Kellogs CEO sparks outrage for suggesting that poor people eat cereal for dinner

The CEO of Kellog’s has come under fire on social media for his comments on poor people, advising them to just eat cereal for dinner if they’re struggling to pay for food.

Speaking in an interview with CNBC, Gary Pilnick spoke about the impact of dramatic increases in grocery bills.

He said: “The cereal category has always been quite affordable, and it tends to be a great destination when consumers are under pressure.

“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.”

When asked by CNBC host Carl Quintanilla if suggesting struggling people eating should just eat proper meals for cereal would “land the wrong way”, he replied: “In fact, it’s landing really well right now.”

Speaking during a separate interview with CNN, he added: “Cereal for dinner is something that is probably more on trend now… We would expect [the trend] to continue as that consumer is under pressure.”

It’s an idea that Kellog’s has been promoting for some time. Back in 2022, the company aired an advert promoting the idea featuring Frosted Flakes mascot Tony the Tiger leading a family in a chant of, “When I say cereal, you say dinner!”

“Give chicken the night off,” a slogan at the end of the commercial stated.

The advert sparked a lot of negativity and criticism on social media, with one user writing: “This is so fucking dystopian..... america is falling SOOOOO fast.”

Another said: “Cereal for dinner, because you can’t afford meat” is one hellova slogan.”

One more added: “First, it was "breakfast is the most important meal of the day". Now it’s ‘eat cereal for dinner’.”

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