon Cheerios (1988)
- Multi-Grain Cheerios {1992)
- Frosted Cheerios (1995)
- Team Cheerios (formerly Team USA Cheerios) (1996)
- Purely O's (organic Cheerios, manufactured by General Mills' subsidiary Cascadian Farms) (1999)
- Berry Burst Cheerios (including variations of Strawberry, Strawberry Banana, and Triple Berry) (2003)
General Mills also markets several dozen other breakfast cereals under different names. See also List of breakfast cereals.
See also
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