Tow #5: Media-"Just Checking" Cheerios Commercial

In this commercial, a young girl walks up to her mom with a box of Cheerios and asks her mom if Cheerios are good for the heart, like her dad said they were. Her mom replies that Cheerios has whole grain oats which can remove cholesterol, which is heart-healthy. The girl smiles and walks off with the box of cheerios. In the next scene, her dad wakes up to find that a bunch of Cheerios have been dumped on his chest. The commercial ends with the Cheerios slogan "Love."
This commercial primarily plays off of pathos. The little girl's charm makes the viewer want to smile immediately, and the viewer cannot help but smile at her innocent misunderstanding. The loving family dynamic also gives a warm feeling. In the last slide, the use of the color yellow creates a sense of happiness. But the central idea of the commercial is an appeal to logos, the fact that Cheerios contains whole grains which lower cholesterol. Also, although perhaps not rhetorical device, the commercial shows a mixed-race family, which shows that all families, regardless of size or structure enjoy Cheerios. This could also be subtly be trying to say that there is no “typical” American family.
Cheerios is a popular breakfast cereal generally targeted towards families with children. The viewers of this commercial are probably moms and dads, so using this "family environment" is an effective marketing strategy.
Cheerios may have a dual purpose in showing this advertisement. On one hand, they certainly want to sell their cereal, which they do by exalting its health benefits and through a heart-warming family interaction. Beneath the surface, they may also be trying to say that there really is no “typical” family, especially with the growing voice of LGBT community and increasing number of single-parent families. But the use of a mixed-race family, which generated controversy, may have been purposefully done to increase awareness about the ad and ultimately the product. Cheerios has certainly achieved this purpose, as this ad and its effects have been reported on in newspapers like the Huffington Post and online news sources, with over four million views on the original commercial on Youtube.