Cheerios Rx
Apparently the “c” in OTC stands for “Cheerios.” A recent article said that on May 5, the Food and Drug Administration gave General Mills Inc. a warning letter saying that the heart benefit claims on its Cheerios are “serious violations” of federal law.
The Cheerios website says that its “soluble fiber heart health claim has been FDA-approved for 12 years” and that the “lower your cholesterol” message has been on the box for over two years. The site adds that “the science is not in question.” What is in question is how Cheerios presents this information on the package and website. The company says it’s in dialog with the FDA. This situation is one that all marketers should follow because the article says that the FDA is showing signs of taking a more “aggressive stance” toward the companies it regulates.
Getting into trouble with the Federal Government isn’t the type of thing you would expect to happen to Cheerios, is it? It’s the kind of thing you’d expect from a cereal like Trix. We all know that the Trix rabbit is a TMZ incident waiting to happen. Any day now I expect to see him being carted off to jail for not paying taxes for the past thirty years or something.
Silly rabbit.
But Cheerios? CHEERIOS?
Then again, think about the line extension possibilities… Move over Honey Nut Cheerios! Now there’s new Prescription Strength Cheerios! Then you’d get Nighttime Cheerios, for people like me who want a late night snack but still want the health benefits.
I’m sure that there are other cereals that are crossing some federal line. For example, in this economy, are there still two scoops of raisins in Kellogg’s Raisin Bran? How can Kellogg’s afford that? Are Lucky Charms really magically delicious? According to who? And I’ve heard a snap and a crackle, but I’ve never heard a pop in my bowl of Rice Krispies. Where are the warning letters?
I have to admit that I started eating Cheerios again because of its advertised health benefits. This made my children upset because I’d eat their Cheerios and leave them with the bran cereal, which they rarely eat because there isn’t a prize in the box, and, at their age, they’re not too concerned about being regular.
I do think that any health benefit I get from eating Cheerios is nullified after I’ve eaten my third bowl. I eat so much Cheerios that if it is eventually classified as a drug, then I need to go to rehab because I’m sure that I’ve OD’d on it a few times.
The FDA says that Cheerios has crossed the line into drug advertising even though General Mills’ claim appears to be true. What does this mean to marketers? You can’t make a claim even if it’s been proven true? I don’t care what distinctions the FDA makes, if you drink a can of prune juice, you’re running to the bathroom. That’s a claim we can all make.
Cholesterol-lowering claims like this, said the FDA, can be made only for drugs. The FDA suggested that if General Mills wants to keep the claim on its box, it needs to find a drug use for Cheerios. I suggest that the company sell powdered Cheerios. That way, people could stir it in a cup of milk and drink it like Metamucil. Who has time for all that chewing anyway?
