Tone Deaf Leadership: When Kellogg’s CEO Misses the Mark
I am a 1970s child. So, cereal meant a new but small toy inside the box or coupons towards buying more cereal or a bigger toy. I think my mother bought me a Marx Big Wheel tricycle (do you remember the plastic big wheel?) using some cash-back discount from a Cap’n Crunch box. I probably needled her into getting it, making her regret buying the cereal. With parents on a nine-to-five job, it helped to have something easy for kids to prepare themselves. Although my parents still preferred something warm for us as kids, I loved the independence of making my meal. My nostalgia was shat upon by a recent comment by Kellogg’s CEO Gary Pilnick. It was since earlier this year, but I have been distracted with elections.
Gary Pilnick’s comments displayed an alarming detachment from everyday consumers’ real struggles. Suggesting that families under financial pressure should opt for cereal as a dinner alternative is not just tone-deaf — it’s insulting, particularly given that cereals like Corn Flakes and Frosted Flakes are super-high in sugar and provide limited nutritional value. I would not touch any of that stuff now because it’s like buying diabetes in a box, especially at my age. Plus, the nutritional value of many of the ingredients has declined over the years due to harmful practices in industrial farming, making it not even worth the crunch.
