Wheaties Just Rewarded Someone For Eating The Same Cereal For 67 Years
Famous faces that have adorned Wheaties boxes have included those of Serena Williams, Michael Jordan, and Mia Hamm (via Quartz). Now that prestigious pantheon has also welcomed everyday citizen Clarence Frett. This Marion, Iowa, resident may not be a sports champion, but he is a champion fan of Wheaties: As KCRG reports, he has had a bowl of Wheaties every day for the past 67 years. Describing the intricacies of his morning go-to, he said, "I dump a bowl of Wheaties and put a little sugar in it and put a little milk in it. That's my breakfast. I don't eat much more than that."
Setting Frett even further apart from the habitual Wheaties eater is that he turns 100 years old this month. In celebration of his birthday, Frett's daughter reached out to General Mills, the company that makes Wheaties, to ask if they would create him a special box of the cereal. Because Frett loves Wheaties — and because Wheaties also happens to be celebrating its 100th anniversary — the wish was granted. In a perfectly PR-friendly move, Wheaties developed a one-off box featuring Clarence Frett on the front and sent it to him as a birthday present. According to a General Mills post on Instagram, Frett's reaction to his daughter was, "I can't believe it! I can't wait to show your mother."
Frett is joining a seriously star-studded hall of fame
Wheaties has featured an athlete on its box since 1934, when New York Yankees player Lou Gehrig appeared on the package — albeit on the back (via General Mills). This was one year after the brand took on its famous "Breakfast of Champions" slogan. Nearly 100 years later, Wheaties is still all about sports stars, having put more than 850 of them on its boxes over the decades, Smithsonian Magazine reports. It's a pretty big deal, then, that Clarence Frett got his big break on a box of the cereal.
According General Mills' Instagram post, the former World War II Coast Guardsman "smiled a lot" when he saw his gift. Fellow Wheaties fans seem to be smiling, too, leaving comments about the "fantastic" gesture and thanking Frett for his service. The celebration could even be an indication that Wheaties doesn't just have to put athletes on its boxes to sell cereal. As one commenter put it, "This is awesome! I would buy a box with Clarence on it!"