ARE YOU LOOKIN' AT ME?!

Sometimes I seriously think people have too much time on their hands.  There is speculation that marketers of cereal are doing some heinously sinister moves by having the characters on the boxes look downward in order to "make eye contact" with kids.  

While this concept has all of the makings for a great news exposé, I'm not sure that is exactly what's going on here.  It just seems like a bit of a stretch to me.

Here are a couple of examples from Kellogg's:

Admittedly, the characters eyes are gazing somewhat downward, but Toucan Sam is actually looking at the cereal.  Tony the Tiger could be looking at kids in the grocery store aisle, I suppose.  Perhaps he's trying not to devour the sugary goodness in the giant bowl in front of him?

Here are some examples from General Mills:

Clearly, the Trix Rabbit and the Honey Nut Bee are looking downward, but that's where the cereal is located.  And everyone knows that bees love honey and that Trix Rabbit never had any self-control anyway, so who can blame them?

How about Quaker Oats brands?

Again, it's pretty clear that Cap'n Crunch is eyeballing his sweet-molar-filling-deliciousness.  However, the Quaker Oat guy does seem to be attempting to make obvious eye contact.  Weird that kids don't seem to be clamoring for oatmeal though.  Hmmm…

What are your thoughts on this whole cereal box controversy with characters allegedly making eye-contact with your kids in the grocery aisle?  Drop us an email.