Kellogg's Cornflakes

The story of cereal, starts in the late 19th century, amidst the Gilded Age. This was a time in America with rapid economic growth, a rise in industrialization and technology. "Advances in sanitation and housing, and the availability of better quality food and material goods, improved quality of life for the middle class" ( "Gilded Age"  History.com n.p.)

Typical meals and  food etiquette  ranged between social classes, but as individuals increasingly spent more time working, there was a growing desire for a convenient morning meal that could be nourishing and easily accessible.

Grocery store advertisements, such as this one for AMC Perfect Flour, reflect how valuable and versatile grain-based foods were to the typical diet in the Gilded Age. The opposite side of this image details a long list of various foods this grain could offer and the range of meals purchasing one good could produce.

“Changing health ideologies have also accompanied shifts in the American diet…as workers looked to lighter, faster breakfasts as they rushed out the door, nutritionists began calling for light, grain-based diets. Marketers quickly adopted health-based advertising strategies” - Lauren Renee Moore, Three Squares: The Invention of the American Meal Carroll Abigail” (pg 118).

John Harvey Kellogg was a physicist and nutritionist, but with strong, sometimes extreme, and  strange  beliefs about health and wellness. He and his brother were raised in rural Michigan by a Seventh-day Adventist family. He got his medical degree from New York University medical school in 1875 and returned to Michigan to establish the  Battle Creek Sanitarium , a place for healthy reformation, with his brother. There are many  myths  about what encouraged John Harvey to invent corn flakes, but he ultimately placed great merit in what he coined "biological living," the most ideal and healthy lifestyle, completely void of sin or indulgence, and balancing all of the body's true needs.

While John Harvey was concerned with the health benefits and moral serving that corn flakes provided, William Keith Kellogg was more skilled with marketing tactics for their product.

He established the corn flakes factory, and launched advertising campaigns that could appeal to a wider range of consumers. William understood the realms of taste that John Harvey believed against, and it was William who added sugar to the corn flakes recipe, which ultimately made it more desirable (Gross n.p.).

Kellogg's cereal product was first promoted in 1877 under the name “granula” but too closely copied a previous product of cooked flour invented by Dr. James Caleb Jackson in 1863, so they switched to calling it “granola” (Bix pp. 12–17).

There are many tales about how corn flakes or cereal were invented, but the original Kellogg's corn flakes were discovered after a batch of dough dried out overnight into crispy, crumbly, little "flakes " of cereal.

Corn flakes bran cereal and biological living aligned with the Kelloggs' usual Adventist practices: resisting temptation, sinful acts, indulgence, etc., and included vegetarianism, avoiding inebriants, caffeine, and indulging in sugar or dairy  (Cavendish n.p.).  Which would be important granted the connection between the sanitarium and the cereal's creators. John Harvey Kellogg was initially using this bran corn flakes as a resource and product to reinforce his ideals of the ideal healthy lifestyle to his sanitarium patients.

The Kellogg’s, more specifically William, were somewhat pioneers in the marketing of cereal products and put out the first advertisements promoting cold, boxed cereal to consumers in the early 1900s. Looking at vintage advertising models and methods by Kellogg’s and competing cereal companies reveals company/product values and the genesis of the modern company to consumer communication. Ads from  Nashua Telegraph  in 1920, titled “The Sweetheart of Corn” Kellogg’s advertising campaign began about a year after the launch of Kellogg’s cereal company in 1906. Each individual advertisement exemplifies the rise of tactical marketing and aims to sell bran cereal in new and enticing ways.

The “Sweetheart of Corn,” campaign was one of the first of Kellogg’s advertisements and produced a series of ads and imagery portraying a woman and a stalk of corn. They could appeal to men and women and framed corn or corn flakes as this desirable object, which touches on the Kellogg brothers' inherent fear of sin and temptation. There is more to explore in the dichotomy of Kellogg's advertising and the Kellogg brothers' morality.

The phrase “Won its Favor through its Flavor,” is also consistent through the early advertisements and images, and coined a slogan to make it as simple as possible for customers to identify the cereal in the grocery store. This phrase also provides more logical evidence for people to stray from their “usual” breakfast foods, imply the natural taste of corn flakes is enough to establish the cereal's reputation, and make the corn flakes even more convenient to purchase. The phrase “Every grocer everywhere sells Kellogg’s every day,” at the bottom right corner, also again verifies that these corn flakes have a popular, tasty reputation. The first advertisement image, from 1919 displays more text including more information for consumers to identify Kellogg’s cereal boxes, and other enticing languages such as “richer natural sweetness,” “fine aroma” and “oven-fresh” to describe rather simple corn flakes. The advertisement from Nashua Telegraph elaborates this campaign’s narrative, and presents “The Sweetheart of Corn,” as a more mysterious woman, alluding to some kind of affair with corn. Advertising averting from John Harvey’s puritanical teachings and lifestyles, and appealing to more pleasurable things that people desire per William Kellogg’s advertising is representative of their different notions of morality and business.

The advertisement texts all briefly describe how the cereal is made, but Kellogg’s corn flakes were essentially mass developed by thinning and baking sheets of wheat-based cereal dough into small crisps. The rapid popularity of cereal was a quick shift in early 1900s America, whereas common breakfast meals were previously more hearty, including meats, fruit, bread, rice, and other thick foods like jellies. Those previous breakfast foods were also time-consuming in a time where the lower and middle class were increasingly put to work in the Gilded Age, a time with great industrialization.

More specifically, women, who aforementioned cookbooks and grocery shop ads were primarily catered to, were gradually joining the workforce and spending long, laborious hours during wartime in the early 1900s. “One of the first ways advertising was successfully or effectively used was to convince mothers that it was OK for their children to eat these instant cereals. It sort of offered working mothers a chance to let kids take care of themselves in the morning” ( Mekouar).  The benefits of convenience that cereal provided at this time period- and continue to sustain, are paramount to what constitutes as the typical American breakfast. 

Considering the role of cereal and how American breakfast looks in modern-day, cereal continues to reflect a lot of the same symbolism it promoted in Kellogg’s original marketing. As Mekouar alludes to, modern advertising techniques seem to have been born for the purpose of marketing cereal. Kellogg’s corn flakes, specifically under John Harvey Kellogg’s recipe were bland and near flavorless, but an accessible, relatively nutritious meal. The two steps it takes to pour a bowl of cereal and add some milk is still regarded as one of the most accessible, convenient meals to assemble for one’s self. Today’s cereal marketing is also a bit reflective of the Kellogg brothers' predictions and insight into cereal consumers' desires. The Kellogg’s brand is has a full range of various cereals, styles, and flavors that have “benefits” that appeal to everyone from children to older adults.

The inherent taste for sweet flavors and bright,  sugary cereals  is still constantly battled with the desire to maintain daily healthy diets, but at the other extreme, there are mainstreamed cereal products that boast the same grain-based, fiber-filled recipes that cornflakes initially had to offer. The Kellogg brothers may have had particularly strong stances on the values of healthy living, but proverbs about the importance of breakfast and modern advertising are indicative of how preeminent a nutritious and convenient food cereal continues to be.