Photo Courtesy of Fringe Fashion Blog
I was in Schnucks the other day, buying my groceries, when I came across the oatmeal aisle. In elementary school, I had Quaker Oats every morning for breakfast, and these days I’ve been craving some good ol’ strawberries ‘n’ cream.
So, I bought a box of Schnucks brand instant oatmeal. The store brand was so much cheaper and I thought, c’mon it’s oatmeal–can’t be much of a difference between brands.
The next morning, I made a bowl of those instants oats. I was right about one thing: the taste and texture was the same as the Quaker brand I grew up with, but something else about this off-brand oatmeal was definitely different.
As I ripped open the packets to pour their contents into a bowl, my eyes fell on the word “trivia.” Instantly, I remembered the jokes, fun facts and trivia the classic Quaker packets had to offer in my third-grade days. It was on the back of these oatmeal packets that I learned where sheep go to get their haircut (the baabaa shop) and that a crocodile can’t stick its tongues out.
I got pumped! I was ready for some trivia, so I read Oatmeal Packet No. 1 – Peaches & Cream:
Hmm, no immediate answers came to mind. But I was sure the song would come back to me if I looked on the back…
Wait…what? Won’t you help to sing these songs of freedom? Even with the answer, no bells were ringing for me. But I still had another try with Oatmeal Packet No. 2 – Bananas & Cream, so I read on:
Three’s Company?! I gave up! This was no kid’s trivia, that was for sure. For those of you who are interested, Mr. Roper’s first name is Stanley.
What I was experiencing was a matter of brand marketing. No, there wasn’t a noticeable difference between the product quality of the brands. But, my, was there a different audience for each.
From what I can figure, Quaker’s main audience for their (more sugary) oatmeal is actual kids because kids are pickier about having their moms get name-brand products. Quaker’s kid-friendly trivia reflects that.
Schnucks brand is cheaper. Therefore, people who are more concerned with stretching their dollars are more likely to buy the generic. An example might be people with fixed incomes, like the elderly. Older people buy the off-brand, so the trivia is geared towards people of that audience.
Pretty cool, huh?
Fun Fact: Turns out Quaker is owned by PepsiCo. PepsiCo bought the company in 2001 so that they could acquire Gatorade ( a product Quaker acquired when they bought Van Camp’s in 1983.) PepsiCo wanted Gatorade to break into the sports beverage market, since younger people began turning away from carbonated beverages for energy drinks and flavored waters.
Superconnected 
quite cool!!