Doctor

1
Tommy Doctor
Professor Olivia Rines
UWRT 1101-002
26 January 2015

Genre Analysis

What comes to mind when you think of different genres? Is it a kind of music or
maybe a type of movie? Have you ever considered cereal boxes to be a genre? Well yes,

Hannah Midyette 2/9/2015 10:21 AM

Comment [1]: I love your intro/hook. You
grab my attention with a question.

cereal boxes are a type of genre. The genre of cereal boxes is not one most people
normally think of when it comes to genre but it most certainly is one. Youll soon find
out how Capn Crunch, Post Shredded Wheat, and Frosted Flakes are all considered a
family of the cereal box genre. But in order for this to be true, it must have a few
important characteristics. The main ingredients in making a cereal box are the designs
you put on the box, the characters you use, the slogans you have, and figuring out which
type of person you are intending to persuade to buy your cereal. Once you figure out all

Hannah Midyette 2/9/2015 10:22 AM

Comment [2]: I love this wording instead
of saying characteristics or something
boring. It really works for me.

of these credentials, you have yourself a cereal box.

Genre is such a large and major topic with so many different variations and examples of
it. But genre is a class or category of artistic endeavor having a particular or similar
form, content, or technique. When most people think of genre, they think of the normal
movie or book genres such as horror, action, comedy, etc. But what people dont know is
that genre goes so much more in-depth than that. Nobody ever thinks of a cereal box as
being its own genre, but it has to be. Everything in this world has a genre and it just takes

Hannah Midyette 2/9/2015 10:20 AM

Comment [3]: You can take of it out.

Doctor 2
a little bit of thinking to understand that and to understand what genre everything is. For
example, horror is a genre because there are multiple pieces of work such as movies,
television shows, or books that are related to each other. So all of these movies, television
shows, and books get placed into this same category, which would be horror, and that is
how a genre comes about.

Hannah Midyette 2/9/2015 10:24 AM

Comment [4]: You can take this out and
just say horror.

For this same reason is why cereal boxes is considered its own separate genre,
because it needs one. There are too many different kinds of cereals in this world and
through grocery stores to even count nowadays. They all have the same purpose as well.
Every cereal box is there for a few specific reasons. One obvious reason is to provide the
person buying this cereal with important information of what they are going to be buying.

Hannah Midyette 2/9/2015 10:25 AM

Deleted: ly

This includes what the cereal actually is, what it looks like, the flavor of it, and in most
cases they present this to look the most appealing as possible. Another purpose of the
cereal box is to persuade the buyer into buying their product and not someone elses. The
article Gender and Form of Cereal Box Characters: Different Medium, Same Disparity
said We would argue that product packaging is similar to other forms of advertising, in
that it is designed to educate consumers about the product and encourage them to
purchase it. (K. Black, J. Marola, A Littman, W.Neace, 882). This works in a number of
different ways. For adults, in most cases, they are interested in a more healthy choice
when picking cereals. You will notice in most cereal aisles, the adult cereals are placed
higher on the shelves and the children cereals are placed lower. This is all a sales tactic.
So when a person looking for cereal is looking for a healthy choice, they just have to look
right ahead and all of their cereals are there. This is where the cereal box with the best
design, slogan, or picture may come into affect. For example, Post Shredded Wheat is a

Hannah Midyette 2/9/2015 10:26 AM

Comment [5]: I would reword this and
say In most cases, adults are more
interested..

Doctor 3
healthier cereal than Capn Crunch, and its box will tell you its the healthier choice. It is
known to be a healthier pick and help with weight loss and they will tell you that on the
front of the box. So adults looking for this type of cereal will choose this cereal over a
cereal with a cartoon on it and a toy inside that doesnt say it will help you lose weight.
When it comes to children cereals, this becomes the complete opposite. The

Hannah Midyette 2/9/2015 10:28 AM

Comment [6]: I would say that the box
with tell them this and not the people
making the box.

cereals are placed lower on the shelves so when a kid runs down the aisle, they see the
Capn Crunch with the toy inside and the hidden treasure map on the back and not the
Post Shredded Wheat that will help you lose weight. There are so many different kinds of
cereal boxes but they all have the exact same purpose and that is why cereal boxes has its
own specific genre. A height of 48 inches encompasses the largest cross-section of

Hannah Midyette 2/9/2015 10:29 AM

Comment [7]: Restate this purpose
briefly.

children possible, approximating the eye-level vantage of both an average 8-year old and
a younger child sitting in a shopping cart seat. was a line from the article Visual
communication to children in the supermarket context: Health protective or exploitive?
The authors also went on to say Visual and textual information was coded from 2,755
cereal boxes observed in a representative sample of 15 Toronto, Ontario supermarkets.
Child-targeted marketing variables created from these data include the presence of
spokes-characters on cereal boxes, child-oriented box colors, child-themed cereal shapes,
on box child incentives, and child-reachable shelf location. (B. Berry, T. McMullen,
334). With all the different kinds of cereal boxes, it needs to have its own specific genre.
This genre is used in many different ways including for how it is used in trying to draw
the attention of the children and for many other reasons.
Capn Crunch is a very popular childrens cereal and it has been for a while now.
It is in the category of the cereal box genre that would more than likely try to focus on

Hannah Midyette 2/9/2015 10:30 AM

Comment [8]: Instead of sayingwas a
line you could just put the title of the article
in parentheses.

Doctor 4
children. The box is big and bright and the main character of the cereal is a Capn
Crunch. There is always a different kind of activity to do on the back of the box or some
sort of prize inside that draws attention to childrens eyes that make them beg their
parents to buy it for them. There are multiple flavors as well so the themes and characters
never end.
Another cereal is Post Shredded Wheat. It is not the most exciting cereal out there
and it really is not intended to be. It is shredded wheat and it is not everyones favorite

Hannah Midyette 2/9/2015 10:32 AM

Deleted: different

Hannah Midyette 2/9/2015 10:33 AM

Comment [9]: Very true. I like your
personal insight on this.

cereal but it is a healthy cereal. Just like all other cereal boxes though, the box itself still
trys to persuade its buyers to buy their cereal and not a different kind. It does this with a
picture of the cereal that looks very appealing, tasteful, uses bright colors and also has

Hannah Midyette 2/9/2015 10:33 AM

Comment [10]: There is a word for
this.MARKETING!:)

little punch lines like Helps Lose Weight or 9 out of 10 Doctors Recommend It to

Hannah Midyette 2/9/2015 10:34 AM

Deleted: and

help sell their product and get people to buy their cereal. This type of cereal box is a lot

Hannah Midyette 2/9/2015 10:34 AM

Deleted: and

different from one like Capn Crunch but they both have the same genre, which is cereal
boxes because they are related and are intending to do the same thing.
Frosted Flakes is also another popular cereal on the shelves today. But whats
different about Frosted Flakes is that it does not focus on any specific type of person.
Even though the character of the cereal is a big energetic Tiger named Tony the Tiger, it
also focuses on the health of its consumers and how it is a good product to buy. It has

Hannah Midyette 2/9/2015 10:35 AM

Comment [11]: They both are IN the
same genre.
Hannah Midyette 2/9/2015 10:35 AM
Deleted: are
Hannah Midyette 2/9/2015 10:36 AM
Comment [12]: This is really interesting. I
like how you focus on two cereals that have
different audiences and then one that tries
to market to everyone. I never noticed this.

many different characteristics that attract multiple different people. Its character and
bright box attracts the children. Its slogan, Theyre Great! attracts anybody because
everyone knows that one. Then its healthy punch lines and nutritional facts all over the
box attract the older buyers who care about that stuff. These three examples are all apart
of the same genre of cereal boxes.

Hannah Midyette 2/9/2015 10:38 AM

Comment [13]: This is because of good
marketing. Just like fast food restaraunts
use jingles. I think you should explore the
use of slogans in the genre of cereal more.

Doctor 5
Genre is such a complex topic and sometimes a hard thing to comprehend;
especially when it comes to cereal boxes as being a genre. You would never think about
cereal boxes as being a genre but then when you look into it and think about genre itself,
it has to be one. There are so many different kinds of cereals and they all have the same
purpose and that is why cereal boxes it is a genre.

Works Cited
Berry, Brent, and Taralyn McMullen. "Visual Communication To Children In The
Supermarket Context: Health Protective Or Exploitive?" Agriculture and Human
Values (2008): 333-48. Springer Link. Springer Science Business Media. Web. 25
Jan. 2015.
<http://download.springer.com/static/pdf/466/art%3A10.1007%2Fs10460-00791100.pdf?auth66=1422223370_c3cc67657c6c086d15b1de41d9d00c09&ext=.pdf>.

Hannah Midyette 2/9/2015 10:40 AM

Comment [14]: I would restate their
purpose here.

Hannah Midyette 2/9/2015 10:40 AM

Comment [15]: Can you cite the three
cereals you used? I dont know if this is
possible, but maybe just look into it?

Doctor 6

Black, Katherine A., Jennifer A. Marola, Anne I. Littman, Joan C. Chrisler, and William
P. Neace. "Gender And Form Of Cereal Box Characters: Different Medium, Same
Disparity." Sex Roles (2009): 882-89. Springer Link. Springer Science Business
Media. Web. 25 Jan. 2015.
<http://download.springer.com/static/pdf/968/art%3A10.1007%2Fs11199-0089579z.pdf?auth66=1422220452_8702d97143f81d00bcdc8fd0386700a7&ext=.pdf>.