Normally, if a record is exhibiting signs of a snap, crackle, or pop - it might just need cleaning. The home-food giants at Kellogg’s, however, gave a completely different meaning to the phrase back in 1984, when they released their promotional line of seven-inch singles.
Kellogg’s was already well established as an incredibly successful food (primarily, breakfast) production company when they appeared on the music scene in the mid-eighties to release their line of promotional singles, but people didn’t really see the move coming at the time - even though they had been attaching their name to numerous music mediums as far back as the late 1950s.
Back then, Kellogg’s would often associate with the more child-friendly releases - such as ‘Tall Paul’ and ‘Charlie Brown’ audio storybooks. This is a theme that they would often stick with throughout their five-decade-long association with physical music, as they had already mastered the marketing side of their younger audience’s most important meal of the day.
As Kellogg’s was (and still is) virtually synonymous with their line of award-winning breakfast cereals, it made sense for them to broaden their horizons and venture into a market that was already firmly planted into the average western home, that being home music of course. The company’s first flurry in the music industry came in the form of an LP storybook release of ‘Huckleberry Hound’. The record was marketed by and produced by Kellogg’s in 1959 and would soon be followed by many other children’s storybook releases.
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Come 1984, Kellogg’s had decided to become a bit more on-the-nose when it came to their release’s branding - so when it came time to partner with the likes of Abba, Shakin’ Stevens, Bonnie Tyler, and Wham!, the company moved for their logos (as well as their fair share of product advertisement) to appear on the centre label of these upcoming releases. Kellogg’s released five promotional seven-inch records with this unique label branding and even went on to partner with other incredibly famous names for limited-run editions of already-released albums.
In 1985, they worked directly with Michael Jackson and the Jacksons to re-release their album ‘Victory' (which had initially released a year earlier) as ‘For the Taste of Victory’ by ‘Kellogg’s And The Jacksons’. This release featured alternative artwork and was limited to five thousand copies - with it being considered one of the company’s most ambitious crossover releases ever.
Kellogg’s ventured into compilation releases throughout the remainder of the eighties and into the nineties - and though many of these came in the form of EP cassettes, they were still heavily involved in the production of promotional records. In 1991, they partnered with Telstar Records to produce a seven-inch flexi-disc release of ‘Thunderbirds Are Go!’ From the hit 60s TV show ‘The Thunderbirds’. Their unique selling point at this stage was clear, to focus on unique music releases instead of simply putting their logo on already established works.
As music formats evolved throughout the nineties and into the noughties, Kellogg’s began focusing more on CD releases - as new vinyl sales had been on the decline since compact disc technology (as well as the internet) became the mainstream method of discovering music.
Their last documented release as a label came in 2008 when they produced a promotional CD titled ‘Cantando Las Mañanitas En Familia’. It was only ever released in Mexico. Now that the record industry is booming again, only time will tell if the famous food company ever returns to the music scene. Either way, we will always have those promotional singles from 1984 to look back at.
Did you know?
In 2018, Kellogg’s claimed to have invented the world’s first playable, edible record made out of their Frosted Chocolate Flakes! The record was created to promote the band PRETTYMUCH’s single ‘Hello’ and was apparently created using a 3D printed mould of the record’s master recording - and then filling the mould with liquid chocolate and cereal. After the mould had been left to set in the freezer, the chocolate could then be removed, played, and then eaten! Take a look for yourself...
