Why We Need Creativity: A Walk Down The Cereal Aisle

Plenty gets posted, written and binge-watched about the messy, meaningful and sometimes twisted relationships people have with each other. It’s a great source for creativity and it’s why we have places where conflict is put on display: courthouses, the comments section, Waffle House parking lots.

But after a couple years in the ad biz, I’ve found the real creative gems are in the relationship people have with things. Sure, a love triangle is great and all, but have you ever seen the swirl of emotions that come with buying a new kind of fabric softener?

For me, this comes to light in the cereal aisle. Here, pulverized oats and multi-colored marshmallows would be meaningless without cartoon leprechauns and rabbits on the boxes. A wave of nostalgia instantly washes over me whenever I see them. As a kid, they signaled sugar, as an adult I’d find out their true magic was a PR team that could debunk conspiracy theories about Lucky Charms signaling the illuminati.

On the other side of the aisle are the organic cereals. Blue state breakfasts that tug on good intentions. Planet positive and ancient grained, the bucolic farms on the box create a feeling that you’re doing something right. Sure, farms have debt, dirt and migrant workers struggling for dignified wages, but here in the aisle, it’s a city person’s dream of countryside living.

Then I see something that unleashes a family size serving of disbelief and curiosity.

Wendy’s Frosty Breakfast Cereal.

I have nothing, and I do mean nothing, but respect for the brilliance behind this. It’s fast food sticking a middle finger in breakfast bowls while claiming 7 vitamins and minerals. Why I’ve never noticed this before I cannot say. I blame oatmeal. But, in a world full of glitzy “collabs” this thing before me somehow makes sense. It’s not the straight line between GoPro x RedBull or Doritos x Taco Bell, this is something more mischievous. This is waking up to find the Baconator in your kitchen, cosplaying a boomer mom.

Leaving the aisle reminds me how the experiences we all go through, in this case breakfast, have always been a rich source of material. You see it in comedy, from Chris Rock remembering store brands, to Iliza Schlesinger’s recent take on bras, to George Carlin’s classic bit “stuff”—there’s value to shedding light on human truths about things. Maybe that’s why creativity is so vital to advertising. When things have emotional value attached to them, they become significant. Looking at my shopping list, I think about the sentiments ahead, some are new, most I look forward to revisiting.