Kellogg's chief Gary Pilnick's recommendation that people can consider having cereals for dinner as a cost-saving measure has sparked a controversy.
In an interview with CNBC, Pilnick spoke about a company marketing campaign that encourages people to let "chicken take a break" and opt for bowls of Frosted Flakes and Frosted Mini-Wheats instead.
Pilnick brought up this idea when responding to the interview host's question about the increasing prices at grocery stores.
"The cereal category has always been quite affordable, and it tends to be a great destination when consumers are under pressure, Kellogg's CEO Pilnick said, adding that they are "advertising about cereal for dinner".
“If you think about the cost of cereal for a family versus what they might otherwise do, that's gonna be much more affordable," he said.
When the host further asked Pilnick if his words could be taken the wrong way by consumers, he replied: “In fact, it's landing really well right now. Cereal for dinner is something that is probably more on trend now, and we would expect [it] to continue as that consumer is under pressure.”
Reacting to the remarks, netizens drew parallel with with the infamous "let them eat cake" statement of Marie Antoinette, the queen of France during the French Revolution.
It is said that "let them eat cake" was the queen's response upon being told that her starving peasant subjects had no bread.
A user wrote on microblogging platform X , “Absolutely staggering level of arrogance from Kellogg's CEO Gary Pilnick. On the same level as ‘Let them eat cake' (although that story is almost certainly apocryphal -- Marie Antoinette wasn't quite as stupid and out of touch as Gary Pilnick appears to be).”
Another user said: “Gary Pilnick is seriously giving Marie Antoinette, let them eat cake vibes. Not a good idea to tell the poors to just cereal for dinner. His net worth is at least 6 million.”
