Ad of the Day: Cheerios | Tom Poole
January 29, 2014 Jan. 29, 2014Sorry, knuckle draggers. If you couldn’t handle the sight of a—gasp—interracial family in last year’s famous Cheerios commercial, here’s some bad news. You’ll have to sit through a sequel during the Super Bowl.
The General Mills brand on Wednesday unveiled its 2014 Super Bowl spot from Saatchi & Saatchi in New York. And yes, that’s the family from “Just Checking,” the ad from last May that made headlines when General Mills shut down the comments section on the YouTube version because of racist vitriol. That earlier ad turned out to be a major win for the brand, however, as people everywhere jumped to its defense—and the view count on YouTube jumped to nearly 5 million.
The Super Bowl spot, like its predecessor, runs a quietly moving 30 seconds, and even starts off with a clever, knowing nod to the earlier controversy. “Gracie, you know how our family has Daddy and Mommy…” the father says, pushing two Cheerios into the middle of a breakfast table. “And me,” Gracie says, adding a third. “Yeah, that’s right,” Dad says.