Product 19

Product 19 was a breakfast cereal made by Kellogg's. Introduced in 1967, it consisted of lightly sweetened flakes made of corn, oats, wheat, and rice, marketed as containing all required daily vitamins and iron. The product was discontinued in 2016.

Origin of name

The name has been explained in several ways: as the 19th version of the cereal,[1] or Kellogg's 19th product in development that year.[2]

Product history and marketing

Kellogg's introduced Product 19 in 1967 in response to General Mills' Total, which claimed to contain the entire daily nutritional requirement of vitamins and minerals.[2] Like Total, Product 19 was fortified with the US recommended daily allowance of vitamins and minerals.[3] Unlike Total, Product 19 was a multi-grain cereal. It was packaged in a relatively plain red and white box, originally with charts and text, and was marketed to older consumers and the health-conscious.[2] The original slogan was "Instant Nutrition - New cereal food created especially for working mothers, otherwise busy mothers and everybody in a hurry." In the early 1970s ads for Product 19 featured Tom Harmon; the last boxes depicted a person doing yoga.[2] Within Kellogg's range of cereals, it was targeted to customers seeking to lose weight.[4]

In response to lackluster sales, Kellogg's reduced distribution of Product 19 in the 2010s and announced in 2016 that it had been discontinued.[2]

References

  1. Bruce, Scott; Crawford, Bill (1995). Cerealizing America: The Unsweetened Story of American Breakfast Cereal. Boston: Faber and Faber. ISBN 978-0-571-19851-1.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Grundhauser, Eric (November 7, 2016). "The Long Death of Product 19, the Most Beloved Cereal You've Never Heard Of". Atlas Obscura.
  3. Warner, Melanie (2013). Pandora's Lunchbox: How Processed Food Took Over the American Meal. New York: Scribner. p. 71. ISBN 9781451666731.
  4. Michman, Ronald D.; Mazze, Edward M. (1998). The Food Industry Wars: Marketing Triumphs and Blunders. Westport, Connecticut: Quorum. pp. 114, 124. ISBN 9781429473064.


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