Just Checking -Cheerios.

The most talked about commercial at this time is the recent cheerios commercial in which an interracial couple were used. There was a huge outcry from many viewers. Apparently many people thought that the commercial was inappropriate. Perhaps they had never seen an interracial couple before and the sight of one was much too much to bare. Ironically enough 1 in 10 opposite sex married couples in the United States are interracial, totaling to about  5.4 million (USA Today). So maybe its safe to assume that these individuals have been living a box for the past decade, perhaps a cheerios box.

The commercial begins with a young girl walking into the kitchen with a cheerios box in hand asking her mom a question.Her mom is seated on a round wooden table in the kitchen wearing a printed blouse and pants. The young girl wears a purple top, ruffled skirt with leggings. This family appears to be a typical middle class American family. The viewer can infer this from the simplicity of the wardrobes as well as the furniture of the home and home structure itself. It is clear that middle class America is the target of this commercial.

There is not much to be said about color codes besides the fact that this commercial seems to have been really determine to stay away from any type of extravagance by using very dull colors. Only the  young girl wears a colorful ensemble. The other cast are wearing earth tones, similar to the house decor. The dad wears a button jean shirt which is a dress style usually representative of working class people. If the family were to be of high class the cast dynamic would be very different. It is unlikely that the dad would be taking a nap on the sofa, he most likely would have been in a study room attending to work related matters, The mom would have been adorned in jewelry. These are typical markers of high society. Not to mention the furniture and house selection would have been very different.

This commercial plays on race relations. A first glance you can see a biracial child but the viewer does not necessarily think of a black dad being a part of this pretty normal looking family. Perhaps choosing to make this family a middle class American family was essential on making this commercial more believable. To portray this family as wealthy would have been a bit much for viewers to swallow. Producers of this commercial were obviously making a statement with this commercial as the subject of the commercial is Love, they essentially are trying to say love everyone. Everyone, including those who are different from yourself.

A common culture code which seems to be universal would be allowing the man of the house time to rest on his day off. This image is displayed in movies, books, and in many peoples lives. It is assumed that a man works hard weekly and therefore deserves weekends to relax whether it is watching sunday sports, or simply lounging at home watching movies. Many cultures acknowledge the need for the hard working man to be able to rest as the woman and children in the family give him space to do so.

The most common way this commercial was described by those who did not oppose the concept of the commercial was that it was cute. The camera zooms in on the child's angelic face as she makes facial gestures that almost force the viewer to say "awwww". The use of close ups are also what makes this commercial comical as the dad wakes up from his nap he sees that his daughter has poured cheerios on his heart since she had been told that cheerios were good for your heart. The dad's reaction is priceless an he awakes unsure of what had just happened. The camera then zooms out as the word love appears on the screen. The zoom in option allows the viewer to relate more with the character. To closely see a physical or facial gesture we are familiar with familiarizes us with the scenario being displayed.

If the purpose of this commercial was to inform people of its nutritional value it clearly made its point in a very funny way it is just unfortunate that the race of the parents completely overshadowed the commercial itself. The commercial was viewed millions of times on Youtube. Cheerios however had to disable comments from the video because they had become to harsh. Viewers criticized the look of the child and of cheerios decision to use the family in the first place. However sadly enough cheerios has seemed to fold to the remarks. The commercial is barely used, another one with a Caucasian family is now in rotation. People can now resume their lives again after such a catastrophe. [sarcasm]


On a better note a video was done showing the reactions of children to the same Cheerios commercial. There just may be hope for humanity. {watch below}