Kids Will Eat Anything That Comes In a Cartoon Box

Tuesday, 08 March 2011 | by Pat's Picks

Child feeding fact: if food comes in a box featuring a cartoon character, kids are more likely to eat it. USA Today summarizes a University of Pennsylvania study on the effect food packaging has on kids’ opinions about the food inside. The researchers prepared four boxes of a single cereal under the fictional “Sugar Bits” and “Healthy Bits” brands. Then they added cartoon penguins to one box of each. Regardless of the name of the cereal, the cartoon boxes were the favorite.

Pat’s Papers producer Caitlin Drexler immediately thought of the IFC series “Portlandia” when reading this story. A recent skit makes the argument that adults are also easily influenced by subtle design changes:

SOURCE: USA Today