this post was submitted on 27 Feb 2024
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Economics

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Kellogg's is advertising cereal as an affordable dinner for people struggling with the rising cost of food — but some consumers aren't happy with the cereal maker's approach.

WK Kellogg CEO Gary Pilnick told CNN last week that the messaging was "landing really well" with customers.

"Cereal for dinner is something that is probably more on trend now, and we would expect to continue as that consumer is under pressure," he said.

But the reaction to his comments on social media suggests otherwise.

"What the hell kind of dystopian hellscape is this?" one user wrote on a TikTok with almost 150,000 views. "Give the peasants cereal for dinner!" another commented.

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[–] [email protected] 55 points 10 months ago (3 children)

Corn flakes aren't even cheap, at least in Canada. $4.97 ($5.62) for 340g (0.75lb) and 2% milk is $5.89 for 4L (1gal)

[Walmart prices]

The fuck is this asshole going on about? That's as expensive as beef for fuck sakes

[–] [email protected] 18 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Manufacturers have started selling tiny boxes of cereal (100g?) for C$3.99, which is ridiculous. They probably think we won’t notice the boxes are so small and will snap them up - “ooooh cheap cereal! Must buy!”.

[–] Delphia 3 points 10 months ago

The tiny boxes are always and have always been fucking terrible value. They are for the grandparents pantry and the dad who has the kid every other weekend.

If you have kids, you get the catering size box.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 10 months ago

It's a lie to get cash-strapped people to think buying cereal is a good deal so they waste even more of their money.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 10 months ago

What's most infuriating is the boxes have gotten smaller and smaller over the years. The best deal I use these days is to get large boxes from Costco, 1.1-1.5kg for 8.99 when on sale. I have about 6kg stocked up.

[–] glimse 36 points 10 months ago (1 children)

"Eat our cereal for every meal!" Says the company that's doubled the price of said cereal in recent years

[–] [email protected] 8 points 10 months ago (1 children)

What do you mean, you want milk? Bloody entitled scrounger!

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago

In my day I had to walk outside to go get water for my cereal and it was up hill both ways!

[–] givesomefucks 34 points 10 months ago (4 children)

Wasn't Kellog founded to make people stop masturbating?

They're not known for having intelligent things to say.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 10 months ago (1 children)

So were graham crackers. Religion makes people really fucking weird

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago

You could swap “weird” & “fucking”, & the sentence would still be accurate.

Maybe not grammatically correct, but accurate.

[–] Buddahriffic 7 points 10 months ago

They were started by two brothers, one who wanted to make food so bland people wouldn't masturbate and the other who just wanted to do a capitalism. Capitalist one fucked the Puritan one out of control but is still doing capitalist things.

Corn flakes and frosted flakes were literally the first cereals I got tired of though, so I just go through life not giving a fuck what they are doing.

[–] thesohoriots 5 points 10 months ago

Free cold water enemas in every box!

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago (2 children)
[–] Beefytootz 7 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Frosted flakes forced my folks to forsake my foreskin. For real though, kellogs was staunchly against masturbation and believed that making an incredibly bland cereal would keep kids from masturbating. He also believes circumcision would do the same and advocated for that across the US. Circumcision isn't all that common outside of the US and Jewish faiths

[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago

Frosted flakes forced my folks to forsake my foreskin.

Now that's a brand new sentence if I've ever read one.

[–] Leg 26 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Tiktok comments?!

Two tiktok comments does not a consensus make. Shoddy journalism. That said, yes, Kellogg's deserves some consequences for saying something so bafflingly tone deaf.

[–] GeneralEmergency 13 points 10 months ago

Two tiktok comments does not a consensus make

How does a journalist count?

One, two, trend.

This isn't a new thing and has been a joke spread among journalists for years.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I'd rather eat Kellogg's CEO for dinner if it comes down to either or.

[–] LaunchesKayaks 2 points 10 months ago

Same, but how would you eat the person. Can people become cereal...?

[–] [email protected] 12 points 10 months ago

Every time he has dinner at someone else's place, he should be served cereal for dinner. And every restaurant he goes to for dinner should present him with a special menu with the only choices being cereal.

Maybe then he would get the message.

[–] teft 8 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

This wouldn't work in Colombia. Here the breakfast cereals are really expensive. A box of lucky charms is about $10 for a small 10 oz box.