Cheerios were introduced to the world in 1941. I’ve always been interested in the evolution of marketing and retro advertisements and I thought it would be interesting to see how TV ads for this jewel of the breakfast table have changed over the years.
1950s Commercial (Click to Play)
This man wants to tell children that Dentyne gum will come for free with Cheerios because Cheerios is made with oats to give you among other things, healthy nerves and teeth…. so if you’re looking to get healthy teeth, chew on some Dentyne gum, because that’s supposed to keep your teeth healthy and white too.
1960s Commercial
Team up with V8 and Cheerios for lots of energy! This commercial also boasts a giveaway for a free moon-related toy/game which looks really not that fun at all.
This commercial is from 1962 and emphasizes most of the same things from the 50s ad.
1970s Commercial
This one is for the child and acid tripper in all of us. Cheerios are groovy. Do you hear? Groovy. Also, I thought it was pretty funny how they chose to leave in video of the kid getting hit in the head with a football and missing the pass. And who eats cereal lying down in a field anymore? Pretty interesting to see how this was promoted as an “energy cereal.” Hopefully Red Bull never moves into the breakfast market.
1980s Commercials
GREAT BALLS OF POWER — FREE in Cheerios
This commercial from the 80s has a neat twist at the end. While you’re enjoying your breakfast, why not have some Skittles? That’s right. Why not have some Skittles with your balanced breakfast? And by the way, has ANYONE ever actually had the kind of “balanced breakfast” that they show in the ads? The type with a cereal, milk, orange juice, toast, a piece of fruit, and possibly lots of other things? I certainly haven’t, I’ve got things to do in the morning besides eat. The only reason this last part with the Skittles makes even a little sense is that they were only introduced in the US in 1981. They didn’t exist until 1974 and were previously sold only in the UK.
1990s Commercial
Apparently Cheerios needed a lot of improvement for some reason and so when the ’90s rolled around, General Mills changed things up and released this ad, boasting that the golden lil’ o’s will now be crispier in milk. It just SCREAMS ’90s . You’ll see what I mean once you see the deaf woman.
2000s Commercial
Many of you have probably seen this ad. Note the shift from the 50s from the “appeal to the viewer” form of advertising to the much more modern and subtle integrated promotional style. Lots of people don’t know this (or maybe they do) but this ad was actually first aired in the UK and stars British actors. They look pretty British, don’t they? The original version is pretty hard to find a good copy of, so here’s a quick and dirty look at the British one:
This post is tagged 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, advertising, breakfast, cereal, cheerios, commercials, marketing, Retro, skittles, TV