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From: General Mills
Introduced in 1924

• The famous slogan "Breakfast of Champions" was first used to promote Wheaties Cereal in the 1930's. The slogan debuted on a billboard for a minor league baseball team in Minneapolis, Minnesota.



• Michael Jordon has appeared on more Wheaties Cereal boxes than any other athlete with 18 different depictions. Tiger Woods maintains second place with 14 boxes to his credit.



• In 1939, Wheaties became the first cereal to ever be advertised on television. The ad took place during the very first televised baseball game (The Cincinnati Reds vs The Brooklyn Dodgers). It was delivered by announcer Red Barber who was shown eating a bowl of Wheaties between innings.



• In 1958, Olympic pole vaulter Bob Richards became the first athlete to appear on the cover of a box of Wheaties.



• The first jingle for a cereal was sung for Wheaties on Christmas Eve in 1926. The live commercial aired on WCCO in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The lyrics were:
  
  Have you tried Wheaties?
  They're the whole wheat with all of the bran.
  Won't you try Wheaties?
  For wheat is the best food of man.

Wheaties began it's life under the name Washburn's Gold Medal Whole Wheat Flakes. As General Mills tell the story on the Wheaties website... the cereal was the invention of a Minneapolis clinician who accidentally spilled a wheat bran mixture on a hot stove which resulted in tasty wheat flakes.

The new invention found its way to the Washburn Crosby Company (a predecessor of General Mills). There, the recipe for the cereal was improved upon and prepared for mass production.

By the time the cereal was introduced in 1924, it was decided that the name Washburn's Gold Medal Whole Wheat Flakes was too long. An employee contest to name the cereal was won by an executive's wife, Jane Bausman, and Wheaties were born.


In 1931, Wheaties was the first cereal to use radio soap operas to sell cereal to children. The same advertising man who arranged for Ovaltine drink mix to be sold on the Little Orphan Annie radio show hooked Wheaties up with it's radio character - Skippy.

Skippy was a cross between Beaver Cleaver and Bart Simpson. The 15-minute show was a big success. A half-million kids joined the Skippy Secret Service Society - the application for which required a signed statement from mothers that their children were eating Wheaties.


In 1933, Wheaties began sponsoring one of the most popular radio serials of all time, Jack Armstrong - the story of an All-American high school student who get's in all sorts of crazy adventures. The show ran for 18 years. During that time 300,000 kids sent in Wheaties Box Tops for a Jack Armstrong Premium Stamp and 1,200,000 listeners sent box tops to receive a Jack Armstrong Hike-o-Meter.


Wheaties cemented it's association with sports and athletics in the 1930's. By 1939, so many baseball players endorsed the cereal that 46 of the 51 players in that year's All-Star Game had contracts with Wheaties.


Click here to see all cereals from General Mills.

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Overall Average Rating = 4 (out of 5)

View all 28 comments for this cereal.


By cereal guy

Cereal Rating (out of 5):

I bought a box of Wheaties at Hy-Vee East in Norfolk, Nebraska. It was good.

Comment submitted: 9/17/2018 (#23477)



By Chip

Cereal Rating (out of 5):

I am now in crisis! Although I have eaten Wheaties for 80 plus years and can't imagine living without them, it now appears I may have outlived the Battle Creek Wheaties machine. IT HAS BEEN OVER 3 WEEKS SINCE ANY SUPERMARKET IN SOUTHERN MAINE HAS HAD ANY WHEATIES IN STOCK. What's up? I will gladly return the 3 lovely sleeves of Wheaties golf balls I received for a few boxes of the product. Please don't tell me it is the end of the Wheaties era.

Comment submitted: 7/17/2018 (#23281)



By nmls100

Cereal Rating (out of 5):

Loved it before my husband's celiac diagnosis.

Comment submitted: 4/27/2018 (#22982)



By Biff

Cereal Rating (out of 5):

They should make a maple coated version of Wheaties for those people that still crave Buc-Wheats.

Comment submitted: 4/19/2018 (#22932)



By longtimebreaker

Cereal Rating (out of 5):

How is this cereal still available and Post canceled production on Fortified Oat Flakes? Poor decision on Post's part. Never cared for Wheaties.

Comment submitted: 10/11/2016 (#20938)



By Saville

Cereal Rating (out of 5):

This cereal now has the texture and flavor of no brand generic cereal. Upon opening the bag, I sniffed for the Wheaties aroma and found none, then the disappointment of the taste told me I was eating something less than expected.

Comment submitted: 6/22/2016 (#20442)



By Postman

Cereal Rating (out of 5):

Still a very good cereal.

Comment submitted: 1/22/2016 (#19882)



By No Sugary Sweet

Cereal Rating (out of 5):

I really like Wheaties.

Comment submitted: 10/23/2015 (#19584)



By Vince

Cereal Rating (out of 5):

Tastes different than it did when I was a kid - not as heavy, missing some of the old malt flavor. Still better than most - if you can still find it among a sea of sweetened empty-calorie offerings.

Comment submitted: 3/11/2015 (#18725)



By RNMando

Cereal Rating (out of 5):

I grew up on Wheaties and thought they were amazing. Then someone at General Mills thought they should fix what wasn't broke and they introduced the "New Wheaties". Ugh! They now taste just like the rest of field. Oh how I long for the original cereal.

Comment submitted: 3/13/2014 (#16349)



View all 28 comments for this cereal.