Cereal manufacturers will usually create a cheap plastic or cardboard toy, to place inside the cereal box. The toy is referred to as a premium. It is an important way for the cereal maker to Prime the Pump. Create a little excitement about their product, give a cheap item away, which will convince the consumer to buy your product. Sometimes they would offer a more expensive item by requiring the consumer to send in Proof of Purchase boxtops. The end result is the same, increased sales.

In 1947, Cheerios had one of the most unusual cereal premiums, that I have ever heard of. Two years after WWII, they were giving away surplus GI eye goggles. Buy a wrapped two-boxed set of Cheerios, and get a free pair of goggles, inside of one of the boxes.

General Mills might have been the manufacturer of the goggles during WWII, and they were stuck with a full warehouse, after the war ended. A lot of companies were manufacturing items for the war effort. The items were usually manufactured under contract from a different company. It was usually an item that the subcontractor wouldn't normally manufacture, but they were doing it for the war. It is also a possibility, that General Mills came across a cheap deal and bought the surplus goggles. Tie the natural patriotism and the romanticism of war that little kids have, with the toasted oat GOODNESS of Cheerios, and it will automatically become a winning combination.

Below is the Cheerios magizine ad, from 1947, with the goggles premium.









Tweet