Why Cheerios Once Went By A Different Name
Whether you eat it with a spoon in a bowl full of milk or straight from the box, it's hard to go wrong with a bite full of Cheerios. The classic breakfast cereal has stood the test of time and remained a fan favorite for generations. Cheerios is one of the many snacks still enjoyed today that was actually invented during WWII. The cereal has been around since 1941 when General Mills physicist Lester Borchardt discovered a way to turn regular, everyday oats into bites of puffy, crunchy goodness.
This discovery was a major innovation in the cereal world when both of the top cereal brands, Wheaties and Corn Flakes, utilized corn as a main ingredient. This gave Cheerios a leg up on the competition — in order to show consumers exactly what this brand-new cereal was made of, it was originally called "Cheerioats." However, the name Cheerioats only stuck around for a few years and was changed to Cheerios when General Mills was threatened with legal action that spooked it into changing the name to Cheerios.
Cheerioats was too similar to another competing breakfast brand
A catchy name for an item can be extremely helpful (or hurtful) when it comes to product sales. It is likely why Quaker Oats became so concerned when Cheerioats saw major success. The company famed for oatmeal products felt the name Cheerioats was too close to Quaker Oats, a product that had been on the market prior to General Mills' WWII invention. General Mills bowed out gracefully and made the subtle change to Cheerios in 1945.
Luckily, the name change did not seem to startle consumers. In fact, the name Cheerios may have been for the best. From a branding standpoint, having its name reference the cereal's O shape seemed more interesting to customers rather than referencing its oat-based ingredients. Its success selling classic oat cereal is evident, with expansion into other flavors like Cinnamon Nut in 1976, followed by the fan-favorite Honey Nut in 1979. There are currently 13 types of Cheerios available for customers to enjoy in the United States, making it one of the oldest cereals still on shelves today.
Cheerios recently honored its original name with retro-looking boxes
Cheerios have remained one of the most popular breakfast cereals for decades. Data collected in 2024 by CivicScience showed that the Cheerios brand still comes in first place amongst the best-selling cereals in the United States, polling at 62% favorable amongst cereal lovers, surpassing competing brands like Chex (49%) and Special K (44%).
Though, after so many successful years as Cheerios, its original name was lost on many. That's why in 2021, Cheerios celebrated the product's 80th anniversary by reminding customers where it came from. General Mills released limited-time cereal boxes with the original "Cheerioats" name plastered across the front. The retro-looking box featured the cereal's signature bright yellow background, an old-school font, and a backside full of fun facts about how Cheerios was made all those years ago. In addition to honoring Cheerios' roots, the limited-edition boxes were also an attempt at reminding customers Cheerios is really all about whole-grain oats. And after 80 years, it seems Quaker Oats didn't seem to mind the temporary reversal.