![]() The name was soon changed after an internal competition came up with the newer, catchier title. The Washburn Crosby Company-which later became General Mills in Minneapolis-took that idea and turned it into the Gold Medal Whole Wheat Flakes, first introduced in 1924. That year, a health clinician accidentally dropped bran gruel on a stove, which bubbled up into a crispy flake. Wheaties got its start in 1921 by virtue of a fluke. That honor-in 1935-goes to Babe Didrikson, who won gold medals in track at the 1932 Olympics in Los Angeles and became a popular professional golfer. While Richards holds the record for being the first athlete on the front of a box, he was not the first Olympian to be featured by Wheaties. “To inspire fans, the brand features athletes who excel on and off the field by putting their faces and causes on a national pedestal.” “Wheaties believes that the world needs more champions,” says Taylor Gessell, brand experience manager at General Mills. That same year, pioneer American aviator Elinor Smith, who at 16 was the youngest test pilot in the world, became the first woman on the back of the box. Sports heroes have figured prominently in this approach since 1934, when Yankees’ slugger and baseball Hall of Famer Lou Gehrig was the first to adorn the back of a box. Using a clever marketing strategy instituted by company president James Ford Bell, Wheaties promoted the cereal as a healthy breakfast option through its association with athletics and athletes. The wheat-and-bran mixture of flakes has fueled the inner-athlete of countless consumers-young and old-giving them the energy to excel at their daily activities.Īlmost since the beginning, sports figures-including Olympians-have been associated with the General Mills product. In 1958, Olympic pole vaulter Bob Richards became the first athlete to be featured on the front of a Wheaties box.įor 100 years, Wheaties has been a source of morning nutrition and wholesomeness for Americans. Now, with the Summer Olympics underway in Tokyo, the question arises: will an American athlete from these games grab gold and become the next to be featured on the cover of “ The Breakfast of Champions?” Prior to that year, athletes were only shown on the back of the cereal boxes. Two years later, Richards had another first: he was featured on the front cover of Wheaties. ![]() In 1956, Bob Richards of the United States accomplished something no other male Olympian had ever done before or since: he won a second gold medal in the pole vault.
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