1. STUDENT & DEBUT PAPER
Memory in Cereal
ABSTRACT:
In this society, almost any artifact can evoke nostalgia. Even a bright orange box of
shredded wheat can remind the public of a time when athletes were revered as heroes reinstating
American moralistic values. This paper attempts to define the Wheaties cereal brand as a savior
of the athletic community via its rhetorical purpose. Wheaties serves as a commemorative
artifact, standing as a jeremiad of consumer culture which distracts from the negativity which
celebrity athletes bring to the media. Our research contributes to growing literature on memory
studies and consumer culture, ultimately pointing toward the importance of everyday
objects/artifacts in public memory.

2. Wheaties™, also known as “the breakfast of champions,” is an all-American cereal
comprised of wheat and bran. Although the box holds a nutritious and delicious breakfast, it is
much more than just a vehicle for cereal. Today, much like any other day in history, we are
presented with both good and bad ideas in the media: whichever that medium may be. Whether it
is from CNN online or the radio, we are offered information that we can either accept or deny. In
situations we would rather erase from our memories than endure the embarrassment of our own
society, we, as a people, tend to create new memories to disguise and warp the recollection of the
old. The Wheaties™ box works as a consumer culture jeremiad by reinstating past athletes who
had good moral values back onto their boxes. This results in the public remembering a time
when athletes were revered as heroes and therefore distracting them from the current negativity
that athletes bring into the media.
“The term jeremiad refers to a sermon or another work that accounts for the misfortunes
of an era as a just penalty for great social and moral evils, but holds out hope for changes that
will bring a happier future” (Campbell 1).
The Wheaties™ box began featuring athletes in 1933. The first athlete to be showcased
by the brand was “Jack Armstrong - All American Boy.” However, Jack Armstrong is not a real
person. Jack Armstrong is not a real athlete. Jack Armstrong is not an “All American Boy.” But,
the marketing team at General Mills had a smart idea. They created a fictitious character on the
side of the box. The benefit? Jack Armstrong is a character who can do no wrong; the hero of
heroes. He is not an actual professional athlete or even a real person. Jack was the perfect
character to promote Wheaties™ because his traits would not restrict cereal sales because he
encompassed morals that everyone could agree with. The character’s bounding feats haven’t
gone unrecognized. His skill sets, athletic performance, and overall perfection are delineated on

3. the side of the cereal box. We will nostalgically remember him for these reasons. Jack instills
jeremianic values.
In his article titled “Twenty-first-century jeremiad: Contemporary hip-hop and American
tradition,” Paul Williams argues how current work in the hip-hop industry also works as a
jeremiad. He focuses on the career of two relatively unknown rappers named Mr. Lif and
Immortal Technique (Williams 112). Williams cites another article, Neal’s What the Music Said,
to dictate his principle; hip-hop has become too far distanced from its gospel roots. However,
Mr. Lif is bringing the gospel back into relevance. His music reflects on “black oral culture
during and since the era of plantation slavery as a resource of collective courage and social
memory” (112). In a review of jeremiad history, it is established that classic jeremiads were
sermons delivered by the Puritan religious leaders in New England (114). The jeremiad directly
threatened a God-prompted apocalypse unless the Puritans could get back on track to salvation
(120). Traces of these early jeremiads are found in the previously named rappers’ music. Their
lyrics are a “blending of religious, civic and political messages permit[ting] statements that
transmit the universal significance of personal behavior” (114). In essence, the “sermons”
delivered by Mr. Lif and Immortal Technique contained moral lessons for their community. This
distracts from the negative messages contained in other rap music circulating the hip-hop
community with themes such as female degradation, drugs, drinking, partying, and sex. These
messages are similar to the negative influences current athletes have on society. The Wheaties™
boxes’ sermon to the public is reissuing old boxes with well-respected athletes who portray
wholesome values onto the cover in order to distract from the sins of the present athletes and
remind the athletic community of a time where salvation was attainable.

4. Nostalgia, in its most basic form, is defined as a “wistful or excessively sentimental
yearning for return to or of some past period or irrecoverable condition” (Merriam-Webster
Dictionary). The key term in this definition is the “irrecoverable” condition. Jeremiads attempt to
recreate a sense of nostalgia of an event that has long passed: an event which can never be
recreated in its entirety. Moments being remembered nostalgically cannot possibly have the same
meaning, tone, or affect as the original. However, understanding the relationship between
nostalgia and the jeremiad is quintessential to understanding their rhetorical functions.
When considering how the public remembers Wheaties™, one must also consider who
the featured athlete is and their media relevance and significance. This is where nostalgia comes
into play. A consumer will remember a box of Wheaties™ more if the athlete featured was
already present in their memory. In Fizel, McNeil, and Smaby’s article entitled “Athlete
Endorsement Contracts: The Impact of Conventional Stars,” the value of endorsement contracts
is examined (Fizel, McNeil, Smaby 247). According to the article, LeBron James in 2003 was
offered a ninety million dollar pact with Nike™ to be the celebrity endorser. This was the year
James became the number one draft pick in the NBA. Timing is everything when consumer
culture and nostalgic memory are involved. 2003 was a pivotal year for James and for the
emblematic American basketball fan. LeBron’s signing of the Nike™ endorsement was an
important moment for the Nike Corporation™. The American basketball fan will remember
LeBron as the face of Nike™ when they think back on commercials, new shoe designs, posters,
and other memorabilia. James’s endorsement with Nike™ came at a convenient time. Kobe
Bryant was charged with sexual assault in 2003. When the NBA hit a moral low, using James as
a jeremiad was the saving grace for the association. James signed with Nike™ and inadvertently

5. created salvation for the athletic community with his perseverance and as well as his well-
regarded demeanor as a professional athlete.
Throughout Moran’s article “Childhood and Nostalgia in Contemporary Culture” the idea
of “childhood nostalgia remains a complex phenomenon because it is manifested not only in the
narrative construction of fantasy childhoods, but in textual fragments, photographs and everyday
objects” is emphasized (Moran 155). This is an extremely crucial detail to keep in mind when
considering something as simple as a box of cereal as an influential rhetorical object for a child.
The young mind is extremely malleable. Previously stated, James was the obvious choice for a
noble face to place on the front of a Wheaties™ box. At the same time, Bryant, dealing with a
sexual assault lawsuit in 2003, was also a good athlete. However, if he was the athlete to be
placed on the Wheaties™ box, would the general public’s perception of General Mills as a whole
would be remembered for an entirely different reason? The article reads that poor choices in
advertising emphasize how nostalgia “[can] produce disjointed feelings of desire and mourning.
It then examines how the nostalgia for childhood as a separate space outside of adult
manipulation and control sits uneasily with the increasing constraints placed on children by
political, legal and educational institutions,” (155). In a society that has continuous contact with
the media, it is crucial that certain situations and periods in time are remembered for their
redeeming qualities rather than their faults. This is accomplished via the jeremiad.
Featherstone’s “Perspectives on Consumer Culture” discusses the three accounts of
consumer culture on page. “The first one, the production of consumption perspective, presents
the culture which develops around the accumulation of commodities as leading to greater
manipulation and control. The second, the mode of consumption perspective, focuses upon the
way in which goods are variably used to create distinctions and reinforce social relationships.

6. The third perspective examines the emotional and aesthetic pleasures, the desires and dreams
generated within particular sites of consumption and by consumer culture imagery,”
(Featherstone 11). Let us focus on the third, and most relevant perspective: desires and dreams
generated within sites of consumption. The Wheaties™ original slogan, “breakfast of
champions” alludes to this perspective. A consumer of Wheaties™ strives to be a champion. A
consumer of Wheaties™ remembers the people on the box as champions.
Marchegiani and Phau’s article “The Value of Historical Nostalgia for Marketing
Management” addresses the “desires and dreams generated within sites of consumption”
discussed within Featherstone’s article “Perspectives on Consumer Culture” via field research.
They later ascertain, “The findings show that historical nostalgic thoughts and the valence of
cognitive reactions significantly improve when respondents experience a moderate or high level
of historical nostalgia compared with a low level.” The more connected an individual or a
community is to a jeremiad the more nostalgic tendencies they are able to cultivate. The same
concept works in the opposite direction as well. If a multi-Olympic gold medalist athlete such as
Michael Phelps appears on Wheaties™, the American public displays pride and nationalistic
feelings for his representation of our country in the competition. However, when Phelps was
caught smoking Marijuana in 2009, his perfect reputation as America’s Olympic hero was
tainted. This and other instances alike where athletes fall from grace usually invokes their
withdrawal from the box. This changes the public memory of the box altogether.
In Western consumer culture, “there is an ever changing flow of commodities,” making
those said commodities more complex to legitimize (18). We, as a culture, do not distinguish the
hierarchy of commodity importance. Therefore, high and low culture of consumption is also
difficult to differentiate. According to Featherstone, the consumer culture of a luxury car is just

7. as relevant as the consumer culture of cereal (20). This is also reflective of the Wheaties boxes’
jeremianic purpose. A jeremiad does not have to be an entire religious rite or commitment to
social change. No matter the level of culture the product is presented in, it can serve a jeremianic
purpose.
In his article, Featherstone also includes a French term “la part maudite,” meaning the
“accursed share.” He compares consumer culture to a bandwagon. Consumers are struck with la
part maudite when introduced to a new concept. Through the sharing (be it oral or written) of the
commodity, a consumer experiences the bandwagon phenomenon. The individual joins a group
which then expands into a community of consumers (20). Featherstone comments on paying
close attention to persistence. The more present the sharing of the commodity becomes in a
consumer’s path, the more present it will be in the consumer’s life. Repetition can only drill the
commodity into the consumer’s frame of consciousness, and memory in turn. Featherstone’s
notion of consumer culture parallels Wheaties™ as a commemorative artifact. La part maudite
has more malice intended than “breakfast of champions”, but the ideals are similar. A consumer
of Wheaties™ takes this bandwagon approach. She can see her favorite athlete posing on the
side of the box with a gold medal and a bowl of Wheaties™, and she subliminally recognizes the
connection between champions and cereal. In theory, if she jumps on the bandwagon and eats the
cereal, she may amount to greatness too (19).
When common people are faced with failure, “they didn’t have their Wheaties today.”
Wheaties™ as a commemorative artifact are not an object of memory because people wanted to
actually be the athletes, or possibly even be good at sports. Wheaties™ are remembered for their
representation of the value of success. If a consumer ate Wheaties™ they were going to be
successful. The athletes pictured on Wheaties™ boxes play into General Mills’ selling vantage

8. of promoting heroism through fame. People choose Wheaties™ because they like the message it
sends. And the athletes are chosen based on how well they send that message. The Wheaties™
box is an important commemorative artifact because it serves as a reflection of a heroic figure.
We as a public uphold athletes to a very high standard, for they serve as celebrities in our culture.
Gountas, Reeves, and Morgan’s article “Desire for Fame: Scale Development and
Association with Personal Goals and Aspirations” alludes to how athletes promote messages
through their level of heroism based on fame. Based on a series of surveys conducted in the US
to a variety of Americans, “The Desire for Fame Scale was found to have good psychometric
properties and the findings suggest significant relationships with extrinsic and intrinsic
aspirations, consistent with self-determination theory,” (Gountas 8). When people buy
Wheaties™ and see successful people on the box they are starting off their morning with
positive, knowledgeable, driven, and encouraging role models. As the consumer is deciding
which area of their business they want to be successful at, they seek out leaders in the industry
that are successful within that area they envision. Although Wheaties™ are collectable items for
the athletes portrayed on the box, they are remembered in the public memory for the values that
they instilled through those portrayals. The athletes are people who are able to be heroes because
they take their respective talents, gifts, personalities, or qualities they have and utilize them to
help build up the morality of others (10).
In our culture it is not uncommon to use a celebrity or a professional athlete to promote
certain values. In Reeves journal entry of Introduction to the Special Issue: Psychology,
Marketing, and Celebrities he states, “Celebrity news appears to get the same attention as the
most important traditional news topics. It would be easy, nonetheless, to dismiss the topic of
celebrity as trivial, but to do so would be a mistake” (Reeves 637). He explains this theory by

9. stating, “certainly, the economic impact of celebrities and the entertainment industry is not
trivial, and critics have blamed a prevalent celebrity and entertainment culture for detrimental
changes in society, such as the erosion of traditional values, reasoning, and cognitive abilities,”
(640). But, on the other side of that statement, many celebrities have been known to embody
values that promote change in traditional ideals and society in general. A multitude of
professional athletes and celebrities have offered themselves up as role models in modern day
society. The Wheaties™ box has been graced with a number of Olympians and even entire sports
teams. These role models are chosen not only because of their outstanding athletic abilities but
because they also exemplify the personal qualities that people desire to have. The tradition of
posting role models on Wheaties™ boxes may fade with time but it is doubtful that the idea of
using celebrities as a marketing strategy will fade (642).
As stated previously, Wheaties™ boxes have been used since their origins to
commemorate American values. It is important to recognize the Wheaties™ box as a part of
public memory because it is a way that we, as a society, have chosen to rate our overall national
values. Holding up celebrities on pedestals, as heroes and role models, is an American tradition.
Other examples of brands and slogans that use celebrities to help reinforce their message could
be found in the Got Milk? campaign and the anti-bullying ads now shown on television. The
anti-bullying ads in particular are an especially useful tool for promoting good social values. As
a society we rely on the media to be truthful; if for any reason at all we feel as though we’re
being tricked or lied to, a message becomes less persuasive. By using credible celebrities we are
able to trust them based off of their ethos and pathos demonstrated through their message. We
know that they are wholesome and successful people. We know that they care about social

10. reform and progression. This is why it is so helpful to celebrities to promote certain social
values; people are willing to listen if they are able to identify with the speaker.
While we have reflected on the past, and mourned the present, it is important to now
direct our attention to the future. How can athletes learn from their mistakes in order to proceed
without trepidation? If Wheaties continues to issue nostalgic boxes to remind the public of the
good days, the public will begin to lament the present. They will map out a future where athletes
revert to past heroism and convey upstanding moral values (Mason 27). The public will imagine
a “spatial plane to be journed and discovered” in order to “leave behind time (...) [and] reach the
future” (27). Society needs Wheaties to continue to reissue nostalgic boxes so that we may
distract ourselves from the past. However, a new problem will be faced when today’s present
becomes the future’s past. No one can predict the caliber of the athletes of the future, but the
public deserves better heroes than the ones they have been given today. Maybe the current
nostalgic boxes will continue to be published. As time passes, the values portrayed by the
nostalgic athletes will never be outdated but will feel distant.
Williams details Lif and Technique’s rhetoric as being in the “twenty-first century
jeremiad tradition” (Williams 123). This statement portrays the American jeremiad as a current
and relevant phenomenon. We can use jeremiads to return to salvation in a societal sense, rather
than a religious one. Wheaties™, an everyday object, serves as an essential commemorative
artifact used to distract from the errors of celebrity athletes’ current ways. By reinstating past
athletes photos onto boxes, General Mills uses nostalgia to sell their product. A photo of Michael
Jordan hitting a three point shot is comforting and familiar to the public. A photo of Michael
Jordan with a box of Wheaties is influential to the consumer. In order to gain exodus from the
current sins of the athletic community, we must reflect on the purity and sanctity of the past.

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