Cream of Wheat Advertising Proves A Couple of Timeless Truths.

That phenomenal Minnesota snowfall? The one that crushed the 580,000-pound, Teflon-coated, inflatable fiberglass Minneapolis Metrodome roof? My first non-sports-guy thought was, “Where are the Timberwolves going to play?” Then I realized that this stadium was where the Vikings hang out.

Still, I could have sworn I’d seen an ad years ago for…what? Wolves? Cereal? Sure enough, I searched my shelves and found the art work in a superb book. The Nabisco Brands Collection of Cream of Wheat Advertising Art started 30 years ago, when archivist David Stivers discovered that Cream of Wheat (which became part of Nabisco in ’62) had kept detailed records of each and every piece of art, illustration, photo and media schedule.

This led to re-discovering the artworks themselves, 1,600 pieces that “included original oil on canvas, oil on board, watercolors, sketches, premiums and proofs.” It is a superb book that dramatizes just how much “art” went into advertising in the so-called old days.

In one sense, it was one of advertising’s golden ages, when a major company could line up and use work from some of the most accomplished painters of the day – which stretched from 1902, when the Cream of Wheat Company dedicated $10,000 to its first ad budget; to 1962. During the first few decades, EV Brewer, Katherine Richardson Wireman, the incomparable Roy Frederic Spreter and Maud Fangel, among many others, contributed to the Cream of Wheat advertising pool.

Oh, you’re thinking: Nowadays it’s all stock photos and royalty-free illustrations, not much chance to commission and use such superb artists and illustrators on contemporary work. But that’s not the complete case. In fact, some features are kind of...timeless.

There are just as many – if not more – fine artists crossing media today. Perhaps more. The illustrator working right now on her computer is just as accomplished as a Brewer or a Rockwell in his studio. And clients can be persuaded (depending on the company and the market) to go with custom work.

Even going through the Cream of Wheat advertising art collection, you can see how the company used the same images repeatedly in different ad formats and media – even if they were commissioned. Copyrights and usage agreements? Hah! Opportunity and appearances in national magazines and newspapers. You betcha.

Because of the weekend’s Minnesota snow, I picked the wolves as the art appeared in Stivers’s book. It’s “The Yukon Freighter” by NC Wyeth, created in 1908. It was the great artist’s third painting for cereal adverts. The 40” x 35” oil-on-canvas earned Wyeth $500. Truth!

More Packaged Goods: Is Personalizing Your Oatmeal Experience…Better?

This is probably the kind of post that will make the brand marketing people at Malt-o-Meal and Hunter Public Relations cry – or laugh out loud. When they introduced a complete new product line – Better Oats – they did everything “marketing” that could be expected of them. And still, I only noticed the products when Signalwriter’s personal shopper saw a “good deal” on a box at the supermarket.

The Better Oats parent is Malt-O-Meal which has been around since 1919 and it’s pretty well-recognized these days as the value brand in most stores’ breakfast cereal aisles. Now they’ve put their thinking caps on to revolutionize the instant oatmeal category. (Yes, one of the new sub-brands is “Oat Revolution.” Sigh.)

It’s possible they’ve succeeded – and I almost missed it. But I’ve got to say that I’m really happy they didn’t try too hard to position it on the “personalized oatmeal experience” idea. That line’s in the introductory press release:

With 34 different offerings, Better Oats provides consumers with the ability to personalize their oatmeal experience with varieties like traditional Oat Revolution™, Oat Fit™ for the weight-conscious, mmm…Muffins™ for a sweet start to the day, Lavish™ to satisfy chocolate cravings and Oat Revolution™ Thick and Hearty for an old-fashioned oatmeal experience instantly. Varieties of Mom’s Best Naturals® – which include Plain Grain Organic and Dark Chocolate – are found exclusively in the natural food/organic aisle in supermarkets nationwide.

It’s not like America needs more kinds of instant oatmeal (or maybe, right before a contentious election, it really does). But my ad guy’s porkpie hat is raised to the entire Better Oats team because every launch detail is right, in my opinion. There’s fine packaging and an interesting collection of sub-brands, plus some useful waste-reducing ideas. There’s the quite-alright website…clean and simple and attractive.

The Better Oats brand line has gone on the road with a “Grains of Change” tour* and that’s connected to a Facebook fan page and trial stimulator, complete with a coupon (which I have downloaded and used). And I have kitchen-tested the “oatmeal experience” by consuming servings of the mmm…Muffins and Oat Revolution varieties. They are good and there isn’t much in the way of unnatural ingredients in ‘em.

Missing the introduction is a question of noise level. This is a crowded category. And do Americans need another complete line of breakfast cereals? On the other hand…breakfast is good for you. If you eat breakfast, you’re likely to promote healthy eating habits. And oats – oats are good for you, too. So if a company can actually make a successful additional entry into this category, it’s worth a lot for us as consumers to try something healthy and…novel (which the Better Oats lines are). And Malt-O-Meal can take over more of a grocer’s shelf with packaged goods that deliver excellent margins, thank you very much.

Maybe making instant oatmeal more personally tailorable is exactly right for the second decade of the 21^st Century. After all, breakfast cereals are the third most popular grocery story category, I have read. Better products and more comprehensive marketing will always gain new products (like Better Oats) a place at the table. Go for it, oatmeal guys!

*I know it’s tongue-in-cheek but shoot “Otis Wholegrainer – Oatmeal Czar” anyway – that idea is…unrevolutionary.

New Wheaties Fuel™ Intro Features Grim-Faced Guys for Man-Marketing.

They’re back – frowning athletes who seem to reflect the idea that sport is serious business. The cop-an-attitude that turns sporting events into gang rumbles or combat maneuvers is now on every box of Wheaties Fuel, the newly evolved “delicious honey cinnamon crunch!”

General Millis is rolling out the new generation of Wheaties, the first cereal admittedly marketed to men. This probably explains why the creative consultants for the new breakfast yummy* are high-performance celebrities from a variety of sports...all men.

As a marketer, I get the need to evolve the Wheaties brand. I love niche-marketing to men after decades of skewing in the other direction. And I cheerfully admit that the cereal-maker is making a valiant attempt to capture the macho/humorous appeal of the light beer advertisers – for this, watch the videos on the website.

I think what I’m reacting to, since a sample box arrived with my morning paper, is the imagery of the frown. I’ve been watching it grow for years, infecting first the photos of high school footballers who, at 16 or 17, keep glaring out of the newspapers like they’re carrying pistols in their pockets. This has shaded over into the current iconography of some women’s teams, too, from fast-pitch softballers to high-school lacrosse players.

Prospectively, there were other avenues the Wheaties product-line people could have explored (there’s an admittance of experimentation in the marketing materials). But the “brooding look” created by Minneapolis ad agency Boom Island goes beyond the joy of winning into the dour realm of do-or-die-trying.

Now I put an asterisk (*) by the word “yummy” above because, when I finish this post, I’m headed to the breakfast table to try the latest version of The Breakfast of Champions, wherein the third listed ingredient is…sugar, the sixth is honey and the 11th is brown sugar syrup.

Hell, no wonder these guys are glaring. Their teeth hurt.

“Hi, Honey.”

What I like about the new, full-page newspaper ad for Kellogg’s Corn Flakes® Touch of Honey cereal print is its attempted nostalgia. I saw it on the back page of Wednesday’s Flavor section in the Houston Chronicle. This print ad’s so new it’s not on line yet. Time to use your imagination:

Step 1. Take Kellogg’s classic 50-year-old version of “Sweetheart of the Corn” (above), complete with white gloves – I think they’re channeling Peyton Place without the lust.

Step 2. Replace the old corn flakes box with this new, Touch of Honey box (shown left). The headline is, “Our sweetheart now has something a little sweeter.” And overlay a mild golden glow on the visual. The suburban goddess visual is even labeled Circa 1958.

Unfortunately, mix these elements together and you get another bland ad.

One food blogger said back in May, the sweetening tries to makes the corn flakes “slightly less damn boring.” I don’t think the Kellogg’s advertising agency is going to change that product review very much.

According to a PR release issued by Kellogg’s: The market for honey-sweetened products is expanding among the adult population in the United States. In fact, last year the category grew by 7.5 percent. New Kellogg’s Corn Flakes with a Touch of Honey provides that subtle taste of natural honey people want.

I suggest it’s way too subtle for the category: The product is stuck between corn flakes and frosted flakes. Maybe the ad is targeted at consumers who didn’t find Kellogg’s Corn Flakes lackluster four or five decades ago. Really, I wish Kellogg’s had tried a little harder with this one. Why launch an extension of a powerful brand with so little fanfare?

1958 ad visual courtesy of PZR Services with thanks.