Sample Lecture 1:
Advertising Post Grape-Nuts

Ads Touting Health

Ads Aimed at Kids/Parents

Ads Aimed at Women

Ads Aimed at Men

This lesson looks at a variety of advertisements from the 100-year-plus history of Post Grape-Nuts.  From the outset, Charles Post proved to be a brilliant marketer,  and much of his company's rapid success was attributable to his sense of the new American mass consumer market.  For each of the advertisements and cereal boxes shown in these pages, consider the following questions:

• who is the target audience?
   

• what are the stated health benefits?
   

• how do the stated health benefits correspond to the dietary reform tradition of Sylvester Graham, Caleb Jackson, John Harvey Kellogg, and Charles W. Post?
   

• what does each advertisement say about contemporary consumer culture?
   

• which ads reveal important contemporary issues beyond concerns over diet?

[Unfortunately, the smaller-print advertisement copy is illegible on some of the examples; nevertheless, the images and larger print offer a good enough idea of what the ad seeks to accomplish.]