Assign. 1-3; Journal Article Analysis

Wheaties is the breakfast of champions, so they say. This must mean that if a person consumes Wheaties for breakfast, they are guaranteed of becoming a champion. Think again. Many breakfast cereals have been marketed to the public by animated characters, also known as tricksters, showing their immense desire for that cereal product. Not a Saturday morning goes by without a large number of television commercials being aired containing a little trickster plugging a particular breakfast cereal. The article I have chosen to analyze, “Tricksters and the Marketing of Breakfast Cereals” by Thomas Green, looks at the reasons for using tricksters as an effective means of marketing breakfast cereal.

Mr. Green’s article reviews the origin and history of breakfast cereal, and how the cereal magnets, Kellogg, Post, General Mills, and Quaker Oats, used certain tricksters for marketing their products. His article is well written using intelligent vocabulary, and intending the article for a mature, educated audience. The article flows in a logical progression, giving the reader an insight to the invention and origin of the breakfast cereal, how it became a boxed product intended for consumption by just adding cold milk to the bowl, to the marketing ploys and reasons for the use of mythical creatures in getting the product out to the public. Green’s article is thorough and well researched. He has included notes and an extensive list of works cited. The article is easy to read and understand. His inclusion of a brief history, and examples of the different breakfast cereal tricksters, makes the article informative and interesting to read.

During the late-nineteenth-century, as dietary forces and unprecedented cultural mixes were brought together, prepared breakfast cereals were invented. Due to a diet of mostly meat and fatty foods, digestive problems were widespread. Sylvester Graham, a memorable figure in breakfast cereal history, came up with the answer to the poor diet and low morals dilemma. He suggested a dietary reform. Graham came up with a diet that focused on cereal products made with whole grains. From this idea, Graham became a profound influence on other food innovators, such as Kellogg and Post. Advertising in the nineteenth century was centered around mythical images of health, happiness, fullness, power of life, generation, and power. In the early-twentieth-century, religious connotations once thought to be connected with the breakfast cereal were diminishing, and advertisements plugged the cereals as “brain foods”.

Green explains the characteristics of using a trickster for the marketing of breakfast cereals. The force behind the trickster tale is acquiring something. This can be the food itself, or possibly a magical item. The animated trickster is continually hungry for the cereal product, and will do anything, such as stalk, deceive, steal, or act out some type of predation form, in order to obtain it. Sometimes the trickster uses disguises or other identities in order to transform himself in hopes of getting the cereal product. The trickster might even be presented as some kind of culture hero, providing acts of humanity through its performance.

In his article, Green uses the Trix Rabbit as one example of how breakfast cereal is marketed by the use of a trickster. He explains that the Rabbit watches kids eating Trix cereal. The Rabbit decides to disguise himself so he can get the cereal. The scheme seems to go as planned until Rabbit’s enthusiasm for the fruity cereal gets the best of him. He begins to go wild, losing his disguise and revealing the trick. The kids grab the cereal back from him, yelling “Silly Rabbit. Trix are for kids.”

Rabbit appears as the mythical trickster. He exhibits a hunger and desire for the cereal. He uses a disguise to cover his appearance. He shows a sign of humanity by giving up the Trix to kids. These are some of the forms used in marketing breakfast cereals using the mythical trickster. Green points out some other mythical tricksters used in advertising breakfast cereals. These brands include Fruity/Cocoa Pebbles, Quaker Oats Cap’n Crunch, General Mills’ Lucky Charms, and a big favorite, Tony the Tiger. Green goes on in his article covering trickster figures in the role of thief/predator, as well as culture hero. He discusses their use as ambassadors of the “…something for nothing mentality.”

This article looks at the effect of marketing breakfast cereals with the use of an animated character, or trickster. It describes the basic form needed for a trickster tale, and how the trickster is able to create an image that captures the imagination of children and adults, making them want to pick that cereal brand over another. Recently, marketing breakfast cereals has moved to a more health-conscious advertising campaign. But the stereotypical trickster figures are far from being gone, still thriving in the competitive world of breakfast cereals.


REFERENCES

Green, T. (2007). Tricksters and the Marketing of Breakfast Cereals. The Journal of Popular Culture, 40,(1),49-68.