The Nutri-Grain Bar In The 1990's

Nutri-Grain cereal bars were created by the Kellogg Company and first introduced in the 1970’s Australia. They were later introduced to the United States and other countries. As more women began to work outside the home, the ritual of a family breakfast became obsolete as many individuals turned to quicker solutions for breakfast. The Nutri-Grain bar soon became popular as the on-the-go snack during the 1990’s. The cereal bar also comes in a variety of flavors that kids love, from blueberry to strawberry yogurt and has the texture a soft, homemade cookie. This television commercial centers on the theme of fostering a relationship between today’s kids and nature (see Appendix A). As the youth of today spends more time in the electronic world,

A voiceover asks the characters, “What are some of your most memorable experiences as kids?” A father-daughter duo is interviewed first. The daughter says, “My dad would always take me down to the creek and we’d look at the fish in the pond. As soon as I finished my homework.” Next, one woman who is with her sister responds, “My sisters and I would play hide and seek. Mom would always yell at us for drudging mud into the house afterwards.” These characters use a casual and friendly tone of voice that is familiar with the target audience. A parent telling a child to finish their homework before play, the drudging of mud into the house, spotting fish in the local creek—these images are all too familiar to the western audience and generation of parents. Their stories evoke a sense of longing and return to the past when many individuals are becoming increasingly uncertain aboutthe future. A stark contrast is presented with the child playing on the ipad. The relaxing background music abruptly stops as he candidly states, “I play on my ipad. I think I play games on it for three hours a day. Sometimes more.” The purpose of using a small child for a scene that portrays video games in a negative light (as opposed to an older individual) is due to the fact that a child’s concerns is rarely deemed “offensive” to others. Ultimately it’s the children that can provide

However, extensive research has been conducted to test the effectiveness of nostalgic and non-nostalgic commercials. The results of one particular study revealed that advertisements with nostalgic themes are actually quite likely to produce greater recall and preference for the product being advertised (Muehling, 26). Furthermore, a separate investigation “examined individuals’ responses to nostalgic print ads, and observed a positive relationship between ad-evoked nostalgia (measured by a 10-item Likert scale) and attitudes toward the ad and purchase intentions” (Muehling,