Companies use many slogans to get people to buy their brand.
The slogans often incorporate your other senses, telling you to "follow your nose" or listen for the "snap, crackle and pop," adding a visceral feeling to the cereal.
The UK brand cereal Coco Pops appeals to both children and adults with its time-tested slogan,
"Loved by kids, approved by mums."
This time tested catchphrase has been known by so many, that when a little girl questioned it, you might think, "Why?"
…Hold on, what's Coco Pops?
As the tweets above clearly show, Coco Pops is a British variant of a cereal called Cocoa Krispies in the United States. The Kellogg's cereal started being sold in the United Kingdom in 1961, and has become the default name for the chocolate rice puff cereal in many other countries.
The slogan for the product in the UK seemed pretty innocuous, and Americans may find it similar to another cereal product by General Mills — Kix.
"Kid tested. Mother approved."
But both of these have a problem. The slogans pre-suppose that a mother is the caretaker. Yet this is not the case for many families.
10-year-old Hannah-Marie Clayton's mother often travels for work on an airline. Her father generally prepares her breakfast.
She didn't want him to feel left out. She also realized there are other kids out there who may not relate to the phrase.
A family could have the father be a single parent. Or maybe the child has two men as parents. There are many options that would mean there isn't a mother in the family.
Last year, Kix changed their slogan to
"Kid-tested. Parent-approved."
So Hannah-Marie, with support from her parents, wrote a letter to Kellogg's to have them do the same with Coco Pops.
She wrote,
"I feel that quote is sexist, men are also able to make breakfast.
"My dad does it a lot for me because my mum works away a lot and is not always there for breakfast.
"I would recommend instead of putting 'mums', put parents or carers. It would just mean a small change. In this world today we shouldn't just rely on women."
Surprisingly enough, Kellogg's agreed. They wrote a letter back stating,
"You recently shared your thoughts around the statement of 'Approved by Mums' on our improved recipe Coco Pops.
"I wanted to let you know that we've recently renewed our research and our new pack design will refer to approval from both mums and dads.
"Apologies for any offence caused and thank you for your feedback, which has played a part in our decision to change."
It's a great change!
Though some can't quite wrap their heads around why this is important to some,
Hannah-Marie's mother was very proud of her daughter, saying,
"I hope it shows her that you can make a difference no matter how big or small if you voice an opinion, even to a large corporation like Kellogg's. I think it's important to teach our children that."
The new phrasing saying "Approved by parents" has already started appearing on Coco Pops boxes in stores.
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