I Love Life – Experience vs. Advertising

By Jean Levasseur, Captains of Industry

I’m a big fan of Life. The cereal, I mean, though like any carbon-based life form, I’m a big fan of being alive as well. There’s nothing better than a cool bowl of Life in the morning, when the cereal is still crunchy in the milk, but almost saturated to the point of soggy. I’ve been eating the same cereal almost exclusively for about 15 years now, with an occasional interlude for Captain Crunch.

My love of Life has left me virtually impervious to all forms of cereal advertising. Kix was kid-tested, and found wanting. I have never been Coo-coo for Cocoa Puffs. And Toucan Sam? Climb down out of your tree – you’re wasting your time.

Today while walking from North Station to work, a nice lady with a big white bag handed me two small boxes of Quaker Oatmeal Squares. I took them, not really thinking. I’m sure that I’ve seen commercials for them at some point – my guess is a rather bland spot showing an adult man eating a hefty bowl, while a deep-voiced narrator extols the nutritional virtues. I don’t really remember the brand, and certainly never would have bought a box based on any advertising I’ve seen. But this is free food, and I didn’t have any Life for breakfast this morning.

Turns out Quaker Oatmeal Squares are delicious.

And there’s a coupon on the back of each box for $1 off Quaker Oatmeal Squares that I think I’m going to use. For the cost of two tiny boxes of cereal, you did what millions of dollars in advertising could not – made me a customer.