Gods of Advertising

The heroin is in the charms…

Ah, Lucky Charms. Like a lot of us, I grew up with ‘always after them.’ Like a lot of us, I adored the ritual of spooning out as many of the “pink hearts, yellow moons and green clovers” as I could then devour them first ahead of the actual cereal. For me, this was an integral part of enjoying the product. Not unlike twisting apart an Oreo cookie and eating the white frosting first. By the way, both rituals I learned from TV commercials, most if not all, observed on Saturday mornings in front of the TV set watching my favorite cartoons.

Alas, like a lot of us, I grew out of Lucky Charms and Oreo Cookies – albeit reluctantly. I have kids now but they don’t watch cartoons on Saturday morning, preferring the content on their phones. They also don’t eat Lucky Charms, preferring pancakes on the weekends and grab and go on school days. Oreo cookies still happen, but not often, given the upscale cookies my wife brings home from one specialty shop or another.

But I remember. I will tell you with absolute certainty that if Lucky Charms were in my pantry I would eat them. Furthermore, I would still remove the marshmallow pieces first. Such is the powerful memory of these childhood rituals. I have a latent craving. Perhaps you do, too?

General Mills is counting on it. Which is why they launched this contest, whereby those who upload a photograph of themselves holding an imaginary box of Lucky Charms have a chance at winning a box of just the delectable charms. Imagine that: thousands and thousands of only marshmallow treats!

100% uncut pure Charms…

It’s a sweet promotion, if an insidious one. One that plays (preys) obviously on a simple but powerful obsession. (Makes me wonder why Oreo doesn’t just sell the frosting. Do they?) Everywhere dentists are cheering.

Of course the contest is all about social. Upload a photo to your favorite platform, tag it, and dream. If you’re lucky you win. So simple. But so dead on. After all, the product is called Lucky Charms. Will I enter the contest? No. But I am thinking about Lucky Charms. And I am drooling.