When I was a kid, there was nothing I hated more than imitation store-brand cereal. Nothing like digging into a big bowl of Imitation Cocoa O’s when all you really wanted is some Cocoa Puffs. Not that the store-brand cereals are bad, but when you want the taste of something specific, the “close but not exactly right” taste of the generic product just won’t do. That’s why Kellogg’s is rolling out individually branded Corn Flakes.
That’s right, the Kellogg’s company is etching their logo onto every flake of baked corn cereal bit that comes out of the oven. The stated goal is to reduce imitators and prevent counterfeiting of the company’s signature cereal line. Apparently, the store brand trade (and possible counterfeit boxes) are so problematic that Kellogg’s has taken this huge (and expensive) step to wipe them out once and for all. The first step is Corn Flakes, and soon it will be expanded across all the other cereal lines.
Some sort of machine uses a tiny laser to burn the Kellogg’s name into every Flake, but the laser is so low-powered that it doesn’t give the Flakes that burned taste, merely darkens them just enough to be visible. I hope it doesn’t change the taste; the only thing worse than finding one of those super-burnt pieces of rock-hard corn slurry in your spoon is accidentally biting down on one and nearly chipping a tooth.
Tags: branding, corn flakes, Kellogg’s, cereal with logos, cereal, food, copyright protection, Kellogg’s to burn logo on Corn Flakes, laser etching
