General Mills, Inc.: Box Tops For Education campaign (1993-1997)

Beginning in 1993, General Mills, Inc., publicized its products in a campaign that helped the company project a positive image by donating millions of dollars each year to elementary schools.

General Mills, Inc.: Box Tops For Education campaign

Susan Risland

Overview

By advertising Wheaties as the "Breakfast of Champions," General Mills, Inc., positioned the cereal as a food that could help consumers maintain good health. The brand was advertised in various media, but it was its sponsorship of radio and television sports programs beginning in the 1930s that established a firm link between Wheaties and athletic competitions. General Mills strengthened the connection by printing large, impressive photographs of dozens of famous athletes on Wheaties boxes over the years. Numerous boys and girls read the boxes and dreamed of someday seeing...

Not a subscriber?

Schedule your live demo with our team today

WARC helps you to plan, create and deliver more effective marketing

  • Prove your case and back-up your idea

  • Get expert guidance on strategic challenges

  • Tackle current and emerging marketing themes

We’re long-term subscribers to WARC and it’s a tool we use extensively. We use it to source case studies and best practice for the purposes of internal training, as well as for putting persuasive cases to clients. In compiling a recent case for long-term, sustained investment in brand, we were able to support key marketing principles with numerous case studies sourced from WARC. It helped bring what could have been a relatively dry deck to life with recognisable brand successes from across a broad number of categories. It’s incredibly efficient to have such a wealth of insight in one place.

Insights Team
Bray Leino

You’re in good company

We work with 80% of Forbes' most valuable brands* and 80% of the world's top top-of-the-class agencies.

* Top 10 brands