Kellogg's Laser-Brands Its Corn Flakes

Kellogg’s has harnessed a groundbreaking laser technology that enables it to burn its iconic logo on to individual corn flakes. Cattle farmers in the Old West would no doubt be proud.

By inserting a certain number of branded flakes – sorry, Corn Flakes – into each box (they’re slightly darker but taste the same), the company claims it can guarantee the cereal’s origins, and solidify its claims that it doesn’t produce cereals for any other manufacturer.

In the dog-eat-dog world of cereal, where products contain many of the same ingredients and the barriers to entry are relatively low, branding is king.

If the public perceived that Kellogg’s made “fake flakes” for competitors, it would take a serious bite out of the Corn Flakes brand, and make it indistinguishable from private label producers. Not to sugar-coat it: that would be a monumental fall from grace for the first cereal to land on the moon. (It was the breakfast of choice of the Apollo 11 crew.)

With this cutting-edge technology, which it might apply to its other cereals like as Special K and Bran Flakes, Kellogg’s may also be able to breathe new life into its own brand, which is best known for making cereals that rose to prominence a half-century ago and lacking the glitzy advertising campaigns employed by competitors to appeal to the younger generation.

By marking its territory in such a unique way, Kellogg’s may also be able to appeal to those with an appetite for labels – how different is a Kellogg’s logo from a Lacoste alligator or a Ralph Lauren polo player?

If it works, there will be only one way to describe the results – delicious.