What's your opinion of Kellogg's Nutri-grain? This is for an advertising assignment.

It's sugary rubbish as food, but it tastes pretty good.

A cereal high in sugar and low in fibre. Successfully marketed in the late 80s to mothers via the sexualisation of triathlon competitors and tapping into subconscious desires mothers had for their pubescent sons.

Like many, I am a long time subscriber to Choice magazine, which has this to say,

"KELLOGG'S Nutri-Grain is a low fat, low fibre cereal with lots of sugar, and while it doesn't taste salty it's packed full of sodium, too.

A good kid's breakfast cereal should have more than 5% fibre but with only 2.7% fibre in KELLOGG'S Nutri-Grain there's not a lot going for these highly processed, sugary and salty morsels of corn, wheat and oats.

It's long been promoted as 'iron man food' and claims to be 'the energy cereal' which gives KELLOGG'S Nutri-Grain a healthy, active image that is far from accurate. Remember that energy is just another word for kilojoules and in this case much of that energy comes from sugar."

http://www.choicefoodforkids.com.au/review/KELLOGGS-Nutri-Grain

Your market research should show that more and more people are aware of the harmful effects of salt, sugar and low fibre in their daily diet. Health authorities are especially concerned about obesity and diabetes in the young.

Market research would also show the only way to market something that bad for you is to have lots of sex. But then women will complain. Solution - more young men almost naked (pecs, washboard guts, brief swimsuits wet) while showing fewer interesting bits of the nubile young women. The ad companies are already onto that.

Whatever you do don't mention that cereal manufacturers are gradually (very, very gradually - imagine fingernails dug in) being dragged towards cutting down on salt. Hey, remove the salt and sugar and remove the taste, right?

Have fun with the research.

A textbook example of how advertising and marketing works and how you can use it to sell virtually anything, even poison to children.

It's full of vitamins and minerals and is really, really good for you. Don't believe the others, they're just party poopers!

LOL TZ52HX. You're right of course. Not only that, if you eat Nutri-Grain as a kid you'll grow up to be an Iron Man in budgie smugglers, just like Tony Abbott!

On second thoughts, maybe that's not a particularly good selling point...

It's one of the few things that makes milk tasty.

Marketing sells. Mcdonalds and VB have proven this.

It's just a shame the authorities allow our most vunerable (kids) to be exploited with the likes of Nutigrain and the big 'M'. But there may well be some changes in the wind.

It's not just Kellogs, but others too. Uncle Toby's is now
owned by Nestle. I bought their healthy whatever it was called
a few times and it tasted ok. When I checked the fine print, which
was hard to read, they had 26% sugar in it!

So I wrote them a dirty email and complained, telling them it
was about time they started producing healthy breakfast cereals
and stop conning the public. I made it plain that the Nestle
brand had sunk to a new low in my opinion.

Anyhow, they did in fact respond and sent me a cheque for
10$ as a refund, hoping that I would try some of their other
products. That is the only thing that large companies will
respond to, consumer pressure. If a million others wrote an
email, they would take lots of notice, for their brand is
at stake and they value their brand name above anything.

Meantime I found a great breakfast cereal made by a housewife
called Carmen. Even Coles stock it now, it seems she has
put some thought into it.

If Carmen can get on the shelves of the large retailers
it just shows that large corporations don't have it all
to themselves, its really up to consumers. Enough consumers
voting with their wallets, will make a difference.

All these bran foods are nothing more than brain deadeners for the mindless. Haven't you ever noticed how most of these "health food" eaters" actually are part of the weirdo cult ? Outlandish mutts who aren't game enough to touch a good steak for fear they'll grow a braincell. Ironman food my ar$e, it's just crappy Uni tucker. No salt, no fat, no sugar, no this, no that, no wonder we're breeding no brains.

Memo to individual: Nutri-Grain is in no way a 'health food', but it tastes better than sour grapes or that chip you carry around on your shoulder.

I'm a fan too, Yabby.

>>Meantime I found a great breakfast cereal made by a housewife
called Carmen. Even Coles stock it now<<

It's been on the Coles shelves since 1997, by the way. And the lady's name is Carolyn Cresswell - it's a great story.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/small-business/pushing-muesli-brand-to-the-limits-carmens/story-e6frg9hf-1225776844074

My Carman product of choice is her deluxe fruit muesli... 14% fat, 20% sugar, and a fair chunk of salt too. Seriously yummy.

I've never tried nutri-grain, and I'm unlikely to. I'm not in their demographic. Which is all that the Kellogg's marketing department are interested in - they are not concerned with a niche brand like Carman.

For which I have never seen an advertisement on TV.

There's probably a good reason for that. It would take a highly talented agency indeed to avoid cheapening the brand

Well apparently it contains high fructose corn syrup which is according to one camp, highly damaging to health and plays a huge role in the obesity epidemic.

If the information is correct that fructose is not metabolised in the same way as glucose, then it appears there should be real concern about this. This is not a problem if you're going to be eating some healthy fresh fruit, this amount and concentration of fructose is of no concern to health and of course we all know the healthy benefits of eating fresh fruit. Fructose is though apparently a problem in concentrated form as used as a food additive and which is increasingly being used in place of glucose - because it's cheaper. The problem with fructose is that it doesn't stimulate the secretion of insulin. When we eat foods containing glucose it stimulates the release of insulin which then stores the glucose in our cells as energy. This doesn't happen with fructose, it goes directly to liver to be metabolised instead, like happens with alcohol - apparently. So, if we feed children foods that are high in fructose, like sugary soft drinks and apparently many of the sweetened breakfast cereals, like Nutrigrain, their bodies are metabolising the fructose using the same or similar pathways as they would if you'd given them a glass of alcohol. Except that their bodies would be going through a similar effect (stress) minus the feeling of being drunk. A good place to read up on fructose and breakfast cereals containing fructose is the Dr Mercola website. There may be a difference in the ingredients they use in the US compared to Australia though, I don't know. I looked up the ingredients in Nutrigrain and it did not list high fructose corn syrup. Can they simply list it as sugar, I don't know the answer to this.

CJ Morgan,
I appreciate you being so obliging in proving my theory correct. Most people I know who are into warm wine & furry fish kind of diet are very much of a mentality as you.

*My Carman product of choice is her deluxe fruit muesli... 14% fat, 20% sugar, and a fair chunk of salt too. *

Ah Pericles, wise choice. Only the best for you city slickers :)

I just stick to her BircherMuesli, 11% sugar, lots of oats.
Salt is 10mg /100g, I'm not sure if that is high or not.

I read the original article when it was published in the Australian
and that is why I tried her product. I gather that she is
exporting too now. It just goes to show that smart thinking,
consumer focus and attention to detail can lead to great success
stories, even for what used to be small businesses. Niche
can be highly profitable too.

Its a win-win all around!

Cereal manufacturers do no more than market food which appeals to the public taste. Healthy cereals tend to be marketing failures. If you understand the benefits to be had from low salt, low fat and low sugar, then that is your potential gain.

Government action to force food manufacturers to produce healthier products might translate to lower health costs, but it wont stop people making bad choices. A rope of raw sausages eaten on a bus or a barbecued chook eaten like a cob of corn is still a meal for some.

No, cereal manufacturers and other processed food manufacturers educate the public towards unhealthy tastes and choices. It is about the manufacturers' convenience and profit.

It all hinges on hooking the children early on salt, sugar and fat.

Does anyone honestly believe that the previous LNP government opposed any restriction of junk food advertising during children's TV through reasons other than the electoral support they might receive from the big companies in the fast food and soft drink industries?

While it is true that government action (rare enough not to notice) might be offset to an extent by foolish individual choices, the incremental reduction in the amount of added sodium carries real benefits.

individual: << Most people I know who are into warm wine & furry fish kind of diet >>

Do you know lots of people whose diet consists of "warm wine & fuzzy fish"? Sounds positively awful to me. Indeed, even Nutri-Grain sounds better.

You do realise that neither of your posts thus far in this thread make the slightest bit of sense?

What are you trying to say?

"It all hinges on hooking the children early on salt, sugar and fat."

Chicken and egg, Cornflower. Salt is the easiest thing to remove from your diet. You can do so in a few weeks. But most people are simply unaware of how harmful it is, so dont make a big effort to eat less.

Are you suggesting that sugar and fat are addictive substances? That would make the fast food industry akin to the Columbian cocaine cartels. It was certainly a marketing strategy used by at least one beverage conglomerate, and is currently commonplace if you want to include caffeine as an addictive substance.

Fester,

Accepted, I was not using the term 'addiction' in any scientific sense, ie implying physical dependency. However food habits are easily set and can be difficult to break.

Salt, sugar and fat are hard to remove from diet if processed foods are consumed and they do form a major part of the diet of many people. As people who are trying to lower their salt intake find, that includes such staples as bread, where salt-free bread may have to be specially ordered.

Is salt addictive? Maybe,
http://www.examiner.com/science-news-in-national/are-we-addicted-to-salt

And your just walking up to the facts of a world of the greedy.

I think a little golf clap is in order. lol.

TTm

Hi Sherri, I am hoping you take into account the following from one teenager [son] who switched from Vita Brits, Wheet Bix and Rice Bubbles to Nutri Grain this year after discovering that he enjoyed the sweeter taste of Nutri Grain more and thought it would assist in his carbs diet. He tasted it at his grandmother's place and it quickly became his favourite cereal!

I have noticed that within an hour of consuming the Nutri Grain, my son commences showing signs of hyperactivity, as opposed to consuming Vita Brits or Wheet Bix. His moods shift readily, he craves more sugar after consuming Nutri Grain and overall is a happier individual after consuming Vita Brits than Nutri Grain.

Personally, I have always encouraged my children to consume Oats, Vita Brits or wheet Bix and not purchased any sugar coated and/or cereals with higher sugar or salt content. Sultana Bran is my favourite without adding more sugar into it. Although many people cannot consume Bran as it upsets their metabolism.

Best wishes in your studies Sherri.