MEMORIES:
PHOTOS:
Many great things have been found by “accident.” Penicillin, Velcro, gravity, and… Wheaties. That’s right, the “breakfast of champions” was discovered when a Minneapolis clinician for Washburn Crosby Company (which would later become General Mills) accidentally spilled a wheat bran mixture onto a hot stove. After three years of attempts to perfect the flakes so that they could withstand packaging, in 1924 they were introduced as Washburn’s Gold Medal Whole Wheat Flakes. Not very catchy, was it? The company looked for a name change and through an employee contest they chose the name Wheaties. Incidentally, Wheaties won out over “Gold Medal Wheat Flakes” (who was the creative genius behind that name?) and “Nutties” (just imagine the jokes just waiting in that name!)
Early on, Wheaties began associating itself with the sports world. In 1933, it placed advertisements on a wall in Minor League Baseball’s Nicollet Park in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Soon, there were broadcast and advertising deals with local radio stations and the catchy phrase on every package. Wheaties was now “The Breakfast of Champions.” Advertising expansion continued, and throughout the 30s they were marketing themselves alongside baseball teams around the country. Broadcasting on almost a hundred radio stations, these sporting events were often accompanied by athlete testimonials on the benefits of Wheaties. Steeped in baseball tradition, the very first box of Wheaties with a sports figure featured the one and only Lou Gherig. Other ballpark heroes were soon to follow: Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio, Jackie Robinson, Ted Williams, Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra… oh, the list goes on! Wheaties would even give a start to actor, 33rd Governor of California, and 40th President of the United States, Ronald “Dutch” Reagan. He was voted “most popular Wheaties announcer” in the country, won a trip to the Cubs’ spring training camp in California, went to took a screen test and the rest… well, the rest you could say is history.
Early on, Wheaties had its sights on more than just baseball. The same year Lou Gherig was on the box of Wheaties was the same year aviator Elinor Smith appeared on the back of the familiar box, making her the first woman on a box of Wheaties! In fact, almost every sport has been recognized by Wheaties – from gold medal-winning decathletes like Bob Richards (first athlete on the front of the box) in 1958 to gold-medal gymnast Mary Lou Retton (the first female on the front). In 1986, Wheaties boxes featured the Chicago Bears’ Walter Payton. Michael Jordan, advertising juggernaut for products like Gatorade, Nike and Fruit of the Loom, and star of the three-peat NBA champs, the Chicago Bulls, has graced the fronts of Wheaties boxes a record-breaking 18 times! Hundreds upon hundreds of awe-inspiring athletes have found themselves on the coveted position of a Wheaties box. It didn’t mean big bucks, it meant status and it meant respect. After all, to be put into the annals of history along with history’s greats is an award so few get. Wheaties also associated itself with children-oriented programming, like The Lone Ranger and The Mickey Mouse Club, though it didn’t stray from sports for long, continuing the long-standing tradition of famous faces on the front.
Wheaties is a true American icon, recognized in pop culture outside of the cereal world, and in everyday conversation. Breakfast of Champions has come to mean everything from eating a real breakfast to tipping back a can or a bottle in the early hours.
No cereal has really promised performance enhancement quite like Wheaties has. Ads promised players a winning edge when the going gets tough and touted eating the cereal as “SPARKIN’ up.” While that slang may have a different connotation in today’s world, Wheaties implied speed and quickness ready at a moment’s notice – that’s what they were known for. Though they may not give superhuman strength, the simple cereal has been a part of a complete and balanced breakfast for generation after generation with this simple reminder: Better eat your Wheaties.
