Dive Brief:
- In the battle to reach a health conscious market, General Mills, Inc. launched a commercial featuring Cheerios' mascot BuzzBee touting the "real" honey used to create Honey Nut Cheerios.
- In the commercial, Buzz interacts with a honey vendor at a farmer's market where Buzz tastes the vendor's honey and compliments the "real" honey's flavor, saying he's always looking for "real" honey for Honey Nut Cheerios.
- According to Zach Quiring, General Mills' honey and other commodities buyer, the honey General Mills uses in Honey Nut Cheerios comes from several countries, including Vietnam, Turkey, and Brazil.
Dive Insight:
The emphasis on using "real" honey in Honey Nut Cheerios comes from General Mills' attempt to demonstrate its use of "real" ingredients instead of the artificial ingredients that consumers are starting to view as unappealing. In attempts to shake off the "fake" ingredients reputation, companies are gradually removing a host of artificial ingredients. This includes General Mills' recent announcement to eliminate artificial colors and flavors from 40% of its cereals, the other 60% don't use such ingredients.
"Some people increasingly see processed foods as 'fake food,' so this ad is one of the many ways we are working to show people we are made with real and delicious ingredients," said Gail Peterson, associate marketing director of Cheerios, in a General Mills blog post. "And what better way than to have a natural honey connoisseur and our biggest brand champion, Buzz, be the one on the hunt for the best honey we can find."
Interestingly enough, the farmers market depicted in the commercial could suggest that General Mills may use local honey in Honey Nut Cheerios. Being locally sourced is one benefit for products today in terms of consumer preferences, especially among millennials. However, General Mills actually sources its honey from several countries. This would not necessarily be a turn-off for consumers drawn to the diverse flavors that originate from other countries.
"Each region’s honey is different and is mixed at our strategic supplier's facility to create the blend we use. In addition, our supplier sources the honey directly from the honey collectors which ensures transparency and is unique in the industry," Quiring said in a General Mills blog post.