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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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[-] n3m37h@sh.itjust.works 52 points 1 year ago

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

[-] YurkshireLad@lemmy.ca 17 points 1 year ago

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@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year 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.

[-] Neato@ttrpg.network 13 points 1 year 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.

[-] Rentlar@lemmy.ca 6 points 1 year 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.

[-] givesomefucks@lemmy.world 38 points 1 year ago

Wasn't Kellog founded to make people stop masturbating?

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

[-] n3m37h@sh.itjust.works 19 points 1 year ago

So were graham crackers. Religion makes people really fucking weird

[-] HonkTonkWoman@lemm.ee 3 points 1 year ago

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

Maybe not grammatically correct, but accurate.

[-] Buddahriffic@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year 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@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago

Free cold water enemas in every box!

[-] ARk@lemm.ee 4 points 1 year ago
[-] Beefytootz@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year ago

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

[-] Gork@lemm.ee 4 points 1 year ago

Frosted flakes forced my folks to forsake my foreskin.

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

[-] glimse@lemmy.world 34 points 1 year ago

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

[-] Diplomjodler@feddit.de 8 points 1 year ago

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

[-] n3m37h@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 year ago

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

[-] Leg@lemmy.world 26 points 1 year ago

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@lemmy.world 13 points 1 year 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.

[-] shutz@lemmy.ca 12 points 1 year 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@lemmy.world 8 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year 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.

this post was submitted on 27 Feb 2024
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