Tamera Finch

It’s a nice relaxing Saturday afternoon and the kids are watching Nickelodeon. Suddenly General Mills is advertising their yummy Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal. There are two crunchy squares standing next to each other when suddenly the one on the right begins to lick the one on the left, tasting it nonchalantly. When out of the blue the one on the left devours the one on the right with large teeth. Each crunchy square piece is so irresistible that they lick and devour each other. My children immediately turned to me with a confused look of disgust as each of their noses crinkled up. Just then it suddenly hit me. Kids all around the world have seen this commercial and I was wondering to myself how they perceived it.

I have seen three ads now all containing the same content and I don’t know about you, but for some reason I found it to be somewhat disturbing. This ad is targeting children and although the ad depicts tasty morsels of cereal… cannibalism comes to mind when watching it. I know cannibalism refers to humans devouring other humans, but really…bits of cereal eating each other? Also the fact that they are licking each other seems a little over the edge.

When the target group is children, I believe that marketing strategies need to be taken with caution. Children today are displaying a broader mind set. General Mills could change their strategy by displaying the concepts more tactfully by beginning with something a little more kid friendly that is not going to have your children questioning you with odd questions and saying it’s gross. Some individuals think the ad is cute while others feel the same as I do.

What is your take on this? Do you think that General Mills can present their product more tactfully or do you think the crunchy little squares should keep eating and licking each other?

Graphic Credit:
Animationfactory.com