Judging Champions : Only Athletes Deemed Wholesome Appear on Wheaties Box

Excelling in athletics alone isn’t enough to win an invitation for breakfast with the champions. General Mills says those who appear on its Wheaties boxes have to be wholesome and have broad appeal, too.

“It’s a healthy life style; it’s an interest in family,” said Bradley D. Blum, who has been the marketing director most responsible since 1984 for selecting the athletes that grace the 63-year-old product’s packages.

When the company decided to put its hometown team--the 1987 World Series champion Minnesota Twins--on the box front for the first time, it seemed an obvious choice. Distribution was limited to the upper Midwest, where fans snatched up the more than 500,000 boxes.

But Blum said the decisions aren’t that simple. John McEnroe’s outbursts, for example, exclude him from consideration.

“He is outstanding, but he’s done some things from an etiquette standpoint that aren’t exactly what would be held up as an example for America’s youth to emulate,” Blum said. Tennis star Chris Evert and Chicago Bears running back Walter Payton are currently featured.

The wholesome image stems from the cereal’s origins in 1921 when a dietitian mixing a batch of bran gruel for his patients spilled some on a hot stove top. He took the toasted flakes to General Mills’ predecessor, Washburn Crosby Co.

Started With Baseball

Nine years after Wheaties were introduced in 1924, General Mills launched its long association with sports in an attempt to spur the cereal’s lagging sales.

“One of the ad fellows back in 1933 was driving back to the Twin Cities from his northern lake home and was struck by the number of baseball games on the radio. He thought that Wheaties might benefit from sponsoring baseball games,” company spokeswoman Kathryn M. Newton said.

General Mills contracted for Wheaties sponsorship of broadcasts of the now-defunct Minneapolis Millers baseball games that year. “The Breakfast of Champions” was coined for use on a Wheaties billboard at the ballpark.

Sponsorship of baseball broadcasts spread to 95 stations. Athlete testimonials were key parts of the broadcast promotions, and their pictures were shown on the back of the boxes beginning in 1934.

In the early 1950s, athletes were dropped from Wheaties’ packages in lieu of Mickey Mouse and other animated characters, but sales fell and the link with sports was resumed.

“There are a lot of people who are interested in being on the package, and we get calls all of the time,” Blum said.