Dr. John Kellogg is probably rolling over in his grave (either laughing or crying!) at the announcement that his namesake cereal-making company is going to TRY to modify their kid-focused products to match a healthier nutritional profile – but if they can’t they will just stop advertising those brands to the under-12 consumer.

Kellogg’s is clearly missing the point.

Almost a year and a half ago, the turmoil began in Battle Creek as two advocacy groups threatened a lawsuit against the cereal maker and Nickelodeon over the company’s advertising to children. So now, amid stockholder, consumer and stakeholder pressures comes Kellogg’s ad policy change announcement. And everyone seems to be happy including the two would-be lawsuit filers: Center for Science in the Public Interest and the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood.

But not me.

Kellogg’s blew a once-in-a-brand-lifetime opportunity to lead the cereal industry in a “nutritional correction” that would have given them an enviable position within the food world – and most importantly had a huge effect on our future generations’ health and wellness. While their food technologists agonize over how to make their best selling cereals taste “grrrrreat” but still meet a rather lame nutritional profile (under: 200 calories, 2 grams of saturated fat, 230 milligrams of sodium, no trans fat and 12 grams of sugar per serving), is it that unreasonable to suggest that products that are loaded with sugars, fats, sodium, artificial flavors and colors have actually created a new standard for what tastes good? Do our kids actually need to train their future taste buds with these ingredients?

Maybe it’s time to go back to basics. How about feeding the under-12 group Dr. John’s original? Kellogg’s Corn Flakes with some fresh fruit and (if you must) a sprinkling of table sugar? And advertising that!

General Mills, the nice folks who bring us many of our breakfast cereal favorites just announced that they are raising prices – again! The increase, according to the company will just be a few percentage points (Kellogg's raised their prices 5% earlier this year) but the reason is that they are making their boxes smaller! These changes will take effect June 25, 2007.

The reason? Higher prices for corn, wheat and cocoa according to the company, but cereal companies who already have huge margins, need to give us a break already. We most certainly, based on past history, can expect the other companies to follow the Big G's lead. By the way…what ever happened to that congressional inquiry into the price of breakfast cereals that was started back in 2002?

The profit margins of individual cereals are a closely guarded secret - but if we take a look at industry statistics (Source: UBS Warburg), the average cereal delivers about 17 % profit. While that might not sound like a lot, it's important to note that in cereals the packaging, shipping, sales, promotion and advertising total 48 % - just about triple (15 %) the cost of the raw material inside the box.

So what can we do?