Life (cereal)
Encyclopedia
Breakfast cereal
A breakfast cereal is a food made from processed grains that is often, but not always, eaten with the first meal of the day. It is often eaten cold, usually mixed with milk , water, or yogurt, and sometimes fruit but sometimes eaten dry. Some cereals, such as oatmeal, may be served hot as porridge...
made of whole grain
Whole grain
Whole grains are cereal grains that contain cereal germ, endosperm, and bran, in contrast to refined grains, which retain only the endosperm. Whole grains can generally be sprouted while refined grains generally will not sprout. Whole-meal products are made by grinding whole grains in order to make...
oat
Oat
The common oat is a species of cereal grain grown for its seed, which is known by the same name . While oats are suitable for human consumption as oatmeal and rolled oats, one of the most common uses is as livestock feed...
s, distributed by the Quaker Oats Company
Quaker Oats Company
The Quaker Oats Company is an American food conglomerate based in Chicago. It has been owned by Pepsico since 2001.-History:Quaker Oats was founded in 1901 by the merger of four oat mills:...
. It was introduced in 1961. The cereal's advertisements currently sport the slogan "Life is full of surprises".
History
Life was popularized during the 1970s by an advertising campaignAdvertising campaign
An advertising campaign is a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme which make up an integrated marketing communication...
featuring "Mikey
Little Mikey
Little Mikey was a character of a young boy played by John Gilchrist in an American television commercial created by art director Bob Gage and copywriter Edie Mann of the Doyle Dane Bernbach agency for Quaker Oats to promote their breakfast cereal, Life.First airing in 1972, the popular commercial...
," a hard to please four year old boy portrayed by John Gilchrist
John Gilchrist
John Gilchrist may refer to:*John Gilchrist , American basketball player*John Gilchrist , Canadian politician*John Gilchrist , Scottish footballer...
. The commercials featured the catchphrase "He likes it! Hey Mikey!" The ad campaign ran from 1974 to 1986, becoming one of the longest-running television advertisements since. A subsequent commercial repeated the identical dialog and scenario, using lumberjacks instead of children.
In 1978, Cinnamon Life was introduced, followed shortly thereafter by Raisin Life. Today Cinnamon Life accounts for a third of total Life sales. Raisin Life wasn't as popular and was discontinued sometime in the early 1980s. In 2002, a short-lived version called Baked Apple Life was released. Honey Graham Life was introduced in early 2004, Life Vanilla Yogurt Crunch in late 2005, and another new flavor, Life Chocolate Oat Crunch, in 2006. All 3 were eventually discontinued in 2008. Finally, in 2008 Life introduced another new version, Maple & Brown Sugar Life. In Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and certain areas of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, there is also Multigrain Life.
Original Life has been reformulated several times since its introduction. The most recent event took place in 1998, when Quaker introduced a "New and Improved" version. Consumer response was unfavorable, and Quaker quickly reverted to the original formula.
In 2010, Life was featured on the "Eat This, Not That" website. It was categorized as a healthy cereal but was negatively criticized for its content of Yellow #5.