History
What Wheaties did to jumpstart our cereal success
A radio jingle saved the Wheaties brand in its early years. And it also made advertising history.
Singing for cereal
If it wasn’t for a barbershop quartet in a radio studio in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Christmas Eve in 1926, Wheaties cereal would have been long forgotten by now.
They were hired to sing a jingle titled “Have You Tried Wheaties?” It is believed to be radio’s first singing advertisement.
Introduced in 1924, Wheaties was the Washburn-Crosby Company’s first product other than flour. Initially known as “Washburn’s Gold Medal Whole Wheat Flakes,” the name was dropped a year later for Wheaties. (Washburn-Crosby was the predecessor company of General Mills).