A national advertising self-regulatory group Wednesday recommended that General Mills stop pairing promotions for its Chocolate Cheerios with ads for its original and Honey Nut Cheerios, saying the practice implies health benefits that aren't actually shared among the products.
The National Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus looked into the matter after getting a complaint from Kellogg Co., General Mills' biggest rival in the cereal business. Kellogg complained that General Mills has long promoted the cholesterol-lowering benefits of fiber and whole grain oats in Cheerios, but that Chocolate Cheerios doesn't have those same health attributes.
At issue are ads for original Cheerios or Honey Nut Cheerios that ended with a "tag" of a visual of a drop of chocolate falling from a spoon and transforming the cereal into Chocolate Cheerios, along with a voiceover urging consumers to enjoy a "touch of delicious chocolate taste in every bite."
The Better Business Bureau's advertising division concluded that "the main portions of the challenged commercials emphasize health attributes which are not shared by the product promoted in the tag." General Mills has complied with the self-regulatory group's decision.
"Those tags no longer appear in connection with that advertising, and while General Mills continues to believe the tags were executed appropriately, we will take [the] recommendations into account as we develop new tags for use with Cheerios and Honey Nut Cheerios advertising," the company said in a statement.
The ad self-regulatory group determined that General Mills' use of a heart graphic in packaging and Internet advertising for Chocolate Cheerios was fine because it didn't convey a false message about the cereal's health benefits.
MIKE HUGHLETT