Let *them* eat cereal

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“You are poor? You can’t afford meat, fruit, veggies, eggs? You are struggling to pay rent and utilities? That’s okay! We have an affordable alternative for you: eat our processed corn syrup and filler shit instead–for all your meals! That’ll do it. Meanwhile, we have raised prices 28% over the course of the pandemic, and are now making our shareholders billions more per annum than just a couple of years ago.” –Gary Pilnick (Kellanova’s CEO), literally, February 21 2024.

(Image found at LetThemEatCereal.info)

I am not the first nor will I be the last to say that late-stage capitalism in 2024 is just too much like the 1920’s Gilded Age, which itself was far too much like the late 1700s: a select few literally wipe their assholes with cash and think nothing of spending a million or two in a day, while the vast majority of humans struggle just not to starve.

One difference is that today we all see the wealthy bragging about it pretty much instantly–one of the main reasons to destroy easily-accessible social media is to disrupt how regular folk access and respond, together, to these kinds of stunts.

As of today, however, there’s enough internet-as-democratic-access-to-information, for people to organize beyond their in-person-only relationships, and so #LetThemEatCereal has become more than a reference to Marie Antoinette: it’s a call for the many who can afford it, to do something small for a relatively short period of time, so that the accumulated effect forces change.

I don’t know or much care who was the first person to call for a Kellogg’s boycott; I became aware of it through a shared link to this woman’s TikTok about it (beware: there are no captions; there’s a transcript function, which leaves quite a bit to be desired, but it’s better than nothing–see footnote ²).

There’s a whole-ass playlist of her videos on how to let *them* eat cereal for a change, answering both questions on logistics and the inevitable, “that’ll never work” Debbie Downer and “but what if they…” Doubting Thomas comments; I will summarize her points here, but I would encourage those who can to watch the playlist, starting here. Please note: while I find her entertaining as well as articulate and fairly well informed, she’s a white woman of a certain income, so some of the things she says (“everyone should be making their own salad dressing anyway”, for example) reek of privilege. Mind you, she’s at least aware enough of that privilege to remark that it’s people like her, who can afford to pay Kellogg’s prices, who should make an effort to rein in Kellogg’s greed, so there’s that. Please note that there are no captions (see footnote ²), but there is a transcript option for individual videos (which I don’t see as an option for playlists, for some reason).

With that out of the way, here’s the nitty-gritty:

The short-term goal: to force Kellogg’s corporation to reduce their prices, since their costs have not increased anywhere near that 28% they’ve raised their prices in the past three years.

The longer-term goal: to show consumers that, if enough of them act together, they do have the power to change corporate policies and behaviors beyond a token fix for a one-time problem; that is how “market forces” work.

The means: starting on April 1st, stop buying any and all Kellogg’s products, under any and all of their brand and off-brand names, for three months–turning April Fools into “Fuck YOU, fools”, as it were.

• Why April 1st and not March 1st/now?
  • One, to spread the word to enough people that when all of them stop buying Kellogg’s shit, at the same time, for weeks at a time, the corporation actually notices.
  • Two, so that those willing to boycott Kellogg’s products have enough time to research alternatives–far too many of the cheapo/”store brand” products on shelves are, actually, Kellogg’s products, and moving from top shelf Kellogg’s to discount shelf Kellogg’s will not really make a difference for Kellogg’s (see footnote ¹)
  • Three, so that the sales/profit decline is steep enough that it cannot be explained away as “market fluctuation” or some other bullshit, when they have to report on the second quarter earnings to shareholders.
• Why boycott at all? The prices have risen because of inflation! Nope; inflation has been nowhere near 28% in the past three/four years. These companies’ executives brag publicly about raising prices *because they can*; they’ve been laughing about how they can squeeze consumers at will *for years*, but exponentially more so since March 2020: COVID scarcity taught them they can constantly raise prices without backlash.
• Why only Kellogg’s? All big corporations jack up their prices, it’s all a ripoff, we must boycott them all! Yeah, let us not bite more than we can actually chew, let alone digest; the goal is to succeed. It’s hard enough to convince enough people to boycott all the products Kellogg’s makes under its many names to actually make an impact on the company’s earnings (because that will require people to also do research, which is work, and to be inconvenienced for three months, and they’re already bitching about that). Trying to get everyone to boycott everything means that no one would boycott any thing–which, incidentally, is what all the big corporations want, so knock that shit off! (Also, if this one works, there’s at least two more boycotts for other companies planned for the third and fourth quarters of this year, so there.)
• Well, Kellogg’s stuff is all crap anyway, who eats that shit? People eating crap in glass houses should not throw stones; we all consume shit that is not good for us, regardless of brand, so let us not shame others over their food choices.
• Why three months? Because anything shorter than that can easily be dismissed as regular market fluctuation; three months is a full earnings quarter, and will be evident when the CEO and the rest of the fuckers have to face the shareholders.
• This will reduce the value of people’s 401Ks/other retirement funds! Not how 401Ks work; but if so, not enough to make a difference in the long run. Meanwhile, a successful boycott would make a tangible difference for millions in the medium-term. Also, if a couple hundred dollars ‘shortage’ in your 401K is such a concern to you, then Kellogg’s jacking up their prices 28% in three short years should worry you a lot more.
• This will bankrupt the company, and will hurt all of Kellogg’s low-wage employees! Kellogg’s will certainly try to claim this, but the fact is, they are making billions of dollars a year; it would take a total boycott to hurt them enough to force them into bankruptcy. If this boycott succeeds beyond anyone’s wildest dreams, the most it will do is shrink the top executives’ bonuses a bit. Also note: Kellogg’s has already shown they’re willing to fire employees en masse for the sin of trying to negotiate better wages, so fuck Kellogg’s. ETA (March 7): corporations can absolutely lower their prices drastically–as in, over 90% lower, and still make obscene profits; exhibit A: big pharma company Boehringer Ingelheim will bring down the out-of-pocket cost of inhalers from $525 to $35 a month for most patients (for the math challenged: the new price is under 7% of the old price)
• But what if I/my child/person I take care of/other, have food issues that make it impossible for them to eat an alternative? Then don’t drop that thing; you can still help by spreading the word to others.
• I’m already eating store brand/cheapo stuff, it’s been a while since I had the kind of money to buy Kellogg’s-priced shit. If you can, you may want to check whether you are buying a Kellogg’s product under a different name, and whether there are accessible alternatives within your price range; however, the call to boycott is for the people who regularly buy Kellogg’s products at Kellogg’s prices.
• Why should people who can afford to buy Kellogg’s stuff as it’s currently priced be inconvenienced? Because, unless those consumers speak now, loudly and in concert, with their wallets, those prices will keep going up until you too can’t afford them and have to “eat cereal for dinner”, Karen.
• There are no alternatives for this specific Kellogg’s product I buy that aren’t part of Kellogg’s web of companies! That’s honestly highly unlikely, but perhaps there are alternatives beyond what’s commercially available in large scale; from “here’s how you make X at home” tutorials (on TikTok or elsewhere); to suggesting to small local businesses (where available) that they could offer alternatives at comparable prices; to organizing community exchanges of goods and services.
• Is there anything else I can do? Yes!
  • spread the word to the people around you, and share links to information on what all else Kellogg’s sells and under what names (see footnote ¹)
  • call your local school board/college/hospital, and ask whether they’re buying Kellogg’s products, and why, given Kellogg’s CEO “let them eat cereal! (rather than nutritious food)” comment.
  • document the prices of Kellogg’s products at your local stores: take pictures of the prices in March, on April 1st, and periodically thereafter.
  • hold yourselves and each other accountable: cheating for “this one thing, this once” during the boycott weakens your resolve, and makes you more likely to abandon it before the full three months are up.
• Can I take advantage of big sales or coupons or other discounts, between April 1st and June 30th? No. “Big sales” or coupons are not price reductions; they are temporary marketing ploys to break the boycott. Unless enough people resist temptation and stay the course for at least three full months, the corporation will continue to tell people struggling to feed their children to “eat cereal” rather than full nutritious meals, while laughing about how they can raise prices at will.
• Is it okay to stock on Kellogg’s products by the end of March, so I can eat what I like while I boycott the company? If you do this, you are bullshitting yourself and trying to bullshit others, not boycotting Kellogg’s.

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ETA (March 7): because apparently people really have the memory of gnats, please do a search for the Montgomery bus boycott (here’s a handy Wikipedia link for you), then come back to tell those of us who are ready to do this, how “boycotts never work”. Please note that there is historical context for that boycott itself as well as its success, and that’s the whole fucking point: people come together to protest injustice when shit reaches a tipping point. When you have the visible heads of corporations, who themselves get paid in the multiple millions per year, proudly telling struggling working families to “eat cereal for dinner (since you can’t afford real food, like meat)”, that society has reached that tipping point. Ergo, boycott.

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ETA: halfway through the boycott, a check in and a wider view, here.

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¹ Please note: Kellogg’s split into WK Kellogg Co (for cereal products in the U.S.) and Kellanova for snacks world-wide, and international cereal sales.

You can find a list of Kellanova brands here on Wikipedia, and WK Kellogg Co brands here, also on Wikipedia; it’s not easy, however, to figure out how many of the store-brand cereal and snacks are actually made by Kellogg’s, because neither the store nor Kellogg’s want to make consumers aware of this. There’s a spreadsheet listing brand ownership here, but it’s woefully incomplete: for one, I know that Great Value (Walmart’s brand) instant oatmeal is made by Kellogg’s, so I’ll be doing without those for three months (dammit), or, if desperate, buying Quaker’s at full price instead (dammit).

² I was informed by TallGirl6234 in the comments, that she has enabled autocaptions since TikTok offered the function, but that they don’t always “play nice” with all browsers. I saw today that she has a video up here, wherein it shows that, despite her enabling autocaptions, they’re unavailable for her videos.