Kellogg’s and Woolies launch ‘Breakfast Crusade’, free cereal given away to schools
Kellogg’s has teamed up with Woolworths to launch a program to encourage more kids to eat breakfast cereal before they go to school.
Former Olympian Melinda Gainsford-Taylor has been hired to front the ‘Breakfast Crusade’ and will visit schools to push the importance of eating the first meal of the day.
The campaign, which will run from 22 August to 19 September, also involves a promotion in Woolworths stores, with deals on Kellogg’s cereal, milk and juice.
A press release from Kellogg’s pointed out that nearly half a million Australian children skip breakfast and perform worse in basic numeracy and literacy tests as a result.
Kellogg’s, which regularly gets hit by claims that it markets unhealthy products to kids, has also press released a program to give away free cereal in schools for the first time.
Its Breakfast Buddies program, which has been running from 2007, sees Kellogg’s brands Corn Flakes, Rice Bubbles and Sultana Bran given away to schools, sports clubs, community groups and childcare facilities.
A Kellogg’s spokesman said that the company’s high-sugar ‘treat’ brands, such as Froot Loops and Nutri-Grain, were not part of the program. He added that no Kellogg’s branding was involved in the exercise.
The program is to launch two months after Kellogg’s announced that it has reduced the salt content of Rice Bubbles and Corn Flakes by 20%.
Kellogg’s was named Australia’s worst junk food advertiser by activist group Parent’s Jury in November last year.
Parent Jury campaigns manager Corrina Langelaan said: “It’s important that children have access to breakfast and heartbreaking that this is not always the case. It’s great when corporations give back to the community, as long as the strings attached don’t involve the promotion of unhealthy foods to children. All kids deserve to have a healthy breakfast.”
Rice Bubbles and Corn Flakes? Really? They might be better than Fruit Loops but that doesn’t make them a healthy, nutritious breakfast.
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Would expect nothing less from Woolworths stores and Kelloggs! There would almost be more nutritional value in the cardboard packaging that these ‘breakfasts’ come in! Surely a boiled egg with a piece of fruit would not only be healthier, but also show parents just how easy it is to provide an acceptable breakfast for their child.
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Grrr… this makes me so angry – I wouldn’t touch this brand’s cereals with a barge pole – nutrient poor, high sugar, high GI, overly processed junk. Another case of genius marketing at expense of our children’s health…
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I don’t trust these companies and their money making strategies. I don’t like the idea of kids going to school without breakfast but these cereal choices are not nutritious and I refuse to feed these to my children at the start of the day.
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Seriously, what are we becoming – condemning these brands doing for doing the job that “parents” should be doing – ie feeding their kids breakfast. Kids need energy and a well balanced diet – a bit of sugar/salt in a bowl of cereal with milk is not harmful – it is the irresponsible parents that are more harmful! You should have licence to have child.
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Doesn’t Kelloggs Corn Flakes still have a ridiculous amount of salt? So they are making our kids get their daily intake of Salt for breakfast?
We are in Australia, not the USA…. And how are the schools on board with this?
It’s a good idea for Kelloggs in getting breakfast consumption up (thus Woolies profits), but it is a bad brand fit for Woolworths and I’m sure there will be lots of negative backlash as soon as this is launched.
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Schools have been doing Breakfast Club sort of things for ages and it’s good for those neglectful parents that think giving the child some money will solve the problems.
But when you walk into a Primary School and see kids drinking soft drinks, juices, meat pies and packets of chips for breakfast, then it’s a worry.
There’s still a long way to go for educating the public but it’s the little steps that help make a big change
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