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WK Kellogg Co. CEO Gary Pilnick was widely ridiculed across social media recently amid boycott calls after suggesting families should eat cereal for dinner to combat inflation-spiked food prices.
“The cereal category has always been quite affordable, and it tends to be a great destination when consumers are under pressure,” Pilnick said during an interview on CNBC. “If you think about the cost of cereal for a family versus what they might otherwise do, that’s going to be much more affordable.”
He estimated that a bowl of cereal with milk and fruit costs less than a dollar.
Kellogg's cereal brands include Frosted Flakes, Fruit Loops, Corn Flakes, and Raisin Bran. Kellogg’s also sells Pop-Tarts, Pringles, Eggo, and Kellogg’s Oats.
His comments referenced Kellogg’s “Cereal for Dinner” campaign, which ends with the slogan: “Give chicken the night off.” The campaign launched in August 2022 when the rate of inflation reached a 40-year high. Kellogg promoted cereal for dinner as a “low-prep, low-mess and low-price meal option.”
Some of the social media critics of Pilnick’s comments questioned the health benefits of eating cereal for two meals a day, as many cereal brands are filled with sugar and lack other nutrients. However, the primary complaint was that cereal is no longer cheap. Many social media responses likened Pilnick's remarks to the historic "let them eat cake" phrase linked to Marie Antoinette.
"Give the peasants cereal for dinner!" one user commented on a TikTok video.
The interview came as a Wall Street Journal report showed Americans spending 10% or more of their income on food, the highest share in 30 years. The average price of breakfast cereal in the U.S. grew 6% in 2021 and 13% in 2022 before inching up 0.3% in 2023 as inflation cooled.
“There’s no reason for you to jack up your prices the way you did, except to screw us,” one TikTok user said in a video with over 3 million views. “And you know what? Now we’re going to screw you — while eating some other brand’s cereal.”
"Advertising to hungry people that cereal might be good for dinner is not 'meeting people where they are,'" self-help author Marianne Williamson wrote on X. "It's exploiting the hungry for financial gain."
When asked in the CNBC interview whether his suggestion could “land the wrong way,” Pilnick said the “cereal for dinner" idea was actually “landing really well right now.” About 25% of Kellogg’s cereal consumption happens outside of breakfast, he noted.
Some comments under CNBC's interview posted online supported the idea. One read, "That is what we did during difficult times in my childhood. There is no need to feel offended."
"Well actually he is right and having some Special K for dinner is healthier than McDonald’s for dinner," another wrote, "and classic oatmeal without added sugar and some real fruits are even better."