Quaker Oats Company: Mikey campaign

In 1962, the Quaker Oats Company developed a new brand called Life Cereal, a product designed to be nutritious and tasty.

Quaker Oats Company: Mikey campaign

Robert Schnakenberg

Overview

In 1962, the Quaker Oats Company developed a new brand called Life Cereal, a product designed to be nutritious and tasty. With an advertising strategy aimed at convincing parents and their children that healthy cereal could also be flavorful, the brand enjoyed moderate success for some 10 years. Then in 1972, sales surged when the ad agency of Doyle Dane Bernbach created a commercial for Life Cereal featuring child actor John Gilchrist as Mikey, a boy who hated everything except Life Cereal. A new advertising icon was born.

Historical Context

The Quaker...

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