For Its First New Cereal in 15 Years, General Mills Makes Animals Our Food-Dispensing Overlords

Animals act like people—and vice versa—in a singularly silly campaign introducing Tiny Toast, General Mills’ first new breakfast cereal in nearly 15 years.

Created by an agency with an appropriately beastly name, New York’s Walrus, the teen-targeted push casts critters as our benevolent overlords; humans are depicted as lower forms of life, addicted to Tiny Toast’s real-fruit taste. (Hence the tagline “Humans can’t resist.”)

In this spot, for example, a horse does the whispering for a change:

Nice hoof-work there! Here’s an explanation of the creative strategy, straight from the horse’s mouth:

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Walrus Introduces General Mills’ First New Cereal in 15 Years

New York-based agency Walrus released a campaign promoting Tiny Toast, General Mills first new cereal brand in over 15 years.

Entitled “Humans Can’t Resist,” it features a series of 15-second spots portraying scenes of human-animal role-reversal. In the bizarre “Sheep,” for example, a sheep sheers a hairy man’s back while he slurps up a bowl of Tiny Toast. A tad on the gross side, it’s clearly meant as a humorous execution of the tagline, as the man doesn’t seem to mind having his hair harvested as long as he can keep eating the cereal.

While this is easily the strangest of the bunch, the other spots all follow the same basic premise. “Horse” applies the concept to an old woman cajoled with the cereal by her equine master. “Birds” sees a woman pressed against a glass window, staring at a family of birds sitting down to breakfast, while “Seagull” depicts a bit of human thievery (an act of revenge if you’ve ever had a snack stolen by one of these birds at the beach). All of the spots manage to work in a description of the “real fruit” used in the cereal into their bizarre scenarios. In addition to the online spots, the campaign also includes social media and in-store elements.

“Consumers’ tastes continue to evolve, but they remain steadfast in their search for options with wholesome, pantry-friendly ingredients,” said Alan Cunningham, senior marketing manager at General Mills.

“This inspired our development process, and we went where few brands in the cereal category have gone before, using real fruit. With real ingredients and a truly irresistible taste, we know consumers will agree Tiny Toast was worth the wait.”

Kevin Bacon Hams It Up in Plea for You to Shop Locally This Holiday

Kevin Bacon wants you to "Shift Your Shopping" for good by buying local with select retailers who agree to donate a portion of sales from your purchase to charity.

The spot hinges on the pretense that Kevin Bacon is not actually Kevin Bacon but some sort of mustachioed goober named Melvin Macon, who seems to be filming a local commercial circa early '80s, complete with inspiring gospel choir courtesy of the Brown Memorial Baptist Church. (You may recall Bacon playing another hirsute alter ego named Ivan Cobenk in that amazing Logitech spot a few years back.) And when he's not assaulting your eyeballs with nappy old PowerPoint backgrounds, Melvin is encouraging you to be a good citizen and give back to the world.

The work was created pro bono by New York agency Walrus just in time for your holiday shopping spree. So, if squinting at the whirling yellow type at the bottom of the spot doesn't give you a seizure, pick one of those fine local retailers and run out to double your gifting impact. And don't forget to attach a "Kevin Bacon Approved" gift tag.

CREDITS
Client: ShiftYourShopping.org
Agency: Walrus, New York
Creative Director: Deacon Webster
Art Director/Copywriter: Tiffany McKee
Producer: Valerie Hope
Production Company: Mustache
Director: Gavin Bellour
Executive Producer: John Limotte
Producer: Jennifer Kachler
Editor/Graphics/Animation: Will Bystrov