Tag: Edward bernays

In the 1920s, a public relations campaign successfully convinced Americans that a 'hearty' breakfast of bacon and eggs was healthier than a light one. Was breakfast a marketing ploy, or is there more to the story of how our morning routines were shaped? This article explores the origins of modern breakfast culture and reveals the powerful marketing forces that influenced what we eat every day.

Historically, the first meal of the day has not always been considered the most vital for adults, often being a small, quick affair or even skipped entirely until the Industrial Revolution reshaped eating habits. The widespread belief that 'breakfast is the most important meal of the day' is not a timeless nutritional fact but a myth with deliberate commercial roots, primarily crafted by shrewd marketers and health reformers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

While the phrase 'breakfast is the most important meal of the day' is ingrained in our culture, it was actually popularized by a 19th-century marketing campaign for cereal. This surprising fact reveals who said that breakfast is important, challenging modern perceptions about its true origin.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, two distinct but powerful marketing campaigns cemented the idea that 'breakfast is the most important meal of the day' into the public consciousness. Its origin story, however, has little to do with modern nutrition and everything to do with cereal and bacon sales.